Majority Snowdon II Review
A convincing budget upgrade to a TV's audio
Verdict
If you can get past the design and are in the market for a soundbar to wall-mount or sit beneath your wall-mounted TV, the Majority Snowdon is a convincing upgrade on a TV’s built-in sound systems at a budget price.
Pros
- Super-affordable
- Clear, punchy sound
- Bluetooth support
Cons
- Size can obstruct TV receiver
- Digital optical cable not included
- Struggles with dynamic movie soundtracks
Availability
- UKRRP: £79.95
- USAunavailable
- Europeunavailable
- Canadaunavailable
- Australiaunavailable
Key Features
- 120W of soundMaximum of 120W power
- ConnectionsBluetooth, AUX and digital optical inputs
- SoundThree EQ presets in Movie, Voice and Music
Introduction
Soundbars of today feature plenty of fancy tech, but when we get a chance, we like to have a listen to more affordable efforts.
So, step up the Majority Audio Snowdon II, a soundbar from the Cambridge-based company that’s a cheaper, less spectacular offering than its Dolby Atmos Sierra Plus model.
Some are more than happy to settle for a simple bar that improves the sound of their TV. Just how well does the Snowdon II achieve that goal? Here’s my verdict.
Design
- Too big to sit in front of most TVs
- LED indicator light for signal input
- Optical cable not included
The Majority Snowdon II, much like the mountain in Wales it shares a name with, is a tall unit. At 8.3cm high it’s too big to sit in front of the majority (ahem) of TVs, obstructing the TV’s IR receiver.
If you’re looking to pair it with a monitor with a telescopic stand it’ll be fine, but a clue to the Snowdon’s intentions are the wall-mounting brackets attached to its rear – and that nearly all the promotional pictures on the Majority website show the soundbar sitting below a wall-mounted TV.
The aesthetics are fairly retrograde, including the curved front panel, see-through grille, grey/black finish, and buttons on the side. In any case, it matters less how it looks and more about how it sounds.
Around the back are RCA and optical digital inputs, with a line-in positioned on the Snowdon’s side. The Majority only ships with a RCA and auxiliary cable, meaning you’ll need to make sure you have an optical cable at hand to connect to a TV.
The display (or rather LED light) is in the top right-hand corner and changes colour depending on the input chosen (blue for Bluetooth, yellow for optical). That’s virtually all it can do with no means to even gauge how loud the Snowdon goes, which feels like an oversight.
The remote is small, light, and well-built, featuring all the buttons needed. Strangely, turning the soundbar off can lead to the TCL Roku it was connected to turning off as well, which you might think is handy until you turn the TV on first and then turn it off again after powering up the soundbar.
Features
- Customisable EQ
- Bluetooth support
There’s no mention of Dolby or DTS audio; the briefest glimpse into any audio support is the mention of switching the audio (in your TV’s settings) to PCM.
Inputs include (at least according to the manual), RCA, auxiliary, Bluetooth, USB, and ARC, though the last two aren’t supported, which means there’s an error in the manual. There’s no mention of the Bluetooth specification either.
Buttons on the remote mostly carry over to the bar, located on the right-hand side along with the auxiliary input, volume, source switching, Bluetooth pairing and power buttons. The remote features EQ customization of bass and treble, though this comes with a caveat that EQ is disabled for Dialog and Movie modes.
With Music and Flat presets, EQ is enabled, and music can be adjusted from 0dB to 8dB and Flat from -8dB to 8dB. Flat is also the button to press to reset all EQ adjustments.
Sound Quality
- Punchy bass
- Firm delivery of dialogue
- Good Bluetooth performance
Cheap can be shorthand for nasty where audio is concerned, but the Majority Snowdon II avoids that pitfall. There are strengths and weaknesses, but in terms of improving a flatscreen TV’s audio it’s a satisfactory win for the Snowdon II.
It’s a 2.1 system with an integrated subwoofer that produces a consistently clear, and at times punchy, delivery. Don’t take punchy to mean the subwoofer hits the depths of low frequencies, as it lacks outright weight. When more extension is called for, the Snowdon finds itself on hollow ground.
When Wanda and Professor X launch into a psychic battle in Marvel’s Dr Strange sequel there is a ripple of bass to be heard, but with more testing soundtracks – Blade Runner 2049 for instance – there’s distortion invoked in the opening credits.
When asked to go deep the Majority becomes distinctly uncomfortable with the film’s propensity for tub-thumping bass. There’s a concavity and buzzing aspect to its performance that’s evident when K drives over a desolate Los Angeles landscape. Thankfully, the Snowdon won’t have to deal with films as dynamic as 2049 too often.
With 120W of power at its disposal the Majority makes a decent fist of the fight scenes in 2049, though the tussle between Sapper Morton and K doesn’t deliver the wallop and painful thuds as the similarly priced Groov-e 160 soundbar does.
Dialogue is relayed clearly in Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, though Cumberbatch’s ‘distinctive’ New York tones register a little too bassy and hard. Streaming TV series Industry on iPlayer and its evident there’s a firmness to the Snowdon’s vocal delivery. Watching Normal People, there’s a little distortion with some voices but not to the extent it distracts.
Switching to the Dialog preset minimises Movie Mode’s bassy register, though the Movie preset is ironically clearer and more natural in its delivery. Dialogue is also positioned well on the 55-inch screen the bar is partnered with, with treble clean and relatively sharply reproduced to be distinct from the rest of the frequency range.
There is the provision to adjust the sound with the Flat EQ, but there’s a trade-off in the Movie preset sounding bigger compared to Flat sounding neutral and cleaner. My preference was to stick with the warmth and scale of Movie.
There are decent dynamic shifts to the more horror-tinged scenes and Danny Elfman’s score to provide some impact in Dr Strange 2, and the Majority Snowdon II can make a ruckus like it does in the scene where Strange, America Chavez and Christine are being chased by Wanda in the sewers; or the action scenes in Tenet as gunshots explode with plenty of punch, and there’s scale and loudness given to scenes such as when a 747 plane crashes into a building.
Streaming audio over a Bluetooth connection is better than expected. Clarity is good, avoiding the muddiness often associated with a Bluetooth connection. Audio spans the width of the bar, presenting plenty of space for vocals while balance across the frequency range is decent, though bass can sound ill-defined when coping with a track such as Nelly Furtado’s Maneater.
Bass can be adjusted, but it doesn’t have much of an effect in either direction. I also noticed the angle of the speakers helped fire audio towards ear height, lifting the audio from the bar better than the Groov-e 160 soundbar could accomplish.
When it comes to gaming, a play of Gran Turismo 7 on the PS5 doesn’t sound as shrill at higher volumes as the Groov-e. The Majority Snowden II is the more composed of the two, which makes for a more detailed, less blaring sound than the Groov-e. If you need an affordable bar for some gaming, it’s a solid option.
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Should you buy it?
An affordable soundbar to go with your wall-mounted TV:
The design of the Snowdon lends itself better to being wall-mounted or sitting beneath a wall-mounted TV. That, and it’s a solid upgrade over a TV’s own sound system.
If you’re after something more cinematic:
The built-in subwoofer is decent enough, but its lack of depth and extension with low frequencies is noticeable. If you’re after more cinematic punch, it’s worth considering a bar/wireless sub combo.
Final Thoughts
The Majority Snowdon II doesn’t try anything fancy and in terms of improving a TV’s audio on a budget it’s a convincing upgrade.
While it delivers a punchy sound, if you’re expecting plenty of bass from its integrated subwoofer then the Snowdon is limited. Its firm dialogue delivery does incur some hardness, but it doesn’t overly upset the balance it’s going for.
The design is better suited to wall-mounting, or at least sat beneath a screen with plenty of clearance. The omission of a digital optical cable is an odd one, but for those on a budget looking to upgrade their home cinema or desktop gaming setup, the Snowdon is a solid budget buy.
How we test
We test every soundbar we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Tested with real world use
Compared to other price rivals
Tested for several weeks
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FAQs
There’s no HDMI support with the Snowdon II. Connecting to a TV relies on its optical output (although a cable for that is not provided).
Full specs
Sustainability
Trusted Reviews’ holds the fact that global warming is not a myth as a core value and will continuously endeavour to help protect our planet from harm in its business practices.
As part of this mission, whenever we review a product we send the company a series of questions to help us gauge and make transparent the impact the device has on the environment.
We currently haven’t received answers to the questions on this product, but will update this page the moment we do. You can see a detailed breakdown of the questions we ask and why in our sustainability info page
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Dynamics
The difference between the loudest and quietest soundWoofer
A woofer is a type of loudspeaker driver designed to reproduce low frequency (bass) sounds
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
