Polk Audio MagniFi Mini review: Small in stature but large on sound

Audio quality is important when you’re watching a movie or television show so most people upgrade to a soundbar. For some, the problem with many soundbars on the market is they’re long and awkward to place. The Polk Audio MagniFi Mini wants to solve that issue for those users. Its compact size is meant to tuck into your entertainment center without being noticed much. Read on for our full review of the Polk Audio MagniFi Mini soundbar and see what our thoughts are.

Specifications

The Polk Audio MagniFi Mini has the following features and specifications:

• Soundbar speaker array configuration:
  • (2) 0.5″ (1.27 cm) d (Round) – Tweeter
  • (4) 2.25″ (5.72 cm) d (Round) Drivers – Midrange
• Subwoofer speaker array configuration:
• Power: 150-watt internal amp
• Wireless connectivity: Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
• I/O
  • HDMI (ARC)
  • Toslink Optical Audio
  • Analog 3.5mm Mini-Jack (AUX)
• Soundbar dimensions
  • Height: 3.2″ (8.13 cm)
  • Width: 13.4″ (34.04 cm)
  • Depth: 4.3″ (10.92 cm)
  • Weight: 3.88 lbs (1.76 kg)
• Subwoofer dimensions
  • Height: 14.4″ (36.58 cm)
  • Width: 7.4″ (18.8 cm)
  • Depth: 14.4″ (36.58 cm)
  • Weight: 8.12 lbs (3.68 kg)

What’s In The Box

• Polk Audio MagniFi Mini
• Polk Audio MagniFi Mini Subwoofer
• Power cables
• HDMI cable
• Optical cable
• AUX cable
• Batteries
• Remote
• Manuals and Documentation

Design

When I first saw the Polk Audio MagniFi Mini I was expecting a very lightweight piece of hardware. Much to my surprise, the MagniFi Mini has some robust weight to it. There are longer and bigger soundbars on the market that weigh less than this little guy does.

Once you have it in your hand you can feel the quality of the build and its materials. There is no doubt that Polk Audio did not go cheap on the build quality of this little device. The amazing thing is just how small it is and the size of the footprint it takes up. The subwoofer on the other hand, well, it’s not overly massive but it is bulky and mostly made of plastic. It doesn’t feel nearly as premium in materials as the soundbar does. Though it isn’t supposed to be the centerpiece of the system, so I guess we can give it somewhat of a pass.

On the rear of the soundbar, you’ll find your I/O. Barrel-shaped power port, HDMI ARC, Optical input, AUX input, Ethernet port, and Wi-Fi button. On the top of the soundbar, you’ll find the power button, Bluetooth button, source button, Polk branding, night effect, volume up and down buttons. On the rear of the subwoofer, all you have are the standby light, bar sync light, and power port.

Overall, the design of the Polk Audio MagniFi Mini is sleek, modern, clean, and small. It should fit right into any decor you have and it doesn’t take up much space.

Ease of Use

Using the Polk Audio MagniFi Mini is as easy as using a regular Bluetooth speaker. I opted to connect to my TV via optical cable, you could use HDMI ARC or AUX as alternatives. Once you have the soundbar and the subwoofer connected to power they will connect to each other automatically. Polk has programmed each Mini and sub to auto-pair with the other from the factory. There is nothing you need to do other than plug the soundbar in first and then the subwoofer, simple as that.

Once you have your preferred input method from your TV to the soundbar, you can start using it to enjoy your movies and television shows. You can also setup Bluetooth and stream music from any Bluetooth enabled device. Setting up Bluetooth should be an easy task for most these days so we won’t cover that.

Chromecast is also built-in and you can connect the Polk Audio MagniFi Mini via Wi-Fi to the Google Home app. The instructions to do this are included and are very simple to follow. Once you have it all setup, you can add the Mini to Google Home and control it through the Google Assistant. It is important to note, this is not like the Google Home speakers, you cannot talk to the Mini and expect it to respond. However, you can connect the Mini to other Google Assistant speakers in a group and give commands to the other speakers to use the Mini.

The remote is pretty straightforward as well. All of the normal buttons and selections you would expect from a sound remote are there. Including presets like movie, sports, and music which switch the EQ to setting appropriate for those genres. To be clear, you don’t need to setup Chromecast or Bluetooth at all if you don’t want. At its core, the Polk Audio MagniFi Mini is a plug and play device. The rest is just extra icing on the cake.

Overall, this is a very easy device to setup and use. The fact the soundbar and subwoofer are preset to pair and you have to do nothing shows just how easy this system is to use.

Sound Quality

The MagniFi Mini sound was actually pretty impressive for the size of this device. I was expecting a small amount of sound but was served a large portion instead. Polk has four presets they include which are:

• Movie Mode: Enhances audio reproduction in television and movies
• Music Mode: Enhances audio whenever you’re listening to music, or watching TV or movies that have music playing in them
• Sport Mode: Enhances audio whenever you’re watching sporting events, news, and talk shows
• Night Effect: Reduces bass and volume dynamics while improving voice intelligibility for low-volume listening

I found these presets to work really well, surprisingly. Movie mode does a good job of enhancing dramatic and big sounding movie scenes. Music mode does a fantastic job of bringing clarity to music and separating instruments. I did not try sport mode as I don’t watch many sports but Night Effect is super awesome.

Night Effect will bring the bass down and enhance voices while you’re listening to it at low volumes. This is a really great feature for my wife and I when watching at night in our bedroom and not wanting to disturb the kids while they sleep.

Speaking of bedrooms. I believe you can use this soundbar in a living room or entertainment room and it will do a great job, but I think this guy really shines in a large master bedroom. It’s the right size for a master bedroom bringing that theater experience from the living room to the bedroom.

I felt the sound options were great, the subwoofer delivers decent punchy low ends during big action scenes and spatial separation is really great with this soundbar.

Overall, I don’t think anyone will be disappointed with the Mini. I’ve used physically larger soundbars that do not sound nearly as good as the Polk Audio MagniFi Mini.

Price/Value

Priced at $299.95USD, that is a lot of coin to plunk down on a soundbar system of this size. However, the Polk Audio MagniFi Mini really has a lot of features and really great sound that adds value to that price tag.

Wrap Up

If you’re looking for a great sounding home entertainment sound system that is also very small. Well, you can’t go wrong with the Polk Audio MagniFi Mini. Its small package hides some large sound inside and it’s solid build quality and useful features make it a soundbar that should be on your shortlist.

*We received a review unit of the Polk Audio MagniFi Mini for the purposes of this review.

Last Updated on December 17, 2020.