Honorable Mentions
Photograph: Parker Hall
There are a lot of great soundbars, and we don’t have room to feature them all. Here are some others you might want to consider.
Yamaha True X Surround 90a for $3,500: After a yearslong hiatus from the premium market, Yamaha is back with the flagship True X Surround 90A (7/10, WIRED Review), a $3,500 Dolby Atmos soundbar system. It includes a wireless subwoofer and two fully wireless, portable surround speakers that double as stand-alone Bluetooth speakers, which is a nifty party trick. As you'd assume for the price, it delivers exceptional, detailed sound with superb surround channel clarity. It's also the first soundbar with Auro-3D processing. However, the setup is complex, it lacks enough HDMI ports and room correction, and its center-channel dialog clarity is disappointing out of the box. While its impressive precision will enthrall some, these omissions make it hard for us to recommend over flagship models from Samsung and others.
Samsung HW-Q990F for $1,500: Samsung's latest iteration of its fantastic, 11.1.4-channel Dolby Atmos hulk, the Q990F (8/10, WIRED Recommends) offers modest upgrades over previous models, including a new cube of a subwoofer for slightly cleaner, more musical bass. That and HDMI 2.1 support for connecting game consoles directly are the only real reasons to upgrade, which means we'll keep the similarly fantastic Q990C (at around half the price) until pricing comes down.
LG S95AR for $1,700: LG's latest 9.1.5-channel system offers minor upgrades over its predecessor, the ST95R, leaving few reasons to upgrade at full price. It's still among the top performers in its class, offering impressive clarity, swift and fluid immersion, and snappy setup and control with LG's continuously improving ThinQ app. It's a solid value compared to competing multi-piece Dolby Atmos systems at full price, and it will get increasingly tempting as the price drops.
Sony Bravia Theater 9 for $1,500: Sony’s follow-up to the potent HT-A7000 flagship soundbar regresses in some key ways. There are fewer inputs (no more analog), a more mundane fabric-wrapped design, and minimal sound settings. The Theater 9's leaner frame equates to a less meaty and immersive soundstage, but this is still a Sony flagship soundbar, which means great musicality, superb detail, and advanced spatial imaging for 3D audio. Premium features like an HDMI 2.1 input for connecting modern game consoles and advanced integration with newer Sony TVs sweeten the deal, but at $1,400 (sometimes $1,500 in a post-tariffs world), it’s a pricey proposition.
Sonos Beam Gen 2 for $500: Sonos' stout little middle child is still among the most expressive and feature-packed options in its class, offering great musicality and impressive Dolby Atmos virtualization, along with all the networking options for which Sonos is prized. It's a bit on the pricey side at this point in its tenure, but if you can find it on sale, it's very much worth considering, especially now that Sonos has mostly solved its earlier app issues.
Vizio 2.1 Soundbar (SV210M) for $170: Vizio’s curvy little combo brings enticing value, with solid sound quality and some cinematic punch from the teensiest subwoofer you’ll ever see. There’s no optical input or remote included, but the Vizio app makes adjusting settings or swapping to Bluetooth simple enough. The main drawback is that dialog sometimes (but not always) gets lost, reducing the main draw of a cheap soundbar. That said, good musical chops and features like DTS Virtual X expansion make it worth considering on sale.
Samsung HW-Q800C for $600-700: If Samsung's HW-Q990 everything bar is too rich for your blood, the two-piece HW-Q800C (8/10, WIRED Recommends) could be a good compromise. This bar offers a similar sound signature as Samsung's flagship bars and many of the same features, packed into a smaller bar-and-subwoofer combo for a notable discount–especially since it's now almost always on sale.
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