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What Hi-Fi?

Technology

Alastair Stevenson

With the death knell on Black Friday sounded, I’d still recommend this Dolby Atmos upgrade to friends during Cyber Monday

Black Friday (Topic) Amazon Tom Parsons Sony LG Samsung Hisense JBL Richer Sounds Sennheiser

Samsung Q990F soundbar on a purple background.

Black Friday 2025 has come and gone, and with the hour approaching midday, Cyber Monday is officially middle-aged, which means the window to take advantage of this year’s deals bonanza is rapidly closing.

And having been here from the start, endlessly searching for all the best home cinema deals to be had, I can safely confirm, my advice from the start hasn’t changed.

Check out all of Amazon's latest Black Friday home cinema deals

Yes, despite decent savings on our 2025 Product of the Year winner, the Sony Bravia 8 II, a stellar discount on the 55-inch LG C5 and incredible savings on the 48-inch Samsung S90F, I’m still not recommending an OLED to my friends and family this year.

Why not you ask? Well, as I said earlier this month, it has nothing to do with the quality of this year’s TVs. Jump to our best OLED TV guide, and you’ll see there have been a lot of great sets launched this year.

It’s because all of my nearest and dearest already pulled the trigger on a new OLED in the past few years. And, if you find yourself in the same situation, that means I have one very different piece of advice – one that has nothing to do with your TV.

Have you thought about getting a Dolby Atmos soundbar system?

This year, the piece of advice I'm giving to most of my friends and family relates to their audio setup.

Unlike What Hi-Fi?’s regular readers, many of my friends, even those with OLED TVs, haven’t properly backed them up with a decent sound system. Yes, the philistines are still using their TVs' built-in speakers, despite my nagging.

And yes, I have been telling them for years to at least invest in a soundbar – screaming from the rooftops, 'Yes, a Sonos Beam (Gen 2) will sound better than your TV's built-in speakers!'.

What’s different this year is that I’ve become even more demanding, and I’ve elevated my ‘get a soundbar’ advice to ‘have you thought about a soundbar system?’.

And there’s one big reason for that. Specifically, for the first time ever, we’ve found an affordable, entry-level Dolby Atmos soundbar system worthy of recommending, in the shape of the five-star, Award-winning Hisense AX5125H, which is available for £189 on Amazon right now (save £60).

It may not have a catchy name or look fancy, but this is a big deal. Soundbar systems aren't new, and we’ve had plenty of cheaper units pass through our test rooms, but nothing below the £500/$500 mark has managed to wow us.

Which is why, when another affordable system came in for testing, the home cinema team wasn't exactly fighting over themselves to review it.

TV and AV editor, Tom Parsons, took on the job. And, days later, pigs flew.

Tom emerged from our basement test room and came to find his colleague, Lewis Empson. 'Could you come and check something with me?', he asked.

Moments later, they both reappeared and the process repeated, with various members of staff, myself included, all being called down to the basement to check Tom wasn't imagining things.

And each time, after an extended listen, we all found ourselves nodding in agreement. We had indeed finally succeeded and found an affordable, great-sounding soundbar system not just worthy of a five-star rating, but ultimately a What Hi-Fi? Award as well.

As we said in our Hisense AX5125H review: “The fact that you can get this much kit with these specs for this price is really rather impressive – the fact that it actually sounds good is pretty astonishing.”

So much so that I’m actually recommending this system to most people over the Sonos Beam (Gen 2), with its satellites and subwoofer adding a layer of directionality missing from our previous budget soundbar recommendation.

Above it, things are simpler, with Samsung’s flagship HW-Q990F system, which is a fellow Award winner, offering the best Dolby Atmos experience you can get without investing in a full-fat 5.1.2 multi-speaker setup.

Currently selling for £818 (save £881) on Amazon, trust me, the Samsung HW-Q990F is worth the investment if you have the cash.

Which third and finally brings me on to my advice for those with a decent, modern soundbar looking for an upgrade this Black Friday.

I’m suggesting people with compatible, modern soundbars think about making the upgrade to a system setup this year.

If you own a Sonos Arc or Arc Ultra, adding a couple of Sonos Era 100 or (if you’re feeling flush) Sonos Era 300 speakers as satellites will truly take your sound to the next level. We’ve tried the setup, and while it ain’t cheap, it is rather good.

Or, if you have a Sennheiser Ambeo or a recent Sony Bravia series soundbar, many offer wireless satellite speakers and subs as add-on options.

If your model is compatible, why not pick some satellites and a sub and level up your movie audio without replacing your main 'bar?

Trust me, when done right, rear speakers make all the difference with surround sound – which, as any serious movie fan knows, is just as important as a decent picture for a properly immersive home movie experience.

It's for all these reasons that I’d urge you to consider splurging on a soundbar system, or upgrading your current soundbar, over replacing your TV this Black Friday. It's a great way to up the home cinema ante, without splashing out on a new screen.