Absolutely. Even if you don't consider yourself a hardcore cinephile, the best soundbars make a world of difference to your TV watching experience—even the built-in speakers that come with the best TVs just don't do your favorite films, TV shows, and games justice. How much should I spend on a soundbar? There’s more to think about, but getting the size, audio features and connectivity nailed down early on should make finding the best soundbar for you much easier. What connection do I need for a soundbar? One complaint you might see frequently, even on top-end soundbars, is that they don’t sound any better than the TV they’re supposed to be connected to.

Maximum volume and wide listening angles: Most soundbars have a so-called sweet spot. While this may seem like a good thing, it basically means that it will sound best on a certain sitting position, and once you move away from the device, the quality of the sound may deteriorate. Even when the Samsung Q990C is being pushed to its limits, it maintains an excellent quality sound without distorting. We said in our review that "Even the most shrill trebles manage to avoid sounding harsh or exposed," and that the "bass from the subwoofer is deep, enthusiastic and reactive." Good connections: One of the things you need to consider is how it will connect to your TV. Lookout for sound bars with at least one digital connector that can either be coaxial, HDMI or optical. During our review, we noted that dialogue clarity is excellent, and while it doesn’t hit the low bass notes that other soundbar systems with an included subwoofer manage, it offers up consistently exciting sound when watching movies and TV.

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However, other devices with only one soundbar claim to offer surround sound. What this means is they deliver a stereo effect, which seems more like sound is coming from different directions, but isn't. This is more common when you’re watching TV using a set-top box such as a Sky or Freeview box. Even if your set-top box is connected to your TV and your TV to your soundbar, you may find the audio only gets to your TV's speakers.

Try to keep the cable clear of other connectors (especially power) in the tangle of wires behind your TV. Simply moving the 3.5mm cable can sometimes solve this issue. Close attention is paid to sound reproduction across the frequency spectrum, with a focus on the three cornerstones of soundbar performance: bass response, dialogue clarity and crispness of treble. If there are different EQ presets available, we’ll try these out with appropriate content and all tests are run at a variety of volume levels, including maximum volume to push the product to its limits. Another thing you’ll want to watch out for is the kind of connection you need. You’ll find most modern soundbars have HDMI connectivity, but there's also optical connectivity—so what's the difference? These are two ways that audio is passed from your TV to your soundbar, but HDMI passes high-resolution audio, including Dolby Atmos.With its compact dimensions, simple setup and minimal cables, Mini 3D Soundbar II scores high on convenience and clutter-free installation. But with so many other impressive-sounding audio solutions on the market, it needs to pull a top performance out the bag to be worth considering. Let’s see how it fares. Soundbars with Atmos generally have upwards-firing speakers that bounce audio off the ceiling to achieve this audio height and this can be very effective, although how effective they are depends on how high your ceilings are. There’s usually an optimal height, which you can find in the specifications. Web Widget offers pre-built API functionality for cookie consent; see here: Web Widget Cookie Permission in Developer Center The Q990C also brings with it a couple of extra unique features, with the main being an update to the Q-Symphony technology. This enables Samsung-compatible soundbars and TVs to communicate (even wirelessly) and work together to use all the available speakers between both systems to create an even bigger, bolder sound – which it succeeds in doing. Many of the high-end soundbars in this list also have Dolby Atmos built-in. Again, this isn't technically surround sound, but the audio tech is advanced and creates the illusion of immersive sound by bouncing sounds off the walls and ceiling around you. Are Dolby Atmos soundbars really worth it?

Used to store visitor-level custom variable data. This cookie is created when a developer uses the _setCustomVar method with a visitor level custom variable. This cookie was also used for the deprecated _setVar method. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. The Sonos Arc draws on Dolby’s latest TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus sound codecs to deliver the best quality lossless audio found on cutting-edge Blu-ray discs and some of the leading streaming services. Crucially, that also includes Dolby Atmos support, and while the reflected height and side channels aren't as pronounced as some of the soundbars here can manage, they're still impressive, and the range of precision of the Arc is superb. The soundbar fares better for watching television and movies, especially with the SRS TruSurround feature enabled—which doesn't actually produce a surround-like effect, but it does satisfyingly widen the soundbar's imaging. I watched the season premiere of Game of Thrones with the soundbar, and the howling wind of the north felt suitably imposing, and the dialogue of the men of the Night's Watch came through clearly. However, when the opening sequence began and music started playing, it sounded hollow again. The Arc supports Dolby Atmos (although only via eARC) as well as both Google Assistant and Alexa. It can be fully integrated into a Sonos multiroom audio system and controlled via the excellent Sonos S2 app. The only caveat is that physical connectivity is limited to a single HDMI ARC/eARC port, with no HDMI or optical digital input available. Otherwise, this is an astonishing achievement in AV audio engineering. As well as wired connections, many soundbars also support Bluetooth for wirelessly connecting phones and tablets and some also have Wi-Fi, allowing for higher-quality music streaming, potential integration in a multiroom wireless speaker network and support for digital voice assistants such as Alexa and Google Assistant.

When it comes to sound quality and features vs price, we think the Sony HT-S2000 is the best budget choice around. Although it's a little basic in terms of connectivity, the sound you get from this soundbar is impressive for the money and is certainly a good choice for those looking for an upgrade to their TV sound without breaking the bank. Everything is controlled with a simple remote control. Most controls are only located on the remote and not on the sound bar itself, but you can handle basic volume and input switching straight from the bar. Additional feature included SRS surround modes and Bluetooth for streaming from a PC or Smartphone. The first is the size. You’ll want to make sure that your soundbar fits under—or next to, depending on your set-up—your TV. For example, the long Sonos Arc soundbar is designed specifically for large screens, so won’t look right with a smaller 50-inch TV. You’ll need to know the size of your current TV and the size of the space you have to fit it and compare those figures to the dimensions listed alongside the soundbar you want to buy.