Let’s be trustworthy — most built-in TV audio system simply don’t lower it. They’re usually unable to present the immersive expertise you’re on the lookout for, leaving a lot to be desired. That’s the place a soundbar comes in, giving your setup a severe audio improve with out the trouble (or price ticket) of a full surround-sound system. If you need a extra cinematic expertise at house, a soundbar is the proper middle-ground resolution.
There are totally different soundbars to swimsuit every kind of setups and budgets. Some of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars ship next-level immersion with audio that feels prefer it’s coming from all instructions. Others include a devoted subwoofer, excellent for listening to each rumble and bass drop. Even price range fashions nonetheless handle to make outdated motion pictures really feel contemporary, including readability to dialogue and depth to soundtracks.
And in case you love codecs like Dolby Digital or need the comfort of wi-fi connectivity, there’s a soundbar on the market for you. Whether you’re after a budget-friendly possibility or a premium decide, we’ve obtained you lined with the best soundbars to carry your leisure to life.
What to search for in a soundbar
Features
When it comes to options, the extra you pay the extra you are going to get in your new audio system. Most reasonably priced choices ($150 or much less) will enhance your tv’s audio high quality, however that is about it. Step into the $300 to $400 vary and you will find a wise soundbar with issues like built-in voice management, wi-fi connectivity, Google Chromecast, AirPlay 2 and even Android TV. They’re all useful whenever you need to keep away from on the lookout for the distant management, however the best sound high quality is often solely in the highest tier and the codecs these premium soundbar programs assist. I’m speaking about issues like Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and different high-resolution audio requirements. These are important if you need actually cinematic sound for your living-room setup. And not all Atmos soundbars are equal, so you will want to have a look at the finer particulars rigorously earlier than you break into the financial savings account. If you are on the lookout for one of many best Dolby Atmos soundbars, measurement, channels and subwoofer choices can be essential elements to contemplate. Some fashions even embrace a devoted subwoofer to improve bass efficiency, bringing an additional punch to motion scenes and soundtracks.
Ports
This is an enormous one. A number of the extra reasonably priced soundbars are restricted when it comes to connectivity choices. They both supply an optical port or one HDMI jack and, in case you’re fortunate, each. Things get barely higher in the mid-range part, however that is not all the time the case. The Sonos Beam, for instance, is $449, however solely has a single HDMI port. Even on the higher-end, the $899 Sonos Arc nonetheless solely has one HDMI port. If you propose to join a number of units like a set-top field, gaming laptop computer or console straight to your soundbar for the best audio expertise, you’ll need an possibility with a minimum of two HDMI (eARC) inputs. HDMI connections are important for supporting Dolby Atmos and Dolby Digital audio codecs, in addition to high-res passthrough for HDR and 8K/4K content material.
Channels
Another massive factor you’ll need to listen to when on the lookout for the best soundbar is channels. That’s the two.1, 7.1.2 or different decimal quantity that corporations embrace in product descriptions. The first determine corresponds to the variety of channels. A two would simply be left and proper whereas a extra strong Atmos system, particularly one with rear {surround} audio system, could possibly be 5 or seven (left, proper, middle and upward). The second quantity refers to the devoted subwoofer, so if your new soundbar comes with one or has them constructed in, you’ll see one right here. The third numeral is up-firing audio system, essential for the immersive impact of Dolby Atmos. Not all Atmos-enabled items have them, but when they do, the third quantity will inform you what number of are in play and the way they contribute to the general soundstage.
Wireless
Most soundbars as of late supply both Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or each. When it comes to Wi-Fi, that connectivity affords you luxuries like voice management (both built-in or with a separate system), Chromecast, Spotify Connect and AirPlay 2. Depending on your preferences, you may give you the chance to stay with out a few of these. For me, AirPlay 2 and Chromecast are necessities, however the remainder I can stay with out. Those two give me the flexibility to beam music and podcasts from my go-to apps with out having to accept — or wrestle with — a Bluetooth connection. For occasion, Sonos audio system usually supply seamless integration with iOS units, making it straightforward to join and stream music wirelessly. If you’re on the lookout for a wi-fi speaker that may improve your TV setup whereas additionally providing flexibility for audio all through the home, it is value contemplating a multi-room system.
Size
This one may appear apparent however humor me for a minute. Nothing is extra soul-crushing than getting an expensive soundbar in your front room solely to uncover you’ve gotten to rearrange every part to discover a spot for it. This was my plight when the Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar arrived at my door. Yes, that speaker is absurdly giant (and heavy), and most soundbars aren’t almost as massive. I discovered a beneficial lesson: Make certain the area the place you need to put a soundbar will accommodate the factor you are about to spend lots of (if not hundreds) of {dollars} on.
Basically, all of it comes down to the TV you’ve gotten (or are planning to get) and what the first purpose is for your living-room audio. Is it ease of use? Do you need the best potential sound from a single speaker or speaker/sub combo? Do you simply need to give you the chance to truly hear your TV higher? Or would you like to flip your front room into an immersive house theater system with {surround} sound?
By paying consideration to every of these areas, it’s best to have a good suggestion of what to search for in a soundbar, soundbar/subwoofer combo, Dolby Digital system or a extra strong setup. With that stated, we have put quite a few merchandise by their paces at Engadget and have a couple of favorites for best soundbar at numerous value factors to get you began.
The best soundbars for 2024
Photo by Billy Steele / Engadget
Height: 2.95 inches | Width: 46.38 inches | Depth: 4.35 inches | Ports: 1 x HDMI Out, 1 x Ethernet | Channels: 9.1.4
Read our full Sonos Arc Ultra review
At $999, the Arc Ultra is an expensive addition to your front room, and growth solely will get dearer from right here. However, Sonos gives important upgrades over the Arc in a couple of key areas. First, thanks to new Sound Motion tech, the Arc Ultra has much more low-end tone through elevated bass efficiency. Added bass makes this a greater speaker for music whenever you’re not watching TV. That improve additionally allowed the corporate to reconfigure its mid-range drivers and tweeters, increasing the soundbar’s dimensional sound and immersive skills.
The on-board controls have been relocated and up to date, which can be an enchancment – as is the addition of Bluetooth connectivity. The expanded speech enhancement characteristic comes with a level of customization and there at the moment are two choices for room calibration. Plus, you’ll get every part that’s nice about Sonos merchandise: multiroom setups and crisp, clear audio high quality.
- Improved bass efficiency
- Crisp, clear and immersive sound
- Expanded Speech Enhancement
- Compatible with Ace headphones
- Still only a single HDMI port
- Expansion stays dear
- Large footprint
Sony
Height: 3 inches | Width: 51 inches | Depth: 5 inches | Ports: 2 x HDMI In, 1 x HDMI Out, 1 x Optical, 1 x Anologue, 1 x USB-A | Channels: 7.1.2 | Assistant assist: Google | Max wattage: 500W
Sony has a protracted monitor document of fantastic high-end soundbars and its latest is one other great-sounding product. The A7000 is a sturdy Dolby Atmos soundbar, able to immersive 7.1.2 audio thanks to Sony’s 360 Sound Mapping, Sound Field Optimization, vertical {surround} expertise and S-Force Pro entrance {surround}. There’s a number of tech at work right here, and I haven’t even talked about 360 Reality Audio or DSEE Extreme upscaling, each helpful when it comes to listening to music. Speaking of audio, you’ll have the choice of utilizing Chromecast, Spotify Connect or Apple AirPlay 2 to ship your tunes to the A7000. The total soundstage is immersive, with glorious readability for each TV exhibits and music.
Two HDMI eARC inputs imply you’ll be able to hook up a number of streaming containers or gaming consoles. And thanks to HDMI 2.1 assist, you’ll be able to anticipate 8K and 4K/120 passthrough to your tv, so the A7000 is a superb possibility for players. This soundbar is dear at $1,198 and it doesn’t include a separate subwoofer (although it does have one constructed in). However, Sony does provide you with a number of choices for each a sub and rear satellite tv for pc audio system. The SA-SW3 sub is $298 whereas the SA-SW5 is $699. For rear audio system, the SA-RS3S is $350 whereas the actually wi-fi speaker (and significantly better wanting) SA-RS5 set is $598. If you’re wanting to avoid wasting cash on the soundbar itself, Sony gives the HT-A5000 for $999 (though we’ve seen it on sale for $798 just lately). It packs nearly all of the same bells and whistles because the A7000, solely in a 5.1.2-channel configuration.
- Dolby Atmos assist and 360 Sound Mapping
- Works with AirPlay 2
- Includes two HDMI eARC ports
- Expensive
- Doesn’t embrace a separate subwoofer
Sennheiser Consumer Audio
Height: 10 inches | Width: 70 inches | Depth: 6.5 inches | Ports: 1 x HDMI Out, 1 x USB-A | Channels: 7.1.4 | Assistant assist: Google, Alexa, Siri | Max wattage: 250W
Read our full Sennheiser Ambeo Mini review
While that is essentially the most compact of Sennheiser’s Ambeo soundbars, the Mini stays in the premium class for 2 causes. First, you’ll have to add a subwoofer to maximize its potential, which provides one other $600. Secondly, the Mini is already $700, so a whole bundle places you at a comparable place to flagship items from the competitors. Once you’ve gotten each although, the Ambeo Mini is actually spectacular for a small soundbar.
The predominant characteristic is Sennheiser’s spatial Ambeo expertise that first debuted on the huge Ambeo Soundbar Max in 2019. With it, the corporate supplies extra immersive sound with a mixture of driver placement and 3D virtualization. On the Mini, the audio profile is extra reliant on virtualization than the larger Ambeo soundbars due fewer audio system inside. However, you’ll nonetheless get a virtualized 7.1.4-channel speaker setup that works nicely for motion pictures and music. That is, as long as you splurge for the Ambeo Sub too.
- Compact design
- Excellent readability
- Great bass
- Easy setup
- Expensive
- No bundled sub
- Ambeo impact is proscribed
- One HDMI port
Engadget
Height: 3.94 inches | Width: 25.63 inches | Depth: 2.68 inches | Ports: 1 x HDMI Out, 1 x Ethernet | Channels: 5.0 | Voice assistant: Google, Alexa | Max wattage: 220W
Read our full Sonos Beam review
Solid sound high quality? Check. Dolby Atmos? Yep. Compact and straightforward to arrange? Uh huh. Compatible with different Sonos audio system for a extra strong system? You betcha. The first-gen Sonos Beam has been certainly one of our favorites since it arrived in 2018, however there was one factor it didn’t have: Dolby Atmos. That was the massive addition to the 2021 model, although it’s a bit restricted because the Beam doesn’t have any upward-firing audio system. Sonos manages to make issues appear extra directional by tweaking audio timing and frequency as an alternative of including extra drivers. The new Beam nonetheless solely has the one HDMI port which implies you received’t be connecting a gaming console or set-top field straight to this. It additionally implies that in case you have an older TV with an optical jack, you’ll want an adapter.
- Relatively compact design
- Good sound for its measurement
- Supports Dolby Atmos
- One contains one HDMI port
Engadget
Height: 3.66 inches | Width: 21.93 inches | Depth: 2.76 inches | Ports: 1 x Optical, 1 x Ethernet | Channels: 2.0 (non-surround), 5.1 ({surround}) | Voice assistant: None | Max wattage: 10W
Read our full Sonos Ray review
Sonos’ newest bid for best soundbar could also be its most reasonably priced to date, however at $279, it’s not precisely a price range decide. Especially when you think about there are cheaper choices that include a subwoofer. Still, the compact design doesn’t command a number of area in entrance of your TV or on your TV stand, making it an amazing possibility for smaller residing areas. The Ray is straightforward to arrange and supplies nice sound high quality for each TV and music, and it pairs seamlessly with iOS units. There are some trade-offs when it comes to the immersive nature of the audio, however it’s a great possibility for upgrading your TV sound with minimal fuss.
- Very good sound high quality for each TV and music Good bass efficiency for such a small speaker
- Compact, unobtrusive design
- Easy setup
- Reasonable value
- Sound isn’t as immersive as you get from bigger fashions
- People with massive residing rooms may need a louder speaker
- No voice controls
VIZIO
Height: 7.68 inches | Width: 24 inches | Depth: 2.28 inches | Ports: 1 x Optical, 1 x USB | Channels: 2.1 | Voice assistant: None | Max wattage: 156W
If you’re on the lookout for a means to enhance your TV sound on a price range, Vizio has some high-quality options. With the V21t-J8, you get a 2.1-channel setup in a compact soundbar and 4.5-inch wi-fi sub combo for $160. This can be an amazing selection in case you don’t need your add-on TV speaker to take up a number of area. There’s no Wi-Fi connectivity, however that’s actually the one sacrifice when it comes to the fundamentals. HDMI ARC/eARC and optical connections hyperlink to your tv whereas a 3.5mm aux jack and Bluetooth enable you to play music from your cellphone or one other system. DTS Virtual:X compatibility gives among the impact of {surround} sound with no greater unit or further audio system.
- Compact design
- Includes wi-fi subwoofer
Other soundbars we examined
Sonos Arc
There’s little doubt that the Arc is Sonos’ best-sounding soundbar, however it’s additionally the corporate’s costliest. With a brand new mannequin based mostly on the Arc rumored to be on the way, it’s tough to advocate this product over the likes of Samsung and Sony. The Arc works nicely as each a soundbar and a speaker, and the system will match in properly with different Sonos gear you may have already got for a multiroom setup. It solely has one HDMI port although, the place a lot of the competitors permits you to join streaming and gaming units straight to their soundbars.
Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Plus
I don’t assume Sennheiser’s medium-sized model gives sufficient to stand out from the extra highly effective Ambeo Soundbar Max or the Ambeo Soundbar Mini. The Mini is extra reasonably priced and does a stable job with immersive audio in its personal proper. Like the remainder of the Ambeo lineup, there’s no possibility for satellite tv for pc audio system as you’ll be able to solely add a subwoofer to the soundbars. However, the Ambeo Soundbar Plus does have RCA enter, so you should use it with a turntable in case you’re into vinyl.
Soundbar FAQs
Is a soundbar higher than audio system?
It actually relies on what you’re after. A soundbar is unquestionably an easier, extra compact resolution in contrast to a full speaker setup. If you need higher sound than your TV’s built-in setup however don’t need to cope with a number of audio system and wires in every single place, a soundbar might be the best way to go. Some soundbars may even ship spectacular {surround} sound results, thanks to options like Dolby Atmos and digital audio expertise.
However, in case you’re an audiophile or need true {surround} sound for an at-home theater expertise, a multi-speaker setup with a receiver, {surround} audio system and subwoofer will provide you with a richer soundstage and extra management over your expertise.
What connection do I would like for a soundbar?
Most trendy soundbars join to your TV through HDMI ARC or eARC, which is the simplest and best possibility for reaching high-quality audio. If your TV helps this, all you want is an HDMI cable, and also you’ll get not solely nice sound but in addition some further options like controlling the soundbar with your TV distant.
If HDMI ARC isn’t an possibility on your TV, you should use an optical cable, which additionally delivers stable audio high quality. Some soundbars even supply Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connections for streaming music, and some nonetheless have a 3.5mm aux jack for connecting to older units.
Do all soundbars include subwoofers?
Not all soundbars include subwoofers, however many do or a minimum of supply one as an non-obligatory add-on that you would be able to buy individually. A subwoofer is what provides you that deep, booming bass, so in case you like motion motion pictures or need a fuller sound for music, having one could make an enormous distinction. Some soundbars have a built-in subwoofer, however these typically don’t present the identical punch as a separate one.
