Despite enormous improvements in TVs over the last few decades, one thing hasn’t changed much: If your TV has speakers at all, they’re probably not great. Adding a soundbar to your home theater makes getting excellent audio pretty simple; the real challenge is finding the best soundbar for your home entertainment needs.
The biggest factor to consider is price. Most soundbar models include front channel speakers (the speakers that would ordinarily be on both the left and right of the TV) and a center channel speaker, which is what typically delivers most of the dialogue in a TV show or movie. But pricier models may also simulate surround sound with Dolby Virtual:X or Dolby Atmos by reflecting audio off walls or your ceiling.
Next is size: How large should your soundbar be? In general, the bigger the soundbar, the larger its speakers will be, which adds up to better audio. You should try to match the length of your soundbar to the size of your TV. If your TV measures up to 50 inches, look for a soundbar that’s 45 inches or less. TVs up to 65 inches work well with 50-inch soundbars, and 70-inch TVs can be paired with 60-inch soundbars.
And if you plan on using your soundbar for listening to music when the TV is off, look for models that include Bluetooth or Wi-Fi streaming, which lets you play music from your phone, PC, or online services like Spotify.
With all these things in mind, here are some of the best soundbars on the market right now.
The Best Affordable Soundbar
Creative Stage 2.1 Channel Soundbar With Subwoofer
Often, budget soundbars are little better than just using the speakers built into your television, but the Creative Stage soundbar might surprise you, as long as your expectations are modest. This is a 2.1-channel speaker system, which means that it has left and right front speakers built into the bar along with a wired subwoofer that rounds out the audio with a solid low-end.
Despite the low price, it has an HDMI connection, which lets you rely on the TV’s multiple HDMI inputs to set up all your sources, and the sound will switch automatically when you change sources using the TV remote. (Fairly standard on pricier soundbars, it’s one of the few with this feature in this price range.) It also has Bluetooth that lets you stream music to the speaker from your phone and a USB port that you can use to play music from a thumb drive.
Measuring just 21 inches in length, it’s on the smaller size, so don’t expect to fill a large room with sound, plus there’s no surround sound option. But if you can live with those compromises, it’s hard to find a less expensive soundbar with a full set of features.
The Best Value Soundbar
Q Acoustics M4 Soundbar
If you are looking for a soundbar that can dazzle you with simulated surround sound, reflecting audio off the ceiling, look elsewhere. But if you want a soundbar that puts a priority on excellent audio without breaking the bank, Q Acoustics can help.
Under the hood, this is a 2.1-channel system — there’s no center channel speaker, but the two front channel speakers are very high quality, made with BMR drivers (Balanced Mode Radiators) that disperses the sound across a wide soundstage in your room. It also has an integrated subwoofer for a deeper low end without the need for a separate speaker.
There are always going to be trade-offs in this price range, and here’s a big one: There are no HDMI ports, so you need to rely entirely on the TV for connecting components like your DVD player and gaming console, and you’ll need to connect the soundbar to the TV with an optical cable.
The Best Soundbar With a Built-in Streaming Media Player
Roku Smart Soundbar
With the Roku Smart Soundbar, you can upgrade your audio and video at the same time — especially if you don’t already have a smart TV. Roku is, for many people, the gold standard in streaming players. It has an excellent interface and supports hundreds of streaming video channels. The only notable absence, at least for the moment, is the brand-new HBO Max service. This soundbar includes a 4K streamer, instantly giving you the equivalent of a Roku Ultra, and you can control it all using the classic Roku remote.
As a soundbar, Roku nails the basics, with room to grow. You get two-channel audio with an HDMI port to connect to your TV. It also has Bluetooth for streaming content from your phone and a USB port to insert music on a thumb drive. If you want to expand your home theater sound, you can add an optional wireless subwoofer and and even wireless rear surround speakers.
The Best Soundbar With Wireless Surround Speakers
Samsung HW-Q90R
This collaboration between Samsung and audio giant Harman Kardon has yielded a really compelling speaker that threads the needle somewhere below the most expensive of soundbars and offering some innovative features you won’t find even on some soundbars that cost a lot more.
The most interesting aspect of the HW-Q90R is that, in addition to a wireless subwoofer, it includes a pair of rear speakers, so its surround is more effective than speakers which only offer simulated surround sound. They’re also wireless, so setup is easy and there are no wires running to the back of the room. All components included, what you get is a formidable 7.1.4-channel surround system. That’s 7 main channels (two front speakers, and center speaker, two virtual side speakers and two rear speakers), a subwoofer, and four virtual “height” speakers. Instead of actual ceiling-mounted speakers, you get a top-firing speakers in the soundbar that bounce sound waves off the ceiling. Unfortunately, there’s no automatic calibration (like you get with the Sennheiser Ambeo), so tweaking the audio to sound good in your media room can be challenging.
The soundbar also includes a pair of HDMI inputs and one output, along with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for slinging audio to the speakers — but don’t look for AirPlay or Chromecast. Those are regrettable omissions in a soundbar at this price point.
The Best Voice-Controlled Soundbar
Yamaha YAS-209BL Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer
Aside from the Sonos Arc, which costs more than twice the price of this Yamaha YAS-209, you don’t run into a lot of soundbars that have voice assistant support — especially in this price range. That means you can control your TV, switch components, vary the volume and more, all using your voice via Amazon Alexa. Honesty, it’s more convenient than it sounds, and it’s something you’ll quickly miss when you’re in front of a TV that doesn’t have this feature.
The YAS-209 is a lot more than just a speaker with Alexa though. It comes with a wireless subwoofer for a solid 3.1 speaker configuration. But it also has a DTS Virtual:X surround sound mode which, while not including the overhead sound from Atmos height speakers, can still convey a convincing impression of wraparound surround sound.
For times when you just want to listen to music, the soundbar also has Bluetooth for streaming as well as access to Spotify and Amazon Music.
The Best Sonos Soundbar
Sonos Arc
Hot off the assembly line, the Sonos Arc is the company’s newest soundbar and has only just started shipping to retailers. Like the HEOS soundbar, the Arc is best for people who are already invested in a particular ecosystem — or who plan to be. Sonos pioneered the modern multi-room wireless sound system and today has a wide range of speakers and accessories that makes listening to music anywhere in the house simple. Not that long ago, this was the exclusive domain of high-end audiophile who spent a moderate fortune building it into their home.
The Sonos Arc takes all the wireless interconnectedness of multi-room audio and builds it into a soundbar. The Arc can play with any other speakers in the home or on its own, and is fully controllable via the Sonos app. But it’s also a powerful soundbar, with Dolby Atmos support built in, able to simulate surround sound when in use with your TV. It also works with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant for voice control, and can even hear and understand you when the speakers are playing.
You can also stream content to the Arc using Apple AirPlay from an Apple mobile device, and play streaming content like Spotify. What’s it missing? A subwoofer, though you can pair the Sonos wireless sub at additional cost.
Ed. Note: The Sonos Arc can be pre-ordered now and will be released on July 6, 2020.
The Best Soundbar For Clearer Dialogue
ZVOX SB500 Sound Bar with Built-In Subwoofer
The key reasons to add a soundbar to your home theater is to improve the audio experience, but for many people, that explanation feels a little abstract. Here’s how to make it real: A soundbar can make dialogue much clearer, so you won’t have to keep asking the rest of your family, “what did that guy say?” Any soundbar with a center channel speaker is automatically optimized for dialogue, but ZVOX doubles down on dialogue clarity, and has made that a central feature for its soundbars like the SB500.
This speaker includes a subwoofer in the soundbar chassis, giving you a full 3.1 sound system. It also includes Bluetooth so you can stream audio to it from your mobile devices. But the most interesting feature is ZVOX’s AccuVoice mode, which uses what ZVOX describes as “hearing aid technology” to deliver ultra-clear dialogue. There are six levels of AccuVoice which you can dial in as needed to better understand dialogue when watching TV and movies.
What don’t you get in this model? HDMI ports, unfortunately.
The Best Affordable Soundbar With Surround Sound
Sony HTX8500 Soundbar with Built-in Subwoofer
There aren’t many modestly priced soundbars with Dolby Atmos surround sound, so when you encounter one that’s priced around $300, it’s well worth investigating. This model is configured as a 7.1.2 system, with two front speakers, a center channel, two virtual side and two virtual rear speakers — plus a pair of upward-firing speakers that are virtual height speakers. There’s also a subwoofer integrated into the soundbar, which means you get a very comprehensive audio system in a single package.
The soundbar is a little light on connectivity — it has one HDMI input and one output, so this isn’t the ideal model if you have multiple disc players and gaming consoles. But it does include full 4K with HDR support for any device you do connect to the soundbar as well as Bluetooth for streaming audio.
Ed. Note: The Sony HTX8500 Soundbar is temporarily out of stock on Amazon, but you can place your order and Amazon will notify you with an estimated delivery date.
The Best Soundbar For Denon Fans
Denon HEOS Bar3-Channel Soundbar
Denon is a formidable name in home audio, and the company’s HEOS products include wireless and multi-room sound systems. If you’ve already started investing in HEOS as a whole-house sound system, the HEOS Bar is a logical choice. It is compatible with all the other wireless speakers in your home, which means that in addition to serving as a traditional soundbar, you can control it from a mobile app to play music on its own or with other speakers.
In addition to being part of your multi-room sound system, this is a 3-channel speaker, providing a center channel for focused and clear dialog in TV shows and movies. You also get an HDMI connection to your TV, four HDMI inputs for your other home theater components, and access to a variety of streaming services like Spotify, Pandora, TuneIn, and Amazon Music.
The Best Premium Soundbar
Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar
If you want a high-end surround sound experience in your media room, the traditional solution is to get a a complex and expensive Atmos-compatible home theater AV receiver and fill the room with speakers in front, behind and even overhead. If you don’t want to mess with all that, but you’re willing to spend roughly the same amount of money, you’re in Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar territory.
It’s packed with no fewer than 13 speakers that fire in all directions, reflecting sound around the room for a convincing impression of true Atmos-caliber surround sound. Like a true AV reciever, it even calibrates the room for optimal sound. It has three HDMI inputs and an HDMI output along with Bluetooth audio streaming and online streaming services like Spotify and Pandora. What it doesn’t include is a subwoofer, though you can add one at extra cost.
