The Hisense HS5100 is one of the brand’s new 2024 soundbars. The HS range comes in two models. There’s the HS5100 and HS3100. The HS5100 includes a soundbar, subwoofer and two rear speakers. The HS3100, on the other hand, includes the exact same soundbar and subwoofer but not the rear speakers.
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The specs for these soundbars are in the name. The HS5100 is a 5.1-channel setup and the HS3100 is a 3.1-channel setup. The HS31000 essentially caters to those who don’t want the rear speakers or have space for them whereas the HS5100 wants to deliver the full Dolby Audio surround sound experience.
In this review, I am tackling the HS5100. This is a 540W 5.1ch sound system. It includes a wireless subwoofer and wired rear speakers. I will have a review of the HS3100 up very soon too so keep an eye out for that. That soundbar is a 340W 3.1ch sound system with a wireless subwoofer and soundbar.
When it comes to the package of the Hisense HS5100, in the box you’ll get the soundbar, the subwoofer, a box of accessories and two rear speakers. The accessory box includes power connectors for the subwoofer and soundbar along with the wires to connect the rear speakers to the system. You’ll also get some screws and mount brackets to mount this soundbar and rear speakers onto the wall. Some instruction manuals too. Hisense has also included an HDMI cable. Of course, there’s also a remote.
Everything is neatly packaged and protected. The small form factor of the box also goes a long way to reduce waste which is great to see. Hisense has also made this package easy to work with and set up with a few cables and steps – great for those who might be technologically challenged. (Watch the review to see the full unboxing)
When it comes to the products themselves, let’s start with the soundbar. The speaker itself is fairly lightweight. It is only 90cm in length and 9cm in depth. It sits 6cm off the TV counter. This smaller design makes it ideal for most entertainment setups.
The soundbar boasts a full black design and a fairly basic shape. The fabric portion of the speaker sticks out slightly from the back end giving it a little bit of personality. The top also features a ribbed plastic design. There are also some etched words on the sides that read “Life Reimagined”. The same etchings can be found on the top where you’ll see the Hisense branding.
Speaking of the top, there are a few buttons to manually control the system without the remote. There’s a power button, source button and volume up and down button. You’ll also find the display window in the front. It is mainly only visible when the device is turned on. Although you can slightly see it through the mesh fabric.
When it comes to the ports at the back, the soundbar includes an AC power port, an optical port, an auxiliary port a USB Type-A port for music playback and an HDMI port. This port includes ARC support. You’ll also find the mounting sockets at the back of the soundbar.
The subwoofer is then also a large black unit that comes in at 30cm tall and 16cm wide. It is a rectangular box with a large black fabric ring on the right-hand side. The ring looks cool and gives the box some style. There’s, of course, the air hole on the back. When it comes to the ports, the subwoofer includes the power port and two auxiliary ports which are used to power and send content to the rear speakers.
Speaking of the rear speakers, these back speakers will be crucial to providing the surround sound experience. They are quite small and come in at 15cm by 9cm and are 6cm thin. Like the soundbar, they also include a black mesh front that is bezelled out of the back plastic. If anything, they look like parts of the soundbar which have been chopped off.
The entire soundbar package is what you would expect from a lineup of this price point. The overall design works. The soundbar is also small enough to fit in front of most TVs.
Setting up the system was simple enough too. I plugged in the power to both the soundbar and subwoofer. Plugged in my HDMI cable which was connected to the ARC port and settled down the soundbar onto the counter.
The rear speakers require a bit more work, however. They are wired so you’ll need to run cabling from the subwoofer to the spot where you want the speakers. The included cables for the rear speakers are quite long at 8 meters. It should be enough for most setups. However, if you need more you could always chop the included cable in half, extend it with more stereo speaker cable and connect it together again.
I would recommend this if you’re worried about cable management. I personally ran the cables under the carpet and up the wall behind my couch. But you could always position the subwoofer next to your couch to provide less travel distance for the cable. You could also extend this cable by a few more meters and run the cables up the walls around your room. This would be the best-case scenario and likely the neatest way to install them.
Once the room was set up and the speakers were ready to go, I spent a good few days testing them out. The speaker system includes the most common and important sound codecs for modern entertainment including Dolby Digital Plus and DTX Virtual: X. There’s no Atmos which is expected. This system doesn’t have any up-firing or side-firing speakers to produce Atmos sound. Instead, it focuses on the surround sound experience.
When it comes to the speakers, the soundbar includes three main front-firing speakers. One in the centre and one on the left and right-hand side. The back speakers then pack a single speaker. Combined with the subwoofer, you then get your 5.1-channel system.
The Hisense HS5100 can be controlled with your TV remote if connected through EArc or in this case ARC. Hisense has also included a TV Mode on the speaker system which lets it sync with select Hisense TVs. The company says this mode is basically the same as ARC and eARC. Likely just named TV Mode for people who don’t understand what ARC is and understand how it works. Makes sense to have something like this.
Testing out the system provided some decent results across all content. The surround sound experience was likely the best part about this package as it unlocks the ability to hear sounds behind you when gaming and watching TV. The rear speakers are incredibly loud and clear. They even pack a bit of punch which gives the sound output some power. I was very surprised these little speakers were able to produce such great sound. The rear speakers definitely do their job of delivering a new immersion of entertainment thanks to these drivers.
I especially enjoyed how the room would be full of sound during intense fights in Elden Ring and stormy scenes while watching Netflix’s Dark. It is an immersion you simply can’t get without rear speakers and the HS5100 does an excellent job here.
The soundbar itself is good. The centre channel is loud and powerful. Using the News Mode on the system, it then amplifies spoken word making certain content easier to hear. Great for documentaries and of course, news content.
The soundbar’s general output quality was okay most of the time. It struggled a bit in busy scenes with loud explosions relying more on the subwoofer for the rumble and bang rather than the soundbar for the finer details. The left and right channels were also good providing a distinct positioning sound in certain scenes.
The system also includes other sound modes such as gaming, movies, music, sports and night. All are quickly selectable using the remote. I could also tweak the sound settings slightly by increasing the bass and treble both to +5. Keep in mind that you can’t manually tweak any other levels of sound here. This is likely due to the processor in the HS5100 set to its own algorithms for the equalizer modes.
Apart from the equalisers, the system also comes with two surround sound modes. One is Surround Sound Pro and the other is Surround Sound Pure. The latter uses the input to accurately create surround sound while the other uses the channels to simulate surround sound when content isn’t created for the mode. Using both modes provided a decent surround sound experience. I noticed Pro was a bit more punchy compared to Pure. This is likely due to the simulated boost in bass.
But both modes helped create a more immersive experience. Playing Mario Karty 8 was especially fun. I could hear my opponents behind me as I whisked past them. Not to mention hearing shells fly past me as they went from the from of the TV to the back rear speakers.
I also tested out the BlueTooth music playback. Syncing my iPhone was easy and playing music worked as expected. The Music Mode on the system also amplified the experience here.
Overall, the Hisense HS5100 did exactly what I expected from it. It provided a decent 5.1 surround sound experience without costing a small fortune. The addition of the rear speakers helps create that immersion and goes a long way to elevate content. They are also quite powerful for a system that costs this little. When you pick them up they feel empty and incredibly light so I wasn’t expecting them to make much noise. While they certainly won’t hold up against a high-end system, they are definitely great value here.
While the system isn’t the loudest and most feature-packed around, the asking price here is a fraction of the cost compared to the competition. As a result, you’re getting a capable and humble sound system that is way better than your TV speakers. So if you want to take the dive into 5.1, the Hisense HS5100 is a great starting point.
The Hisense HS5100 retails in South Africa for R3,299. You can find out more about the device on the official Hisense website here.
Hisense HS5100 5.1Ch
Summary
The Hisense HS5100 5.1Ch 540W Soundbar offers a budget-friendly surround sound experience with some tiny yet powerful rear speakers and a clear soundbar. It can’t beat any high-end system but for what you’re paying here, there’s great value and a perfect introduction into 5.1.
