Zebronics Zeb-Juke Bar 9700 Pro: Powerful output, competitively priced

Home-grown audio and gaming accessory company Zebronics recently launched its new soundbar, the Zeb-Juke Bar 9700 Pro, with Dolby Atmos support. Boasting a total sound output of 450W, the soundbar is competitively priced in the sub-Rs 20,000 category. But does the soundbar fare well enough on audio parameters to make for a sweet deal? We reviewed the device to see if it meets the expectations. Here’s what we found:

Design and connectivity

The Zeb-Juke Bar 9700 Pro has a sleek profile that goes well with most home décor types. The metal grilles covering the front and top add to the appeal of the soundbar. At the top, there are buttons for power, volume controls and input options. There is an LED display beneath the front grille to show basic information. However, the display looks a bit awkward.

The Zeb-Juke Bar 9700 Pro features multiple connectivity options, such as USB, HDMI, AUX, optical and Bluetooth. The good thing here is that you get cables for that – something that's not common these days. The Bluetooth option comes in handy while pairing a phone or tablet with the soundbar and makes it easy when you want to watch a video on Netflix or other streaming platforms on your device.

The remote is tiny and doesn't have too many buttons on it. You can adjust treble and bass, besides playing media on Music, Movie, 3D and News modes.

Sound Quality

The Zeb-Juke Bar 9700 Pro has Dolby Atmos support. Given its price tag, that is a key highlight of this soundbar. We started with The Umbrella Academy on Netflix, knowing that the background score would test the ability of any soundbar. It all worked fine in the Movie mode, though you might have to adjust the bass a little as it's quite overpowering.

We were eager to test the 3D mode, which is a real test to check how good a soundbar is. It did manage to create a good surround effect, but we had expected better considering the Dolby Atmos support. The output seems linear on several occasions and it also misses some details sometimes. We played with the bass and treble levels and managed to find a decent balance for the sound.

The soundbar is indeed loud and powerful for the price with a total sound output of 450W (150W from subwoofer and 300W from soundbar)

It's one of the best outputs we have seen in this price range, but at times the bass just overshadows the treble. You will have to decrease the bass level and set it to 1 or 2 using the remote. At the same time, you could increase the treble to 4 or 5 so that the output sounds balanced.

Verdict

Priced at Rs 17,999, the Zebronics Zeb-Juke Bar 9700 Pro is a feature-heavy soundbar with a powerful sound output. From build quality to performance, this is an interesting proposition. For those who like it bass-heavy, this soundbar would be a delight.