Asus ROG Gjallar Gaming Soundbar Review: Sorry, Did You Say Something?

In a perfect world, I would game headset-free, my nonexistent hair flowing in the nonexistent wind inside my apartment. It’s not that gaming headsets aren’t great—I’ve used a few impressive pairs this year—but there’s something appealing about the idea of being able to plop my ass on the couch and play cooperatively with my friends online without ever donning an additional piece of hardware. Wearing a headset isn’t a big deal, but not wearing one would just feel so much easier.

That’s the world that Asus ROG’s Gjallar gaming soundbar —the company’s first-ever in the category for Asus ROG—promises. With a rectangular row of drivers for in-game audio and an included hub with integrated AI microphones, the Gjallar positions itself as an all-in-one package for both sides of the gaming audio coin: a solution for hearing sound from your game and also projecting your voice to friends. Unfortunately for Asus ROG and my dreams of being headset-free, only one side of that coin is actually worth something, and the other side is… sorry, did you say something?

The Asus ROG Gjallar is cool on paper, but the sound is just okay and the hub with microphones is subpar at best.

Asus ROG’s Gjallar consists of three main components: the soundbar, a side-firing subwoofer, and a USB-C-tethered hub with mics for communication, controlling sound, switching inputs, and other stuff.

Since this is a soundbar, let’s start with the sound part. It’s not bad! Okay, review over. (Just kidding.) While this is a fairly compact soundbar, it delivers a fairly big sound, thanks to a 2.1.2 channel layout, or 5.1.2 when factoring in Dolby Atmos. Up-firing speakers give the Gjallar a decent amount of height and space, which translates well to the gaming experience.

Playing games like Fortnite, I was able to hear environmental noises on all sides: footsteps, gunfire, etc. And for less co-op experiences like Cyberpunk 2077 , the Gjallar was solid, though maybe a little less satisfying. There was plenty of volume for things like gunfire or dialogue, but I wasn’t quite getting the most spatial sound from environmental sounds like rainfall or cars driving by. If I had to describe the Gjallar’s sound, it would be “big.” Big is good in some cases, but it’s not always the most nuanced. Sometimes big is just big, and I was left wanting more finesse.

There are different EQs for various scenarios, so if you want to switch from gaming to watching a movie, you can turn on the movie mode.

Generally speaking, I found the Gjallar to be a little less compelling for non-gaming uses. While it was okay for watching TV (I watched a few episodes of NBC’s Hannibal ), I found it to be a little muddy at times. Dialogue was still audible, but it felt a little bit flat even with the movie EQ on.

Compared to the last soundbar I tested, the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar, things felt just a little less clear, though I guess if you’re buying this soundbar from a company that literally has the words “Republic of Gamers” in the name, then movies and TV probably aren’t the biggest ticket items on your agenda.