The 10 Best Budget Soundbars in 2027

This is where budget money goes furthest. You get a full 5.1.4 kit, with a bar, a wireless sub, two wireless rears and four up-firing drivers, plus Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. The rears are why we'd pick it first. Real speakers behind you create surround that no single bar can fake, and it played loud without meaningful compression in RTINGS' lab.

Say you put on a nature documentary after dinner. Rain and birdsong come from behind your seats, while the height drivers add a softer layer above. The sub and rears link as soon as they're powered, and HDMI eARC lets your TV remote set the volume. Their power cords are short, though, so plan on outlets near your seats. An HDMI cable and wall-mount kit are in the box.

Now the catch. The bass is big, and Homes & Gardens found it often swamps dialogue, so turn it down in the EQ. Height effects are quieter than the rears, there's no Wi-Fi streaming, and consoles top out at 4K 60Hz through its HDMI input. Got room for two rears? This is the one we'd buy. Happy without overhead effects? The HS5100 (#2) gives you real rears for less.

Real surround doesn't have to mean a big spend. The HS5100 is a plain 5.1 kit: a bar with left, center and right drivers, a compact wireless sub and two small rears that plug into the sub. That discrete center is why voices cut through better than on the HS2100 for RTINGS, and the rears are the part hands-on reviewers singled out as loud, clear and the biggest upgrade.

Picture a medieval battle series over a long holiday weekend. Arrows whistle past behind you, the narrator stays centered, and News mode lifts speech when you switch to the late headlines. Wiring is the job you'll notice. The rears connect to the sub with long included cables, so plan a route under a rug. An HDMI cable, remote and wall brackets for the bar and rears are included, and there's no app to install.

But the trade-offs are easy to see. There's no Atmos, the small sub won't shake the floor, and tuning stops at bass, treble and presets. For apartments, sports and older 5.1 movies, we think it's the smartest surround buy. If you want rain overhead and wireless rears, step up to the Hisense AX5140Q (#1).

Samsung's B750F is built for people who want better sound, not another app. Its six speakers include a center channel and side-firing drivers, and a wireless sub handles the low end. Those side drivers make it sound wider than most bars at this level, and it decodes 5.1, so a movie keeps its channel separation instead of collapsing to stereo.

Say you're rewatching an old sitcom. The laugh track spreads past the edges of the screen while the jokes stay anchored in the middle. Everything runs from the remote, including a graphic EQ, and a Samsung TV adds Q-Symphony and one-remote control. You also get an HDMI input, an optical port and Bluetooth for two phones. Tech Report English rated it for medium rooms up to about 300 square feet.

But be clear on what it isn't. There's no Atmos, no Wi-Fi and no eARC, and the surround comes from the bar's sides, not from behind you. It's also almost the same as last year's HW-B750D, so buy whichever is cheaper. Want a sub and no fuss? It's a yes. If dialogue is the goal and you own a Sony TV, the BRAVIA Theater Bar 5 (#4) suits you better.

If clear voices matter more than surround, this is the Sony we'd buy. It's a 3.1 bar with a discrete center channel and a wireless sub, and RTINGS measured excellent center clarity and loud output with little compression. The sub brings more bass than its size suggests, and eARC support runs wide, from Dolby TrueHD to DTS:X.

So picture a thriller once the kids are asleep. Night and Voice modes keep the whispers clear at low volume, and you won't need to crank anything. The BRAVIA Connect app sets distances, levels and updates, and newer Sony TVs show the bar's settings in their own menu, with Voice Zoom 3 on compatible BRAVIA sets. Bring your own HDMI cable, since none is in the box.

But immersion is where it falls short. Shane Lee heard a wider front stage with Sound Field on but nothing overhead, even with a DTS:X track, and there's no way to add rears. The bass is also boomy rather than tight. For a small room and a Sony TV, it's an easy yes. If you'd rather have a wider sound you can tune with an EQ, the Samsung HW-B750F (#3) is the stronger buy.

Want real bass on a small budget without lip-sync drift? Start here. The HS2100 is a compact 2.1 bar with a wireless sub that pairs automatically, in two seconds for Homes & Gardens. RTINGS found its default sound more balanced than the TCL S55H's, with a slightly wider stage and much lower latency over HDMI ARC, which means fewer lip-sync headaches.

Think of a disaster movie night in a one-bedroom rental. The bridge collapse lands with a real thump instead of a door-slam clatter, and your TV remote handles volume over ARC. The bar's remote adds six EQ modes plus bass and treble. The box includes an HDMI cable and wall-mount hardware, and the 31.5-inch bar fits under most TVs. The sub fires sideways, so keep it off the couch.

And its limits match its price. It's stereo only, with no Atmos or Wi-Fi, and busy mixes get muddy. A voice also announces power, input and pairing at every start, and Tricks Tips Fix couldn't find a way to mute it. For a first upgrade, we'd still take it over any bar without a sub. Need more headroom for a noisy room? The TCL S55H (#6) plays louder.

In a room that's never quiet, headroom beats features. The S55H gets loud with little audible compression, and its wireless sub, with a 5.5-inch driver, adds punchy bass. Cranked well past normal levels, it held together for Digital Feeds, and dialogue survived action scenes.

Picture the dinner rush: the dishwasher is running, the kids are loud in the next room, and someone wants the hockey game on. You turn it up and it stays clean. The sub pairs itself, eARC with CEC lets the TV remote run it, and the TCL Home app handles firmware updates. TCL includes the HDMI cable and wall-mount kit, and TCL TV owners get Tutti Choral pairing. Ai Sonic calibration made no audible difference for Digital Feeds, though.

But here's what the box won't tell you. The Atmos logo means decoding, not height: everything plays as stereo from the front, and voices come from a phantom center. Latency over HDMI is higher than on the HS2100, and the top LED strip is hard to read from the couch. For loud rooms, it's still a lot of bar for the money. If lip-sync drift drives you mad, the Hisense HS2100 (#5) is the safer cheap pick.

Want Atmos you can actually hear above you without a premium bill? The Signa S4 is a 3.1.2 bar with two up-firing drivers, a center channel and a wireless sub. CNET called it the best way to get real Atmos for the least money, and found it lively with films and especially music. Height is real but modest: lift, not a dome of sound.

Imagine a sci-fi movie where starfighters scream past. The roar rises above the screen, and VoiceAdjust keeps the radio chatter clear without boosting the explosions. Setup is one HDMI eARC cable plus sub power, and Polk includes HDMI and optical cables. Bass is punchy rather than deep: Upscaled HT measured solid sub output near 40Hz, but it won't shake the floor.

But there are two catches. It's Bluetooth only, with no Wi-Fi or app, and you can never add rears. And Polk's own forum has threads from owners losing audio for a few seconds over eARC on Sony and other TVs, with no confirmed fix. If height is your thing, it's the bar to get. If you'd rather have real speakers behind you, the Hisense AX5140Q (#1) gives you the full surround kit.

Sometimes all you need is to hear what people are saying. The HT-S100F is a plain 2.0 Sony bar with built-in tweeters and a bass reflex port, and its Voice mode is the reason to buy it. Tom's Guide got the clearest speech from Voice and Auto Sound, while Standard mode left lines too quiet, so set Voice and leave it.

Say you've watched a whole streaming series with subtitles on. Plug this in over HDMI ARC, let your TV remote take over, and the talk-heavy scenes come through without reaching for the volume. It's loud, too, enough for a large room in RTINGS' lab, and Bluetooth and USB handle music. PenguinTech's box had no HDMI cable, though, so grab a spare.

The limits are real, though. There's no sub and no way to add one, so explosions stay polite, and it skips Atmos and DTS. The top touch buttons are unreliable, and it sometimes fails to turn on with the TV, so keep the remote handy. For news, sitcoms and a bedroom TV, it's all you need. Want a smaller bar with a dedicated tweeter for speech? Look at the Bose TV Speaker (2nd Gen) (#10).

If your TV is older than your phone, this bar fixes two problems at once. It's a 2.0 speaker with two 1.9-inch drivers and a bass port, plus a full Roku streamer with 4K, HDR10 and HDR10+. PCMag and CNET both heard it louder and clearer than TV speakers, strongest in the midrange where voices live.

Picture a home-office TV with room for exactly one small box. The 9.6-inch bar sits on the stand and connects over HDMI ARC. On a set without ARC, run HDMI for video and optical for sound. Its remote turns the TV on and sets the volume. AirPlay, Spotify Connect and Bluetooth cover music, and headphone mode lets you watch late without waking anyone. Streaming runs over Wi-Fi 5, and Ethernet needs a USB adapter.

Don't buy it for movie night, though. Bass is thin, the two drivers sit too close for stereo width, and it plays PCM only, so there's no Dolby Digital, DTS or Atmos. The remote has no mic, and Dolby Vision isn't supported. For an older TV in a small room, we think it's the smartest buy here. Need to fill a large room? The Sony HT-S100F (#8) gets loud enough.

This is the bar for someone who never wants to open a settings menu. The 2nd Gen TV Speaker keeps the one-cable, no-app idea and adds a dedicated center tweeter for speech, alongside two angled full-range drivers. Its voice enhancement is the standout feature for Technically Well, and that's the whole point.

Think of a parent who keeps asking what the detective just said. With Dialogue mode on, the mystery plays at a normal volume and nobody has to repeat a line. Setup is one HDMI ARC cable, which Bose includes, and the TV remote handles power and volume over CEC. Bluetooth plays music from a phone, the 23.5-inch bar suits small TVs, and Bose adds a one-year limited warranty.

But it costs more than the Sony HT-S100F and gives you less punch. Bass is adjustable yet limited, there's no surround or Atmos, and auto-on with the TV is less reliable than on the first gen. The optical cable and wall bracket are extras. Already own the original TV Speaker? Keep it. If you'd rather spend less on a bigger bar that can fill a large room, the Sony HT-S100F (#8) is the smarter buy.