Much like the Majority K2 setup, one of the key elements for a good Soundbar in my book isn’t just the resulting quality it gives, but also the affordable nature of the product itself. While we live in a world of hyper-priced products that may do an impressive job as well, do you really need to spend 4x as much on an item that you can pick for a quarter of the price?

The Majority Snowdon II Soundbar packs a punch, and currently turns in between £54.95 and £79.95, so look out for some offers. The company behind it are Majority, beginning in 2012 this UK-based upwardly moving company have their tech goodies in over 3 million homes, and the price paid actually matches the quality but in an impressive sense – proving you can have a Soundbar at a reasonable price and it can give you everything you need.

First impressions, setup, and sound quality

With quite the solid first-impression, the Majority Snowdon has a ridiculously simple setup and for this test I used their included optical cable, plugged into the power cable, switched on the 55” TV and we’re aware, nothing else to do. I’d generally recommend the optical cable for the perfect setup but… you can also decide whether to use Bluetooth, USB input, RCA, AUX-input, and HDMI ARC, and very helpfully in the box you’ve got that Optical cable, the RCA and also HDMI cables for your decision.

What you’ll notice when you first use it is the boom of the bass, as this is a 120W speaker with a built-in subwoofer, plus 2.1 Channel Sound. I couldn’t resist kicking off the rest with the new Jurassic Park 4K UHD Anniversary edition, and yes – purely for the first T-Rex moment, and this brings home the power of the scene – and probably the vibrations on my own glass of water.

That level of bass is really vital for me, there’s nothing worse than a Soundbar that only sounds tinny or ‘plastic’, but I didn’t find that an issue with the Majority Snowdon II – and for the price, it’s easy to be blown away by that perfection, and the promise of a high-quality audio experience is given. Finally, because there’s not a separate Subwoofer, like the Majority K2, but this time it’s built in and for the affordability factor that’s another benefit.

Music

Staying with the story of bass in your speakers, this is undoubtedly vital with streaming music as well. As with the rest, it’s simple to connect to the Snowdon – just change the ‘input’ to the flashing blue LED light and search it on your device. In my example, it’s a Samsung mobile and it turned on the connection page immediately, and then just clicked it and confirmed the ‘Pair’ from your favoured device, I use TIDAL but because it’s Bluetooth you could use any of the apps including Spotify, Soundcloud or your chosen radio station.

Once there, I ran through some tests on the music preset EQ, with The National’s Alphabet City, and also Robert Glasper’s Reckoner – and this speaker is loud! Make it known that on my phone the volume was down very low but on the Soundbar? It’s booming! While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as your only speaker option for music – there’s nothing like a proper record player/music setup (check out the Pro-Ject Colourful Audio System for example), but it can do a job and would suit parties or general listening.

Preset Equalizer Sound Options and Subwoofer

Like all gadgets and sound-related tech with presets, you’re confined to a selection, but I’ve been mainly leaving it with the one it loads into, because you know that Netflix [tudum] for example? Well, that bassy beast booms through, and you’ll know where you need to set those levels.

You can choose from Music (which lets you manually adjust the bass and treble on the remote between 0Db and +8Db) there’s also Dialog and Movie (where you can’t adjust) and then Flat which is like a factory reset to the sound levels, and you can set the Bass and Treble wherever it best suits. This isn’t meant in a negative way but if you’re paying less, these aren’t actually bad choices and especially as you can adjust two of them – which is far better than not being able to at all!

Summary

I’m an immediate fan of the Snowdon II from Majority, simplistic, effective and comes through on its promises. Open up the Blu-ray or 4K collection and get involved, stream away from any of the multiple streaming services and dive right in, live TV? Sport? All good.

For the price, and I mean this in a positive way, it’s almost too good but don’t tell Majority! Get out there, pick one up and enjoy the extra immersive experience you didn’t even know you were craving. Never look back!

**This was provided to me for review by Majority but these are my own views and from my own experience of using the device**

Pick up the Majority Snowdon Soundbar now: https://amzn.to/3LHZPac or here: majority.co.uk/snowdon/

Specs