Top Soundbars 2023

The Samsung HW-Q700B is an aggressively-priced Dolby Atmos soundbar that’ll (literally) elevate your movie sound. It’s a particularly attractive proposition if you have a Samsung TV that’s compatible with Q-Symphony technology, but is a great value still if not, and comes highly recommended.

The Samsung HW-Q990B is excellent for mixed usage. This 11.1.4 bar offers versatile performance, with a neutral sound that makes it suitable for everything from vocal-centric TV shows to music to movies. You have access to lots of customization tools, making it easy to adjust the bar's sound based on your preferences. Its rear speakers bring an immersive quality to the sound, so audio seems like it wraps all around you. There's good height, especially with Dolby Atmos content, bringing a cinematic experience right to your living room. It's a great bar, but its premium price tag may not be ideal for everyone.

The Samsung HW-Q950A soundbar is impressive for mixed usage. It's an 11.1.4 soundbar with a balanced sound right out of the box, so you don't have trouble hearing dialogue in your favorite TV shows or instruments in your favorite songs. If you like watching movies, you get an immersive sound with everything from 5.1 surround sound content to object-based formats like Dolby Atmos. The sub brings plenty of rumble in the bass, and you have lots of customization tools on hand to make it sound how you like. It's a really premium bar overall.

The Samsung HW-Q950T is great for mixed use. Whether you're watching movies or listening to music, this bar has a balanced and neutral sound. If you want to tweak its sound, it has a graphic EQ as well as presets. There's a dialogue enhancement feature, which is great if you like to listen to audiobooks or TV shows. It can get loud enough to be used during a house party, and you can also stream your favorite songs to it using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. It even supports Atmos, giving you a more immersive movie experience.

The Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar Plus is good for mixed usage. This premium setup has a solid build and supports lots of different audio formats that you're likely to come across on different streaming platforms and Blu-rays. With its AMBEO 3D mode, you get an expansive surround sound, and it does a decent job with Atmos content for a standalone bar. Without a dedicated sub, it lacks thump and rumble in bass-heavy music and action-packed movies.

The titchy SR-C30A is great at making your terrible TV speakers sound much better. If the rather fractured relationship between the soundbar and the subwoofer could be counselled, it would be approaching ‘ideal’. 

This accomplished and stylish soundbar delivers incredibly deep bass considering there’s no separate subwoofer, and the soundstage is enjoyably expansive with precisely placed overhead effects. The connectivity is limited, but otherwise this is a convenient and effective audio solution.

A compact soundbar with a sharp, detailed, and punchy attitude to its delivery, at its current price this is a super option for those looking to upgrade their TV’s audio, though those with compatible Samsung TVs will get more value from it.

The Samsung HW-Q800B is great for mixed usage. It's a really versatile bar, with a neutral default sound that makes it suitable for listening to everything from music to movies to TV shows. Dialogue is clearly and accurately reproduced, and the sub brings plenty of rumble in the bass for music and movies. You have lots of tools on hand to customize its sound, too, including a 7-band graphic EQ and presets. While it supports a lot of audio formats, the lack of rear speakers means it doesn't sound quite as immersive as Samsung's top models. That said, it's still a good alternative if you don't have space in your setup for discrete rears.

The Samsung HW-Q900A soundbar is impressive for mixed usage. With its Standard preset, this soundbar has a pretty neutral sound profile suitable for listening to most types of audio content. Though it lacks some low-bass, there are many sound customization features available to help you get a more balanced sound. That said, its surround performance isn't as impressive as a setup with discrete satellites, and its Atmos performance isn't very immersive-sounding.