TCL P733W 3.1 soundbar for any TV (AV review)

16/08/2023
By Ray Shaw
In Reviews

The TCL P733W is a 3.1-channel soundbar that substantially improves any TV brand’s sound. It has a centre channel for clear voice, which helps the hearing impaired.

We make the point upfront that it is not a Dolby Atmos or surround soundbar, so if you are looking for that, we suggest you read:

And some consumer advice. Many manufacturers quote the higher Watts in Peak Power, which is more marketing fluff than meaningful. This quotes 350W peak, about 250W RMS (better measurement) split over the soundbar and sub-woofer. It sounds much better when not driven at full volume (as for most brands of soundbars).

Australian review: TCL P733W 3.1 soundbar (2023 model)

Website	Product Page and Manual
Price	$449 (seen as low as $399, so shop around)
From	JB-Hi Fi but shop around
Warranty	1-years ACL
Made in	China
Company	TCL Technology (originally an abbreviation for Telephone Communication Limited) is a Chinese electronics company headquartered in Huizhou, Guangdong Province. It designs, develops, manufactures, and sells consumer products, including television sets, mobile phones, air conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators, and small electrical appliances. Its sister company CSOT (China Star Optoelectronics Technology), makes the panels and has bought Samsung’s LCD patents and factory in China. Samsung and other brands now buy Mini-LED, ULED (Quantum Dot) and LED/LCD panels from CSOT.
More	CyberShack TCL news and reviews

We use Fail (below expectations), Passable (meets low expectations), Pass (meets expectations), Pass+ (near Exceed but not class-leading) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. You can click on most images for an enlargement.

First Impression – Pass

The surface of the soundbar is matte dark grey ABS, with a dark grey acoustic textile across the front. It has a LED bar at the top centre, which pulsates and glows in different colours depending on the mode. On top is power, input source (BT, Optical or HDMI – no Wi-Fi or Ethernet), BT pairing, and +/- volume.

It has an Infrared remote control (good to 6m) and can be controlled from the TCL Home App (power, volume, input switching, and more).

The bar is: 900 x 68x 98mm x 2.3kg and comes with wall mount brackets.

The sub-woofer is similar fashion grey, 248 x365 x 220mm x 5.6kg and can be placed up to 3m from the bar – we found 1m to be best.

Ports – Pass

HDMI 1.4 ARC and CEC (no HDMI passthrough ports)
Optical in
USB-A 5V/.5A/2.5W (for audio playback from flash drives only)
AUX in (3.5mm 3-pole to RCA Left and Right stereo).
USB-A 2.0 5V/.25W/1.25A

Comms – Pass

It has BT 5.2 (no Wi-Fi or Ethernet) and supports the lossy SBC and AAC codecs. Latency is well over 200ms, but that does not affect audio.

Setup – Pass

We tested on a TCL C745 and TCL C845 – a superior Mini-LED with the lot. We knew that the first step is to enable CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) and then connect the soundbar via HDMI to the TV’s HDMI ARC port. The TV will then identify the soundbar and swap from internal speakers to it. Remember these steps; set-up is easy as you don’t need the App or remote control.

The soundbar and sub-woofer should pair on first use. If not, you can manually pair.

Remote – Hides much functionality – Pass

The remote has a small LED readout at the top. It has many options, including short press, long press, and press with other keys. It is good for a 5-6m distance.

App – Pass

The TCL Home App is for everything TCL. It requires an account that has some privacy implications.

The app offers EQ modes (Music, Movie, Voice, Sports, Standard, and Game). We found that Movie was best for general TV although Standard works well too.

It also has Effects: Night (reduces loud noise), DTS decode (surround), Surround experience (perhaps a slightly wider sound stage), Bass Boost (no perceptible difference), and Dialogue Enhance (worked well).

Speakers – Pass

As a 3.1 soundbar, it has three x 92 x 42mm drivers – Left, Centre, and Right. Two crossover 1.4” tweeters handle mid-and-upper-treble for Left and Right. There are no passive bass ports. The Sub-woofer has a 6.5” front-firing driver and rear bass port.

The claim is 350W Peak which is about 250W RMS. The soundbar has 110W RMS (3x 30W and 2 x 10W) and the sub-woofer is 130W.

Let’s look deeper at FCC ID 2ARUDP733W

We like to deep-dive into FCC ID to find out what is inside.

It uses a Sunplus Airlyra SPA100 all-in-one DSP-C and I/O audio processor. This is the backbone of many all-in-one soundbars. All you need to do is add BT, Wi-Fi/Ethernet (not in this unit), and Flash memory. It decodes up to 8 channels, e.g. 7.1 downmixed to, in this case, a three-channel, five-amp soundbar and a single channel/amp sub-woofer.

The Airlyra decodes:

Dolby Digital Plus/Dolby TrueHD
DTS/DTS-HD/ DTS Virtual: X
MP3/AAC/HE-AAC
FLAC/ALAC/WAV/DSD

Power use – Pass

At full blast, the soundbar draws 38W and the sub-woofer 50W. In standby mode, it is <1W. Power use is negligible.

How does it sound? – Pass

All all-in-one soundbars are front-centric. The sound is tuned to appear to come from the TV. AI Sonic room tuning uses your smartphone microphone. It plays a brief calibration tone and tries to compensate for listening positions.

TCL claims the soundbar has a frequency response of 160Hz-20kHz. The Sub-woofer has 40-120Hz. So what happens to the high bass sounds from 120-160Hz? We can see a slight dip, and you lose a bit of ‘oomph’, but it is immaterial in the scheme of things.

We test at 100% volume (about 85dB), which is choppy at the top end. Back off to 75% (still loud), and it is very listenable.

Bass starts at 40Hz (low/mid-bass) and steadily climbs to 100Hz (high-bass). The effect is quite good – it is not room-shaking but has just enough rumble to please. You get decent bass ‘thump’, not whump, here.

Mid is flat to 7kHz, where it declines to reduce harshness, and then it is flat but choppy to 20kHz.

The sound stage suits <65” TVs. While it decodes DTS:X and has a surround enhancer, this does not produce an expanded or deeper sound stage. The Airlyra DSP phases sound between left and right speakers to give a perception of enhanced directionality.

Read – How to tell if you have good music (sound signature is the key – guide).

Voice control, AirPlay2, Chromecast, Streaming clients – No

This does not have Wi-Fi or Ethernet and cannot be controlled as such.

CyberShack’s view – The TCL P733W is a good addition to any TV if you are not looking for Dolby Atmos sound.

It is a typical 3.1 all-in-one with a sub-woofer. TCL gains points for the two crossover tweeters to handle the upper mid and treble. With the caveat that you don’t push its volume to the max, it is quite a good all-around soundbar.

Its greatest competition is itself. The TCL S643W (170W) is also a 3.1 soundbar at $249. All you lose is AI-Sonic room tuning and a bigger sub-woofer, although this is for <55” TVs.

Hisense has a $399 AX3100G 3.1 (200W) that decodes Dolby Atmos, but all you hear is front-centric left/centre/right sound – no height or surround.

The TCL P733W is a good soundbar for the price, but if you shop around, you will find it for as low as $399, which is a bargain at that price.

Rating – TCL P733W 3.1 soundbar

To be blunt, it is what we expect of a 3.1 soundbar, e.g., that it passes all tests.

Features: 80 – The extra two tweeters add to the overall sound experience. It has a remote and an App as well.
Value: 80 – If you can get it for $399, it is even better
Performance: 75 – It meets all expectations of a 3.1 soundbar but don’t push it over 75% volume.
Ease of Use: 80 as a plug-and-play device, but average users will not access the extra functionality.
Design: 80 – pretty standard grey.