Hands on: The Philips CinemaOne home theatre

Hands On: Philips CinemaOne
Hands On: Philips CinemaOne

We reported yesterday on the new Philips CinemaOne home theatre systems, which it claims is one of the smallest complete home entertainment centres in the world.

TechRadar had a chance to get a decent hands-on with the little tyke, and found a box-ticker in nearly all departments.

Well, it certainly is tiny, and to be honest, does indeed punch above the weight you'd expect from a box the size of two dog dinner bowls stacked on top of each other.

The bass from the built in four inch sub-woofer is pleasant if not spectacular, and the four speakers do create a wider feel of sound than a single device would suggest.

All directions

However, given Philips' efforts into virtual surround sound, you might expect better from the omni-directional device.

But with a price tag of just £320 for a whole cinema system, there's very little criticism you can throw at this little system.

It would be, without a shadow of a doubt, perfect for a smaller room or budget, where cost or space won't allow a full 5.1 set up.

Add to that the array of connectivity in the HDMI port, iPod dock, USB 2.0, 3.5mm jack and DVD player, along with the standard analogue inputs too, and this would be great for someone who bought a HD-Ready TV and then thought: "Hmm...now what?"

Available from September, box-room owners should run out and get one ASAP.

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grew with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.

Latest in Home Theater
Sony UBP-X700/K shown from the front
Sony launches new version of the best cheap 4K Blu-ray player that drops the streaming tech – but the price looks odd
close-up of soundbar mesh with Sonos branding
Sonos reportedly cancels its streaming video player, but I hope it resurrects one part of it, because it could be huge
DVDs in a pile
Warner Bros is replacing some DVDs that ‘rot’ and become unwatchable – but there’s a big catch that undermines the value of physical media
Q Acoustics Q SUB80, QSUB100 and QSUB120 subwoofers
Q Acoustics wants to bring the bass to your post-Oscars movie catch-up
An array of Genelec speakers with. a Samsung soundbar in the middle at the Samsung Audio Lab
‘Atmos content costs too much money’: Samsung told me why Dolby Atmos isn't the future of surround sound, and why it launched Eclipsa Audio
The movie Punch-Drunk Love playing a TV, with a logo saying Blu-ray Bounty
3 new 4K Blu-rays to add to your collection from February 2025
Latest in News
Samsung Galaxy S25 from the front
The Now Bar on Samsung One UI 7 is about to get a lot more useful – and could soon match Live Activities on iOS
Marvel Rivals
Marvel Rivals will get two new hero skins for Moon Knight and Black Panther this week meaning I'll now need to farm even more Units
Netflix Ads
Netflix adds HDR10+ support – great news for Samsung TV owners, but don't expect LG and Sony to do the same any time soon
Klipsch Klipschorn AK7 in a room with lots of dark wood furniture and a bare brick wall
Klipsch just updated two of its most iconic stereo speaker designs, keeping these beautiful retro icons on your most-wanted list
FiiO FX17 IEMs
Our favorite budget audiophile brand unveils wired earbuds with 26(!) drivers, electrostatic units, USB-C ultra-Hi-Res Audio, and a not-so-budget price
Nvidia RTX 5080 against a yellow TechRadar background
RTX 5080 24GB version teased by MSI - is it time to admit that 16GB isn't enough for 4K?