VIZIO SB36512-F6 Dolby Atmos 5.1 Soundbar Home Speaker (Renewed)

This is a really great Atmos 5.1 soundbar for the price. Add the "renewed" discount and you're getting an even better deal. I recommend folks invest in a 3yr warranty for $30 or so to protect this against any possible mishaps. Now onto my review.Setup: Super easy took about 20minutes total to unbox and setup. It all paired automagically as per the "quick setup" instructions. I don't want to link to wifi or bluetooth so I can't comment on that. I did take time to download a firmware update to USB stick and update the firmware per someone else's suggestion here and believe that might address some folk's problems. It's pretty easy and Vizio support website will teach you how to do that in another 30min or so.Sound Quality: As others have stated for the price, you're not going to find anything close, the rear speakers + sub combo work very well and can modify the balance on the remote with ease. The ATMOS is mostly a gimmick unless you're going HDMI ARC input/output so I setup the Xbox One to try it out. It's cool, but nothing mind-blowing. Perhaps this continues to get better in the future as streaming services start to integrate ATMOS into more content. As a comparable, I have an LG SKY ATMOS soundbar that was super expensive and I'd say this goes head to head or maybe wins over that because of the rear speakers.I posted some pictures with a water bottle next to them to get an idea of size for the rear speakers.End statement, grab this soundbar you won't regret it. It feels like Vizio has good support and directly addresses issues people have as they come up. If you're still worried, grab that additional warranty. Hope this helped!

Edit: After a chat with a Vizio rep they ended up replacing my bar. They were out of the f6, so I actually ended up getting the upgraded g6. They said it would be refurbished which seemed fair to me—it’s what I originally purchased.On receipt, it sure didn’t seem refurbished to me, so I’m editing this as it was an outstanding value and their CS more than made me whole. I’d still caution that the upward firing speakers don’t do Atmos justice, but for the price I’m happy.I bought this soundbar on Black Friday for what seemed like a good deal on a refurbished unit. While connected to the HDMI ARC input on my tv, it has performed admirably. Its nowhere near as good as a full atmos receiver & speakers, but then again it also doesn't cost anywhere near that.However, Vizio as a company leaves an awful lot to be desired. I started having problems staying connected to the soundbar via their SmartCast app, and resolving this required resetting the soundbar 3 times. When I tried to connect my Switch to the HDMI IN on the soundbar, I wasn't getting any audio. I tried 3 different devices and 3 different HDMI cables for good measure before giving up and contacting Vizio. After being walked through how to reset the soundbar via their livechat, they told me to set up a self-serve ticket so they could replace it. Now that they've found out its refurbished (even by Vizio), they're putting up an awful stink about replacing it despite the 90 day warranty that they include with their refurbished products. From my last call, I think they're replacing it (this is something I shouldn't be in doubt about, Vizio)--otherwise I'll just return it.If you can get this for way under $300, its not a bad soundbar for the price, but Vizio leaves a lot to be desired. Unfortunately the lack of support would make this a hard pass for me. I was considering one of their televisions, but after interacting with their service department I'm going to keep shopping.

- Look brand new, despite being refurbished- Sound amazing, truly immersive- Easy to setup- Amazing valueI couldn’t be happier with this purchase. I’m using an HDMI ARC connection and am blown away by the sound for ATMOS content on Netflix. The problem is that there just isn’t that much ATMOS content available right now, but that’s changing and 5:1 content also sounds good. Tip: I just recommend the “Direct” mode for the best sound for TV and movies — it seems to work better than the “Movie” mode.Sometimes I have issues connecting my phone to these speakers via Bluetooth, but that is solved simply by unplugging the speakers and plugging them back in.The other problem I have is that when watching a TV series on ATMOS, the ATMOS quality seems to get switched off whenever the next episode starts. I have to get out back to the main menu and restart it for the ATMOS quality sound to be reactivated. But that may be a general Netflix problem, not a problem with these particular speakers.So overall, I would absolutely recommend this others.