In the bustling soundbar market, where options span from sleek, minimalist bars to feature-packed home theatre giants, finding the sweet spot of performance and affordability can be tricky. Priced at Rs 12,990, the Philips TAB7007 targets budget-conscious buyers seeking an audio upgrade. It boasts a 2.1 channel system with a dedicated wireless subwoofer for immersive sound, but can it compete with other options in its price range? This review dives into its design, features, sound quality, and value to see if the TAB7007 delivers big sound on a budget.
Philips TAB7007
Rs 12,990What Is Good?
- Powerful 240W sound
- Clear audio at high volumes
- Minimalist, clean design
- Great audio codec support
What Is Bad?
- No text-based display
- Goes to sleep very quickly
Design and Build
The Philips TAB7007 has a sleek and lightweight design. Its pyramid-shaped sides and grille finish give it an appealing look. The soundbar doesn’t take up much space, making it suitable for placement on an entertainment unit or even wall-mounting.
The top of the soundbar features buttons for input control, while the ports are easily identifiable.
It doesn’t have a display, just an LED light to indicate volume levels, equaliser modes, Bluetooth pairing, and more. That takes a little bit of getting used to.
The accompanying subwoofer is compact and sleek, and stands firmly on a tabletop. Some of our guests mistook it for an Xbox Series S, because of a giant circular patch on its side. It connects wirelessly to the main unit via Bluetooth.
The Philips TAB7007’s remote is compact and comfortable to hold, with clear, well-spaced buttons that are easy to find even in dimly lit rooms. While not backlit, the labels are easy to read. Navigating through functions is straightforward, with dedicated buttons for volume, bass, sound modes, and switching between sources. It skips unnecessary frills and focuses on functionality, offering a no-nonsense approach to controlling your audio experience.
Connectivity
The soundbar provides multiple connectivity options, including advanced HDMI ARC, AUX, USB, Bluetooth, and optical-in. Whether you’re streaming music wirelessly or connecting via cables, the TAB7007 has you covered.
That said, it has a tendency to go to sleep within 5 minutes of inactivity, which can be annoying during a party. You’ll have to keep waking up the device every single time.
Audio performance
The TAB7007 is one of those rare audio products that sound average at low volumes, but suddenly transform into a beast the moment you yank the volume up over 50 or 60 per cent. That’s because here’s where its soundstage really opens up, you can hear instruments individually without much distortion, even on YouTube.
| Sound system output power | 240 W Max / 120W RMS (THD <=10%) |
| Loudspeakers | Main unit speaker drivers: L: 2 x 2 inches; R: 2 x 2 inches |
| Subwoofer type | Active |
| Wireless subwoofer | Subwoofer drivers: 1 x 5.25-inch woofer |
| Bluetooth version | 5.3 |
| Supported Audio Formats | Bluetooth: SBC, HDMI ARC: Dolby Digital plus, Dolby Digital, Linear Pulse Code Modulation 2 (LPCM 2) channel, USB: MP3, WAV, FLAC, Optical: Dolby Digital, LPCM 2 channel |
| Main unit power consumption | 25 W |
| Subwoofer power consumption | 25 W |
| Dimensions | Main Unit (W x H x D) 800 x 67.3 x 81.7 mm; Subwoofer (W x H x D) 170 x 344 x 309 mm |
| Weight | Main Unit Weight 4.9 kg; Subwoofer Weight 1.8 kg |
We liked how well it could create a three-dimensional, immersive experience for action movies, doing the Dolby Atmos badge justice. The channel separation is decent, and vocals blend well with background effects during action sequences. The bass is punchy without compromising audio quality.
The wide variety of supported codecs is also respectable – it even natively supports FLAC, a high-quality lossless standard.
Philips TAB7007: Verdict
In summary, the Philips TAB7007 is a decently priced soundbar that doesn’t compromise on audio quality. It’s loud, versatile, and a great addition to your home entertainment setup.
We wish it came with a text-based display instead of little LEDs to have a better understanding of what mode it’s in, but we’ll excuse that given that it gets the basics right.
If you’re looking for alternatives, the Samsung HW-T450 can be bought for a similar price. It comes with a wireless subwoofer and supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X object-based surround sound. From the house of Sony, you have the HT-S350, which provides similar specs but at Rs 500 cheaper.
