TCL Alto 8i Review

Low-budget Dolby Atmos sound?

You have to admit that the TCL Alto 8i does not necessarily look particularly high-quality at first glance. Instead, the soundbar is mostly made of plastic, which makes for a comparatively low weight and not much stability. Their front and back are also covered with a black fabric. This offers the two installed speakers and the integrated subwoofer a bit more protection, but also attracts dust and dirt.

Thanks to its low height of around six and a half centimeters, the Alto 8i doesn’t cover any of the picture even when placed in front of TVs with a low stand. With its width of one meter, it also fits perfectly in front of TVs from 48 inches. There are also five buttons on the top for control. Using them, the 2.1-channel system can be turned on or off, a source can be selected, Bluetooth pairing mode is activated and the volume can be adjusted.

TCL has thought of just about everything in the Alto 8i’s package: Besides a power cord, the user manual, a remote control with batteries, and a HDMI cable, it also includes a set for wall-mounting the soundbar. The only complaint here is that the power cord with a length of 1.5 meters does not leave too much room for maneuver when placing the soundbar.

The remote control of the Alto 8i is – like the soundbar itself – quite plain. It is also completely made of plastic, which makes it look a bit cheap. It also has quite a few buttons at first glance, which does not necessarily speak for intuitive operation. Since the soundbar also supports the HDMI CECConsumer Electronics Control: HDMI CEC makes it possible to control various consumer electronics devices with just one remote control. standard, you can use the TV remote for the most important control functions like volume control when connected.

A look at the back reveals that the TCL Alto 8i offers various options for connecting it to a TV or other device. The best option of these is its HDMI output, in fact the Alto 8i is among the soundbars with HDMI 2.1 eARCEnhanced Audio Return Chanel: A significant increase in the data transfer rate, which means that audio signals no longer need to be compressed before being transmitted to the music system. This noticeably increases audio quality. connector. Moreover, it not only supports Dolby AtmosDolby Atmos is a 3D sound format that adds sounds from above to surround sound systems and can also assign additional information to sounds so that they can be reproduced even more realistically. and Dolby Digital Plus, but also ensures compatibility with Dolby VisionDolby Vision is a dynamic HDR format that significantly improves the HDR picture quality of your TV. Not every soundbar can pass this format on to the TV.. DTS content, on the other hand, is not supported even with this connection type. The soundbar’s optical output offers an alternative for connecting to older TV models without an HDMI interface. It also has a 3.5mm jack connector and a USB interface for playing files. Another HDMI 2.0 input is also installed, which you can connect your console or a BluRay player to.

The current status of the soundbar can be read on a five-digit LED display on its front. This is easy to read despite the fabric cover over it. You can also choose between an illuminated and a dimmed version of the display via the Alto 8i’s remote control.

With a maximum total power of around 260 watts, the Alto 8i gets quite loud, which we can confirm in our listening test. The volume can be adjusted to a total of fifty levels, but the sound becomes duller in the higher levels and compressions are audible. The integrated dual subwoofer also makes a rather mediocre impression: The soundbar’s bass is quite audible, but of course not nearly as convincing as in soundbars with an external woofer.

A look at our frequency response measurement of the Alto 8i confirms this: There are clear deficiencies in the area of low bass, so the soundbar from TCL cannot serve with sub-basses. The fact that you can still hear the low frequencies in their sound image is probably due to the fact that these are boosted, while high frequencies are attenuated.

In the mids, the frequency response of the TCL Alto 8i is quite balanced, which has a positive effect on the overall sound, since the human ear is particularly sensitive in this frequency range. Furthermore, dialogs are therefore reproduced intelligibly – despite the lack of center speakers or a dialog enhancement.

In turn, the audio sounds partially tinny in the high frequencies. Although the frequencies above 14 000 Hz can only be heard as background noise, the strong emphasis of the trebles determined in our test graph could be an explanation for this metallic coloring of the sound image.

As already mentioned, the TCL Alto 8i also supports the playback of Dolby AtmosDolby Atmos is a 3D sound format that adds sounds from above to surround sound systems and can also assign additional information to sounds so that they can be reproduced even more realistically. content, for which 5.1.2 channels are virtually simulated. That this does not sound particularly immersive from a stereo setup should be expected. In the end, you can still hear from which direction the sounds come – namely from the front of the Alto 8i – in surround as well as in 3D content. Although a spatial expansion of the sound can be heard, one is not really enveloped. The soundbar also lacks a bit more bass in surround mode.

In order to shape the sound of the Alto 8i to individual taste, its Chinese manufacturer has not implemented too many functions. Only Bass and Treble can be regulated from -5 to +5 each. Otherwise, there are three presets for TV, Music and Movie. Each of these presets amplifies individual frequencies, but we could not hear a clear difference between the three modes in our listening test. Furthermore, the soundbar reacts a bit slow and takes comparatively long to switch between sound modes. Additionally, a night mode for adjusting the volume is on board.

Unfortunately, you can’t expect much in terms of smart features in the price category of the TCL Alto 8i. Thus, it only has a classic Bluetooth interface. A Wi-Fi connection and gadgets like Airplay or voice assistants are not available here. Pairing via Bluetooth was fast in our test, but short delays and a slight stuttering of the music occurred a few times during streaming from our test laptop. Unfortunately, we could not determine the exact cause.