The soundbars category is always one of the most exciting to judge as part of the What Hi-Fi? Awards.
This is a category that’s jam-packed with contenders of all styles and prices, and each year there is technical advancement that pushes the boundaries in terms of sound quality.
This year, the biggest surprises came at opposite ends of the price spectrum, in the form of the very different KEF XIO and Hisense AX5125H.
From super-premium to amazingly affordable
The KEF XIO is a marvel that packs unique KEF technology (some from its hi-fi products, some entirely new) into a gorgeous, premium soundbar that’s as fabulous with music as it is with movies.
It’s the new, super-premium soundbar of choice, beating the incumbent Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Max and the new Yamaha True X Surround Surround 90A.
The Hisense AX5125H couldn’t be more different. This is a super-affordable system that, despite its low price, includes a wireless subwoofer and surround speakers, and supports both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.
The fact that you get so much for your money here is remarkable enough – the fact that it sounds really good is borderline astonishing. What a bargain.
Sonos unseats Sony
We’ve got two more new winners in the soundbars category, the first of which is the Sonos Arc Ultra.
“New?”, we hear you ask. Well, yes; while the Sonos Arc Ultra has actually been available for almost a year now, it crucially came out after our Awards deadline last year, so didn’t publicly exist in time for consideration.
It’s a different story now, of course, and the Arc Ultra’s brilliant reproduction of Dolby Atmos soundtracks and its superbly tight, tuneful bass make it a fairly comfortable winner over solo soundbar rivals from the likes of Sony (including last year's Award-winning Bravia Theatre Bar 9), Samsung and Marshall.
Another Samsung system victory, and a return of a repeat winner
Samsung does still take a big win here – for its HW-Q990F soundbar system.
This replaces the HW-Q990D in Samsung’s range and in our list of winners, having faced and defeated competition from the likes of JBL, Yamaha, Sonos, Sony and Hisense over the course of 2025.
Our final winner is the incumbent Sonos Beam Gen 2. This small but mighty Dolby Atmos soundbar has now been a winner five years in a row, which is incredibly impressive, particularly considering how much competition it has faced in that time.
This year, it defeated new challengers from JBL, Harman Kardon, Sony, LG and more. We’re starting to think that the Beam Gen 2 will only be beaten when Sonos launches its replacement.
So, which one of these five deserved winners will be crowned the 2025 soundbar Product of the Year at the glitzy What Hi-Fi? Awards ceremony on 13th November? Tune in to whathifi.com to find out.
MORE:
See every What Hi-Fi? Awards 2025 winner here
These are the best Dolby Atmos movie scenes with which to test your soundbar
And here is the complete list of the best soundbars you can buy right now
