INTRODUCTION

   When i got my very first 55 inch LCD TV roughly 15 years ago (circa 2008) i remember being so impressed by its size that i was watching movies non-stop (on both my Toshiba HD-DVD and my SONY Blu-Ray) and that's also why almost immediately i went out and got a Yamaha based 5.1 surround system to go with it. Fast forward to today and even though i don't really have the time to watch movies on a daily basis i do dedicate a few hours each week, if there's a new one out that I’d really like to see (unfortunately not many of those as of late). For good or bad i recently decided to "retire" all three of my 5.1/7.1 surround systems (too many cables around and my A/V amplifiers lack quite a few features) and replace them with soundbars which means I'm looking to test as many such models as possible in order to see what that technology has to offer. Today's review is obviously for one such soundbar and more specifically the Sierra by Majority.

   Founded by two friends from Cambridge in 2012, Majority has gone on to become an Amazon best-selling brand with a device in over three million homes across the globe. From the very beginning, founders, Eddie Latham, and PJ Scott’s focus has been to use ground-breaking technology to deliver quality consumer electronics at an affordable price. “Our goal has always been inclusivity” Latham and Scott use their years of know-how to continue to build a brand that designs products for a variety of budgets.

   The Majority Sierra is a Dolby Atmos soundbar which is currently available with (2.1.2) and without (2.0.2) a wireless subwoofer, the latter of which is what arrived in the lab roughly a month ago. So, without the wireless subwoofer the standalone Sierra sports a total power output of 280W (400W for the subwoofer version) which should still be more than plenty for home use. In terms of speakers aside the 4 main drivers and the two air ports the Sierra delivers on something we don't see in its price range (and even higher), two up-firing drivers which can be used to produce a more realistic Dolby Atmos effect (compared to soundbars without them). The Sierra also features Bluetooth v5.0 connectivity, USB port (supports MP3, FLAC, WAV and WMA file formats), two HDMI v2.0 4K HDR pass-through ports, HDMI ARC port, optical port and a 3.5mm jack. Needless to say, since the Sierra has an ARC port (and not an eARC one) it can't decode lossless (True HD) Dolby Atmos (only lossy Digital Plus) but since that's pretty much available only on Blu-Ray and not streaming services it's far from a deal breaker. So, let's see what Majority brings to the table with their Sierra 2.0.2 Dolby Atmos Soundbar.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Majority uses a long box made out of 100% recyclable materials to ship the Sierra in and as expected at the front we see a large product picture and their logo.

As with other products by Majority the moment you buy the Sierra a tree gets planted.

Available connectivity is listed at the rear of the box just under a drawing of the Sierra.

Along with the Sierra and its power cable you're also getting a remote control, 3.5mm to stereo RCA cable, two rubber pads, mounting screws and the user manual.

THE SIERRA

The 7.9kg Sierra is a rather long soundbar that measures 96cm in length, 10.8cm in width and 8.1cm in height.

Just saying long may not be enough so here you can see just how larger it is compared to the Sonos Beam Gen 2.

There's a simple reason as to the why the Sierra is such a long soundbar, it sports an front display, 4 main drivers, two air ports and two up-firing drivers.

Yes, the up-firing drivers are located on the top far right and left of the Sierra but still you can't have another driver right in front of them (meaning they do take up space as well).

The holes on both sides of the Sierra seem to be just for design purposes.

On top of the Sierra, we find 4 round rubber buttons (on/off, volume up/down and select input).

Turning the Sierra around we find everything is located at the center.

Here we have the power port, two HDMI v2.0 4K HDR pass-through ports, HDMI ARC port, USB port, optical port and a 3.5mm jack (aux).

CONCLUSION

   After spending just over 2 weeks with the Majority Sierra 4 things clearly stand out, size, volume levels, positioning audio and mids performance. Size is not an issue in my case cause i used the Sierra with both my 65 inch OLED and my brand new 100 inch retractable projector screen (both are well over 1 meter in length) but i do expect some people to have limitations so potential buyers should obviously keep this in mind. Volume levels are very good and as a matter of fact just as good and perhaps a tad over what the Sonos Beam 2 delivers and yes more volume is always a good thing (although chances are you will not be using either soundbar at full volume). In terms of positioning audio, the Sierra does very well thanks not only to its up-firing speakers but also the 4 front speakers which take advantage of the soundbar length (more space between each of them). I was also delighted to see that the USB port can playback MP3, FLAC, WAV and WMA audio file formats so if you enjoy having your entire music collection in a flash drive like i do this will probably come in handy. Unfortunately, not all is perfect and so even though mids and lows are very good the Sierra lacks the highs (clarity/detail) of the Sonos Beam Gen 2 something which was expected (it does cost less than half after all). The top media buttons are large and very easy to use but also represent a potential issue since they are made out of rubber and in my lifetime, I’ve seen way too many rubber parts break down and become sticky. Now i have no way of knowing whether or not this will happen here too but there's a good possibility it will. Finally, the lack of an eARC port on the Sierra means you can't listen to Dolby Atmos lossless (True HD) but only to Dolby Atmos lossy (Dolby Digital Plus) and even though i don't expect this to be an issue for 99% of the people out there (once again streaming services don't support True HD) there may be some who'll end up looking for another solution (primarily people with compatible media players and/or consoles like the XBOX One and the NVIDIA Shield Pro).

   At the time of this review the standalone Majority Sierra Dolby Atmos Soundbar retails for just 239.62Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) and for 312.55Euros with the wireless subwoofer (Amazon.de). Personally, I think the standalone model does a very good job even with bass but if you really enjoy bass the wireless subwoofer should improve the overall experience. At the end of the day the Majority Sierra may not be the best Dolby Atmos soundbar out there but thanks to its incredibly good price/performance ratio it still deserves the Golden Award.

PROS

- Good Audio Quality/Accuracy (Up Firing Drivers)
- Very Good Volume Levels
- Available Connectivity (Bluetooth v5.0/HDMI ARC/Dual 4K HDMI Pass Through Ports)
- Dolby Atmos Compatibility (Digital Plus)
- USB Port (Support For MP3, FLAC, WAV & WMA File Formats)
- With & Without Wireless Subwoofer
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Overall Bass Levels
- Length
- HDMI ARC (TrueHD Not Supported)