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Featuring a neutral sound profile, the Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar is a decent 3.0 soundbar for TV and music lovers. However, movie buffs will be frustrated that this system has a narrow surround soundstage and doesn’t support Dolby Atmos.
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Table of Contents
Product Snapshot
Overview
The Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar is a mid-range 3.0 channel soundbar that first made waves back in 2019, touting an immersive experience in home theaters and living rooms.
This speaker has a remarkably stylish design, ranking up there alongside the finest speakers on the market today. Handy bass and treble sliders allow users to customize the sound profile.
It comes as a standalone soundbar, so you need to invest in optional satellites and a subwoofer to enjoy a 3D soundstage and deep bass. With just Optical and Ethernet ports, it doesn’t offer as many connectivity options as the top-rated soundbars on the market.
Wireless connectivity options like Bluetooth and built-in Apple Airplay let users maintain a neat home theater. A discrete center channel offers a good stereo soundstage that’s great for dialogue.
Unfortunately, this system doesn’t support Dolby Atmos. Browse through our entire Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar Review, and check out the BOMAKER Odine II review if you prefer a more budget-friendly 2.0-channel soundbar.
Consensus
our Verdict
Experts reviewers love the neutral sound profile and loud output of the Bowers and Wilkins Formation Bar, endorsing it for TV dialogue and music. Tests reveal a neutral sound profile and PCMag says it produces natural-sounding music.
Reviewers at RTINGS adore its remarkably high sound output, saying that it gets loud enough to fill large rooms. Bass and treble adjustment features help users fine-tune the sound, and has mobile apps for controlling settings remotely.
However, experts bemoan its measly connector options, although this soundbar makes up for that with its generous range of wireless connectivity options.
It also has pretty high latency, so, there’s a minor delay between the video and audio feeds. Although it has a discrete three-channel profile, it has a poor 5.1 surround soundstage, downmixing it to stereo, and doesn’t support Dolby Atmos.
It lacks a dedicated subwoofer, producing poor extended low bass, so it’s not the best for EDM music.
The system lacks sound enhancement features, and enthusiasts who need dialogue enhancement should see our Bose TV Speaker review today.
ReasonS to Buy
Speaker gets loud enough for larger rooms
Treble adjustments let users enhance the sound profile
Stylish design is ideal for living rooms
Built-in Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Apple Airplay simplify wireless connectivity
The three-channel setup provides good TV dialogue
Reason to Avoid
Poor extended low bass will not appeal to music enthusiasts
Doesn’t support voice control
There’s a small lag between the video and audio feeds
Lacks HDMI ports for connecting to modern displays
Downmixes surround 5.1 sound to stereo
Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar Specs
Bluetooth Enabled
Yes
Depth
4.2"
Dialogue Enhancement Feature
No
Energy Star Certified
No
HDMI ARC
Yes
Height
4.3"
Number of Audio Channels
3
Subwoofer
Optional (sold separately)
Surround Sound Supported
Dolby Digital
Voice Assistant
Amazon Alexa, No
Wall Mountable
Yes
Weight
12.1 lbs
Width
48.8"
Wireless Connectivity
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi
Wireless Subwoofer Connectivity
Yes
Works With
Amazon Alexa, Bluetooth, Remote Control, Wi-Fi
All Specs
Test Results
These are the most important criteria to test for Soundbars based on our comprehensive Testing Methodology.
Low End Roll Off (Hz)
62.586
High End Roll Off (Hz)
17,726.189
Max Volume Test (db)
96
Latency (ms)
THD @ 80dB
0.2
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The Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar is a mid-range 3.0 channel soundbar that first made waves back in 2019, touting an immersive experience in home…
The Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar is a mid-range 3.0 channel soundbar that first made waves back in 2019, touting an immersive experience in home theaters and living rooms.
This speaker has a remarkably stylish design, ranking up there alongside the finest speakers on the market today. Handy bass and treble sliders allow users to customize the sound profile.
It comes as a standalone soundbar, so you need to invest in optional satellites and a subwoofer to enjoy a 3D soundstage and deep bass. With just Optical and Ethernet ports, it doesn’t offer as many connectivity options as the top-rated soundbars on the market.
Wireless connectivity options like Bluetooth and built-in Apple Airplay let users maintain a neat home theater. A discrete center channel offers a good stereo soundstage that’s great for dialogue.
Unfortunately, this system doesn’t support Dolby Atmos. Browse through our entire Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar Review, and check out the BOMAKER Odine II review if you prefer a more budget-friendly 2.0-channel soundbar.
Because it’s compatible with Dolby Atmos, the B&W Panorama 3 is more suitable for surround sound than the Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar, which doesn’t…
Because it’s compatible with Dolby Atmos, the B&W Panorama 3 is more suitable for surround sound than the Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar, which doesn’t support most surround formats. The newer Panorama 3 also has built-in Alexa, unlike the Formation soundbar. Learn more about the newer speaker in our B&W Panorama 3 review today.
Featuring a 5.0.2 setup, the Sonos Arc provides a more immersive discrete auditory experience than the Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar, which is a three-channel…
Featuring a 5.0.2 setup, the Sonos Arc provides a more immersive discrete auditory experience than the Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar, which is a three-channel system. It also has room correction and dialogue enhancement features, unlike the Bowers & Wilkins device. However, the Bowers & Wilkins speaker supports Bluetooth, unlike the Sonos Arc, which connects wirelessly over Wi-Fi.
With its 5.0.2 setup, the Bose Smart Soundbar 900 supports Dolby Atmos content, unlike the three-channel Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar. It also has HDMI…
With its 5.0.2 setup, the Bose Smart Soundbar 900 supports Dolby Atmos content, unlike the three-channel Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar. It also has HDMI connectors, unlike the Bowers & Wilkins speaker. Additionally, the Bose speaker has built-in Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, unlike the Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar.
