Polk makes some of our favorite speakers, including a few options that are smart and connected for integrating into your smart home. One of those speakers, the MagniFi Max soundbar, delivered a great sounding soundbar in a compelling package that's perfect for someone looking to upgrade their home theater experience without taking up a ton of space. It also packed in all of the WiFi and Bluetooth music streaming you could want, making it a perfect upgrade for just about any TV or home theater.

But now we're testing out the MagniFi Mini, which aims to take what the MagniFi Max did well and shrink it down into an even smaller package. Let's dig in and see how it sounds.

Design

Polk has done something a little different with the MagniFi Mini. It's a compact soundbar, absolutely, but it's not skinny. If you're constrained for space, this isn't necessarily great; this little guy is pretty chunky and may not fit on the tiniest of edges. It's a trade-off, though, because Polk has put a lot of better components into this gadget to keep the sound quality from suffering too much.

It has some weight to it, too, which is again probably due to trying to compete as a pretty good speaker, not just a small one. Nothing (usually) sounds worse than weightless speakers.

It keeps the front design generally the same, but obviously the width is much smaller than the Max. It's perfect for small TVs, but may look a little funny underneath a 60-inch set.

That front display also houses LED lights for indicating volume, and the top holds the buttons for changing volume, turning on night mode, and starting up the pairing process with your smart devices for music streaming.

It's paired wirelessly with a subwoofer, which is considerably less spacious than the MagniFi Max's sub. Unfortunately, the sub here does feel pretty cheap, with a plasticky finish and not much weight. It honestly feels like the soundbar weighs more than the subwoofer does just from the shape of everything, despite the sub weighing about 5 pounds more.

Features

Smaller size means less room for stuff and things, so Polk did have to make some concessions on the Mini. You're only getting a single HDMI ARC port on this thing to run audio back and forth with a compatible TV, so you won't be able to use this as an HDMI hub like you can with the Max.

Other ports include your standard assortment of optical and auxiliary inputs, so you've got enough flexibility here to connect to just about any TV or device. There's a USB port that's listed for just service, so don't expect to pop in a flash drive full of music. You also have an ethernet port should you choose to hardwire the soundbar to a router.

But for things that don't take up physical space like that, you're still getting a slew of connectivity options to integrate this soundbar into your setup. It's Google Cast enabled so you can easily sling music from your phone to the soundbar, and like other Cast speakers you can group it up with your other Google Home speakers and devices to create a whole-home speaker system. You can do this hands free with Google Assistant, too.

It's fully capable of decoding Dolby Audio and 5.1 sources, too, so you won't have to worry about any major compatibility issues. It also features the Voice Adjust technology from the Max, which changes the frequencies of what would typically be in a center channel to make dialog and talking a little clearer. This is something that many 2.1 soundbars struggle with, so it's a very welcome addition.

Performance

But how does it all sound? Legitimately really good, especially for how small this thing is. Soundbars tend to have that “boxed in” sound just from being speakers stuck in a small enclosure, and you really only manage to avoid that with careful positioning or the soundbar just being excellent with how it throws sound. I don't want to say the Mini manages to perfectly avoid that boxy sound, but it gets damn close for its size.

The soundstage from the soundbar is great in all but the biggest rooms, and the included subwoofer adds plenty of thump to a small package.

Music performance is excellent, topping pretty much any standalone Bluetooth speaker that you're going to have laying around. Notes and sounds manage to avoid getting muddled, the low end has good punch without getting muddy, and the high notes are all crisp and clear without being fatiguing. Polk also has three different EQ modes (movie, sports, music) and a bass and voice EQ adjustment so you can properly tweak it to your liking, too.

As a soundbar for a home theater, it also manages to impress. Dialog stands out clearly without getting mixed in with explosions and gunshots, and the speakers are surprisingly dynamic. Quiet sounds stay quiet without getting fuzzy, and loud sounds ring out appropriately. Listening to some of Dolby's surround sound trailers and the like really showcase what the speaker can do in a small room, keeping sounds and audio crystal clear while slinging audio all around the room and almost nailing that pseudo 5.1 surround sound. This isn't the best soundbar for it just because it doesn't have the size, but it gets so close and I really can't fault it.

Night Mode makes a return from the MagniFi Max that helps you listen to movies and shows at night without shaking the walls, too, and it still manages to quiet things down without completely ruining the dynamics of the content. I think it's naturally just a little less necessary here because the soundbar is much smaller and doesn't have the same power to wake up your neighbors, but I'd much rather have the feature than miss it.

Verdict

For the size, the Polk MagniFi Mini manages to deliver a seriously impressive audio experience. It's loud, it thumps, and it captures most of that home theater sound quality and puts it on a compact plate. If you don't have a ton of space and you just want something that's perfect for a bedroom, guest room, or office, I don't think you'll have much luck finding a better option.

For the price, though, things get a little more tricky. At $299 it's no longer competing in the aggressively priced market. It undercuts the MagniFi Max but $200, but we've also seen the Max go on sale for $399 semi-frequently, and if the difference is only $100 I don't know that I wouldn't recommend spending a little extra and getting something that does sound noticeably better and also have the option to add surround speakers down the line. But when it's on sale for around $220, like it frequently goes for on Amazon, it's back to being a killer deal again.

There are also some other soundbars in and around this price range, and you've also got Sonos as an option if you want to start building up a comprehensive sound system throughout your house.

If you need the size, I'm fully recommending the MagniFi Mini, but pay attention to that price and match sure you're really getting the most bang for your buck.

Buy it now: Polk, Amazon