Panasonic SC-HTB100 review: experience clearer vocals without breaking the bank

The Panasonic SC-HTB100 is a no-nonsense, easy-to-use budget soundbar that offers a solid upgrade on typical TV audio. It’s a full-sized standalone soundbar available for as little as £79 (about $100 / AU$160) – placing it firmly in the super-cheap category. As a result, you can’t expect mind-blowing spatial audio or game-changing features – but you sure can hope for clean audio that elevates your viewing experiences. And luckily, you get just that.

Reader, I want to get straight to the main event and talk audio quality. What you get from the Panasonic SC-HTB100 is quite impressive, with the standout positive here being vocal clarity.

When tuning into The Boys on Amazon Prime, I found that vocals were often more clear-cut in the overall mix, rarely getting unpleasantly muddied with sounds in a similar frequency range. For instance, in one indoor scene, one of the lead characters, Annie, converses with an older male and I sensed that both voices were more forward, occupying a more defined pocket than my TV could provide on its own. In a hospital room, the acoustics of the room were pretty true-to-life when using the Panasonic SC-HTB100, especially the sound of speech echoing throughout the space. Higher-pitched voices also lost a touch of tinniness that I heard from TV audio, making for a more comfortable listening experience.

In terms of placement, you can’t expect the kind of pinpoint accuracy that some of the best soundbars offer, but the Panasonic SC-HTB100 performs decently anyway. For example, I threw on Top Gun: Maverick and during the intro – where Tom Cruise rides a Kawasaki motorcycle – there was a bit more width to the soundstage and there was a stronger replication of the bike’s movement with the Panasonic soundbar.

Don’t expect truly three-dimensional sound from the Panasonic SC-HTB100, though. There’s no Dolby Atmos or DTS:X and it’s a 2.0 channel bar, meaning there’s no subwoofer or rear speakers. I would argue, however, that at this price point that is more than acceptable. In fact, budget options that attempt to sell Atmos often fall flat on the delivery side – the Majority Elias is just one example of an ultra-cheap soundbar that, despite offering Dolby Atmos, produced a limited impression of spatial audio and disappointing overall sound quality.

My main complaint with audio here, though, is in the bass department. I totally understand that without a dedicated subwoofer, you can’t expect particularly impressive low-end power – especially coupled with an unexceptional total power output of 45W. However, bass is genuinely pretty thin and doesn’t feel like a massive upgrade on standalone TV audio. To Panasonic’s credit, it never claims to offer big, booming low-frequency sound, instead stating that the soundbar uses a bass reflex port to “subtly emphasize the deeper tones in movie soundtracks” – and ‘subtly’ is definitely the keyword.

Despite that, sound quality is still pretty good overall. And that goes for all three EQ modes – Movie, News and Music. I used Movie when tuning into The Boys and Top Gun: Maverick – but also with a whole bunch more. For instance, I tried watching Suzume on Netflix and higher-pitched female voices sounded pleasingly clear, even when music was playing alongside them in the background – music which didn’t sound at all tinny or distorted. Not bad for a budget soundbar. There’s not a lot to say about News mode, although I did check out Sky News and found reporters' voices were well placed, rarely getting lumped in with feedback from outdoor surroundings or more subtle sounds in the studio environment.

But maybe the sound mode I was least excited to test is Music. That’s because a significant portion of budget bars fall well short on audio quality when handling tracks that demand delicate weighting, replication of neat sonic details and strong performance across all frequencies. And sure, the Panasonic SC-HTB100 isn’t able to perform to a stunning standard, but it actually handled music with decent levels of clarity. I listened to As if Waltz by Geordie Greep and the wailing guitars sounded pretty authentic and clear. And although layered instruments weren’t elegantly separated or perfectly true to their intended sound, audio wasn’t too tinny, making for an adequate listening experience. You can, however, expect some distortion at higher volumes and you’ll get more joy from the best Bluetooth speakers if you want some leisurely wireless listening.

When listening to music, I was able to connect to the soundbar using Bluetooth 5.0 – a handy inclusion if you want a swift wireless music-playing solution. And there’s actually a good set of connectivity options here, including digital optical, USB, AUX and HDMI ARC. I predominantly used the latter and it worked well, allowing me to use my normal TV remote to adjust volume levels.

And this was something I was pretty thankful for, because the included remote isn’t the best. I have no qualms with it looks- or design-wise, but the buttons aren't always ultra-responsive. When I tried to crank volume up, there was sometimes a noticeable level of delay – which was a tad frustrating.

But that isn’t my only issue with the Panasonic SC-HTB100’s design. I was pretty unimpressed with the display on the front of the soundbar. Rather than getting a full LED display to let you know which sound mode you’re using or the volume level, you’re instead met with a small LED light. This changes color depending on which sound mode you’re using, but you won’t know which is which unless you consult the oracle (included user guide).

Another problem is the glossy, slightly plasticky outer casing. Reflections from the TV screen can appear on top of this material – quite a distracting issue when you’re focused on watching shows or playing video games. Otherwise, the soundbar is solid in terms of appearance. Again, it is a little plasticky, but it’s plenty slim enough, which made it easy to slide into my setup.

So, overall this is a solid soundbar that will given you an audible, albeit non show-stopping improvement over TV audio. If you’ve acquired one of the best small TVs for instance – which often lack firepower and quality in the audio department – this could be a great pick.

Panasonic SC-HTB100 review: Price and release date

• £79 (about $100 / AU$160)
• Launched in 2021

The Panasonic SC-HTB100 was released in the UK in 2021, although it’s not sold in the US or Australian markets. But even though it’s not the newest, don’t let that put you off – it still has a decent amount to offer, especially if you want clearer vocals and Bluetooth connectivity. It’s available for £79, which puts it firmly in the budget category, even for a standalone 2.0 channel soundbar. Considering this is a full-size soundbar, as opposed to a mini one, this is a very good value product, especially if you want a low-cost, easy-to-use upgrade on TV audio.

Panasonic SC-HTB100 review: Specs

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Panasonic SC-HTB100: Also consider

Panasonic SC-HTB100 review: How I tested

• Tested for two weeks
• Connected to my Hisense U7K TV at home
• Predominantly used the HDMI ARC connectivity option

I tested the Panasonic SC-HTB100 at home over the course of two weeks. I mainly used HDMI ARC when connecting the soundbar to my Hisense U7K TV.

For testing, I watched a variety of TV shows, videos and movies – mainly using streaming services like Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and YouTube. I also played Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth on the Playstation 5 while using the soundbar to assess gaming performance. On top of that, I connected the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE to the Panasonic SC-HTB100 over Bluetooth and played music from the TechRadar testing playlist to judge the quality of Music mode.

• First reviewed: November 2024
• Read more about how we test