Creative continues to produce some of the finest audio products on the market and with the Sound Blaster Katana V2 Soundbar, they blew my expectations completely out of the water. While the original Katana was already a fine product, the V2 takes it to another level entirely. Let’s dive in to explore why this version is worth your time and hard earned dollar.
What’s In The Box
Like most Creative products, the packaging and box design is clean, sleek, and neat. For such huge audio power, this is a relatively standard package with just the main soundbar, a completely unassuming subwoofer, a few audio/power cables, mounting brackets, and a well-designed remote. All of it is packed safely in a box isn’t oversized
The LED lighting design is fully customizable from bright, vivid colors to just turning the lighting off completely.
Aesthetics and Build Quality
The Katana V2 is an absolutely gorgeous product that is designed to fit underneath monitors, TVs, and other displays so you have maximum flexibility on pairing it with just about any setup even if you just want standalone audio for music or other applications. Both sets of controls on the soundbar itself and the remote are easy to reach, use, and adjust. There are more controls on the remote like LED and display options but for the most part, you can make main adjustments via the bar or remote.
On the build quality front, there aren’t many companies around like Creative that deliver such consistent and impressive pieces of audio goodness. The Katana V2 is an absolutely stunning example of how to make a minimal but equally impressive design.
The connection options really allow you to hook up to any gaming device or just filling the room with music via Bluetooth.
Specs and Special Features
Comparing the already impressive Katana with the new V2, there are quite a few improvements and additions that really stand out.
Clear and clean dedicated display with easy to read inputs
Larger subwoofer for bigger bass
SXFI out app and features for incredible headphone audio (With headphone jack now on the front of the device)
Increased power for filling larger rooms with quality audio
HDMI ARC and USB-C inputs
Built-in microphone
While those may look like minor improvements to some, they make a world of difference and make an incredible product even better. As I spent time with the Engineers behind the Katana V2, I was blown away by the care and thought put into all these details and all that effort truly paid off in the final product. Also, If you haven’t had the opportunity to play your favorite games with SXFI audio, it’s worth the price of admission alone. It truly is a revelation in audio that every serious gamer should experience.
The variety of audio in New World truly shines on the Katana V2 from the bombastic gunfire to subtle cracks of the axe and pick in stone, the world feels more alive than ever.
Gameplay
Even though all the amazing specs, features, and, upgrades with the V2 are certainly handy and impressive, it’s actual audio performance and hands on gaming that really gets the blood pumping. No matter what I threw at the Katana V2, it handled it without breaking a sweat. From the booming combat and soaring orchestral score of New World to classical music to cinematic soundtracks to dubstep, you have to hear to believe how incredible the audio prowess of this setup truly is.
The audio is absolutely room-filling and the improved subwoofer is the star of the show as the bass is deep, tight, and clean instead of the boomy, muddy sound of many ‘gaming’ subwoofers out there. The high, mids, and lows are extremely impressive across the board.
SXFI Battle Mode is awesome in FPS, stealth, and, horror games where every detail in game is crystal clear.
What It Could Have Done Better
Honestly at this point, anything mentioned in this section is just nitpicking. It would be nice to be able to adjust LED lighting from the base soundbar instead of the remote. It would seemed odd at first not having complete control of treble and bass levels but after speaking with the lead Engineers behind the product, it makes more sense as the Katana V2 is custom balanced for the movie, gaming, and, music presets. Other than that, there really isn’t much lacking in the product. Maybe it would be nice to have the option for true 5.1 surround as a separate SKU in the future?
Verdict
I could go on and on about how much I love the Katana V2 but to summarize, it’s one of the best sounding, most exciting audio products I’ve tested in years. The amount of quality, room-filling audio that comes from something so generally compact is an absolute marvel. The connectivity options are ample, the excitement gaming with it cannot be expressed in words, and overall, it has just blown away me away along with all my colleagues and friends. The flexibility seals the deal as you can use it almost anywhere with movies, games, or music.
The Sound Blaster Katana V2 is available now and you can check out more details, tech specs, etc on the main product page.
