LG has announced a new fleet of soundbars at CES 2021, including the QP5 Éclair: an incredibly petite speaker which is, as far as we can tell, the smallest Dolby Atmos soundbar ever made.
The QP5 Éclair, which at least vaguely resembles the pastry’s shape, is a 3.2.1 system with a wireless subwoofer. The soundbar itself is only 11.7 inches wide and 2.3 inches tall, making it more compact than even the Polk MagniFi Mini.
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Adding to a massive CES launch lineup that spans QNED and OLED TVs to wearable air purifiers, the QP5 Éclair’s five speakers include two up-firing drivers that bounce sound off the ceiling, creating Atmos' 3D effect. DTS: X is supported as well.
Its tiny stature could give it a lot more flexibility in placement. Soundbars are best kept aligned with the middle of the TV, but at less that 12 inches across, the Eclair could easily fit underneath a desktop monitor or a small kitchen/bedroom TV as well as the usual 4K big screens. Not that it would be entirely useless here, either, as it could potentially squeeze underneath freestanding TVs with short feet.
With that in mind, LG has said that the QP5 Éclair is designed for small rooms specifically. It only offers a modest 100W of output power, 50W less than the Magnifi Mini, and it’s worth remembering that narrow soundbars can struggle to replicate the soundstage breadth of wider designs.
Still, Dolby Atmos power in such a small package could be a tempting prospect. There’s no pricing information yet but LG says the QP5 Éclair will release in either June or July this year.
LG also revealed more conventional soundbars like the high-end SP11R, SP9 and SP8, all of which support Atmos and have been tuned by hi-fi specialists Meridian Audio, as well as more basic bars such as the 2.1 LG SN4 and LG SP2. Pricing for the whole range is still to be announced, but these soundbars will launch in either March or April, ahead of the QP5 Éclair.
