LG S70TY review

LG’s OLED TVs have been a dominating force in the market for years, frequently picking up five-star reviews and What Hi-Fi? Awards. However, the company has yet to reach the same level when it comes to audio. We have heard a fair few of its soundbars over the years, but none have made much of a mark. Will the LG S70TY soundbar package be any different?

This package, which is also known as the LG US70TY in the UK, consists of a soundbar and wireless subwoofer that is small enough to fit neatly into modest spaces.

Price

The S70TY launched in the UK at a price of £699, but it’s now generally available for around £599. Big discounts are occasionally available in the UK, but in the US the soundbar is widely found for just $350, and in Australia it's AU$699 – significantly cheaper, relatively speaking.

In the UK market, its main competition is the What Hi-Fi? Award-winning Sonos Beam (Gen 2), which is priced at £449 / $499 / AU$799. If your budget extends any higher, it’s also worth seeking out the now-discontinued five-star Sonos Arc, which launched at £799 / $799 / AU$1399 but has seen steady price drops since its release and can now be found for around £599 / $899 / AU$1499. Both the Beam and the Arc have been class leaders for a while, and we like them for their expressive sound and convincing (by soundbar standards) Dolby Atmos.

Design

The S70TY consists of a 96cm-wide wireless soundbar and a separate subwoofer. The subwoofer weighs 5.7kg and is about the same size as a couple of stacked shoe boxes. While it doesn’t take up a huge amount of space and stylistically matches the soundbar well, it does look a bit cheap. The finish on the back, for example, is a little untidy.

The system as a whole has a 3.1.1-channel configuration and can deliver a claimed total power output of 400W. The soundbar features six drive units: the left, centre and right channels pack a tweeter and mid/bass unit each, with the central high-frequency unit facing upwards. Then, of course, there is the subwoofer, which adds considerable authority to the sound.

There is a pair of brackets provided in the box if you wish to mount the soundbar on the wall. As with all Atmos soundbars, you shouldn’t keep it on a covered shelf as that disrupts its ability to create sonic height.

Features

As far as features go, there is support for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. Bluetooth is included, though the lack of a network connection means that Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and AirPlay 2 are not supported. Round the back, you will find sockets for power, USB, optical, and a pair of HDMIs, one of which is eARC.

There’s support for VRR and ALLM, which is good news for gamers. On top of that, the LG S70TY supports 4K/ 120Hz.

There’s a nifty remote control with an intuitive design that fits neatly into your hand. You can also use the LG ThinQ app to adjust the soundbar’s settings. This app is responsive and easy to use. LG has not included an onscreen display with the package, which makes working through the various settings less intuitive than we would like it to be. It is a shame that the company has made it so restrictive, but it’s far from the only soundbar manufacturer to take this approach.

The package itself is pleasingly easy to navigate. There are touch buttons on the soundbar that make a small ping to let you know they have been activated, which is something that many products lack. To set up the wireless subwoofer, there is a simple pairing button that allows it to connect quickly to the ‘bar.

There are a range of sound modes including AI Sound Pro, Cinema, Standard, Clear Voice Pro, Bass Blast and Music. Standard proves to be the most balanced of the choices, while Cinema expands the soundfield at the expense of dialogue clarity. Unlike most voice modes, Clear Voice Pro actually makes the dialogue clearer without sacrificing the rest of the sound too much and proves useful on occasions when voices are hard to decipher. There is also a Night mode to compress the sound and avoid disturbing the rest of the household.

Sound

Right from the off, this soundbar is nicely balanced and creates an easy listening experience. We test it with the 48-inch LG OLED C4, and the ‘bar provides a massive step up from the TV’s built-in speakers.

To get things going, we start with Seven Worlds, One Planet in Dolby Atmos, a nature documentary exploring the lives of animals on all the continents narrated by the UK's national treasure, David Attenborough.

In Africa, a mother fish has a nasty surprise when one of her babies hatches early and eats its siblings to grow stronger. The scene’s tense soundtrack is kept balanced with the S70TY, neither distracting from Attenborough’s narration nor under-delivering the bass. It would be easy to overemphasise the fast-paced strings and treble, but the tension is still communicated well.

Moving to Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, we really get a feel for the S70TY’s ability to keep up with faster-moving sound. As Miles Morales hones his spidey skills in an epic montage across Brooklyn, Black Caviar And Blackway’s What’s Up, Danger? kicks in. The action of Miles swinging around the city skyline is portrayed with the necessary punch thanks to the competently organised sound. The bass is not the deepest but it’s well controlled, managing to integrate nicely with the soundbar.

You can get a great sense of height as the titular character moves from the top of the screen to the bottom. That being said, if you want a proper wrap-around effect it would be worth investing in LG’s optional SPT8-S wireless surround speakers. These are not currently available directly from LG in the UK but can be found via Amazon (for around £100 at the time of writing) and German company Sotel, and they are available for $199 in the US.

The 2015 iteration of Macbeth, being heavy on some serious Shakespearean conversation, is the perfect test disc for how a soundbar handles dialogue. The voices of Banquo and Macbeth during the aftermath of a bloody battle should sound raw and full of emotion but they instead feel relatively flat from the S70TY, lacking nuance and not quite tapping into the lower-level dynamics. We switch to Clear Voice Pro mode, which enhances the voices and retains a natural feel, but it doesn’t make them more expressive.

Compared with the Sonos Beam (Gen 2), the LG has a wider sound and creates the sense of movement with more ease. But the LG package doesn’t quite get to the emotion in the voices in the same way as the Beam, particularly in terms of clarity and excitement.

Moving from Standard to Music mode, we turn on Charli XCX’s Von Dutch on Spotify via Bluetooth. The sound is obviously smaller compared to when we watch movies, but the constricted soundfield means the track seems more cohesive and focused. The S70TY does well to retain the track's toe-tapping infectiousness. You are easily swept away in the music and are treated to a distraction-free listening experience.

One feature that is exclusive to LG is its WOW Orchestra, which combines audio from a compatible TV with the soundbar to render an “expanded soundstage with a new level of depth and power”. This feature does indeed provide a greater sense of scale by locking the sound onto the screen, but it also results in a harder, edgier sound that loses much of the natural warmth of the soundbar package alone. Combining the relatively poor TV speakers with the soundbar ultimately only detracts from the overall performance.

Verdict

With balanced sound and a great sense of space, this is a ‘bar well worth considering. It’s not quite on par with the Sonos Beam’s ability to capture the excitement of the sound, but LG’s S70TY is a nifty package worth the reasonable price, particularly for US customers.

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Build 4
• Features 4

MORE:

Read our review of the Sonos Beam (Gen 2)

Also consider the Sonos Arc Ultra

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