Soundbar Reviews

Performance
Build Quality
Ergonomics
Value

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Excellent vocal clarity
Room-filling sound with Q-Symphony on Samsung TVs
Wireless connectivity
Minus
No on-screen or on-device settings display
Only confirms setting and input changes verbally
No direct voice assistant capability

THE VERDICT
If you are tired of not hearing TV dialog and are looking for a full, rich home theater experience, yet don’t want rear speakers, the Samsung HW-QS700F is an excellent choice to get an array of cinematic sound from above and in front of you.

While not as complete an experience as the flagship HW-Q990F soundbar and surround sound system, the HW-QS700F is a respectable upgrade to television speakers, giving a virtual surround experience, including upfiring speakers.

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Decent sound for the price
Slim, wireless subwoofer
Bluetooth for music streaming
Minus
Confusing LED display
Lacks deep bass
Hard-to-read remote control

THE VERDICT
Vizio's 2.1 soundbar system with wireless subwoofer delivers better sound than built-in TV speakers without breaking the bank.

Vizio's latest soundbar is a compact system with a wireless subwoofer that sells for $150. If you just spent big bucks on a new TV and realized that its built-in audio is horrific, this 2.1 package will deliver significantly better sound without consuming what remains of your budget.

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Dedicated surrounds for true 5.1-channel sound
Bluetooth connection to mobile sources
Effective DTS Volume mode
Minus
Less impressive performance with music

THE VERDICT
A surprisingly good-sounding, high-value choice for movie sound, though serious music lovers might need to look elsewhere

Home theater, as I’ve always defined it, is the union of big-screen TV and surround sound. At their best, they have the power to suspend disbelief and pull you into a cinematic narrative or musical experience. Sometimes soundbars make the cut, and sometimes they don’t. Any decent-sounding soundbar—whether it has 2.0, 2.1, or 5.1 channels—is likely to improve over the awful speakers built into most TVs. Making the evening news intelligible is no small contribution to household happiness. But few soundbars try to cross the barrier from convenience to full-bore 5.1-channel rapture. The Vizio S4251W-B4 is just such a product.

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value

AT A GLANCE
Plus
True 5.1-channel sonics from a soundbar system
Reasonably neutral tonal balance
Fairly deep response
Unexpectedly substantial volume
Minus
Restrained treble
No IR passthrough

THE VERDICT
This Vizio is a large, affordably priced, true 5.1-channel soundbar system that actually plays loud, with respectable bass extension and very presentable sound.

Vizio has come a long way from its roots in a small PC-monitor brand (Princeton) a decade or so ago. Depending on your metrics, the California firm is now the No. 1 brand in both LCD HDTVs and soundbars. Today, the soundbar has ridden the coattails of the big-screen explosion to become an important product category in its own right. And with many serious loudspeaker makers getting into the game (likely a matter of survival in some cases), the ante has been raised so that what was once a mere profit-sweetening sales-ticket afterthought to a TV sale is now a hotly competitive category where performance and features figure as prominently as price.

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Great value
Impressive dialogue clarity
Voice Assistant input
Minus
Lacks bass impact
Complicated LED display
Narrow soundstage

THE VERDICT
With its strikingly clear dialogue delivery, Vizio's V21d-J8 might just be the best $100 soundbar you can buy.

Whoever complained that you get what you pay for never listened to Vizio's V21d-J8. The company's latest 2.1-channel soundbar is a $100 entry-level model offering strikingly clear sound. Although the V21d-J8 lacks a dedicated subwoofer, it delivers a fair amount of upper-bass impact. For the price, it can't be beat.

A Moment of Tru

Vizio, how you’ve grown. When flatpanel HDTVs came along, you were among the first brands created especially to bring the new display technology to eager consumers. Now that butt-ugly direct-view and rear-pro sets are largely a bad memory, you’re at the forefront of a burgeoning business. Your market share is nothing to sneeze at, and your XVT553SV LED-backlit LCD set is a Home Theater Top Pick. What are you going to do for an encore?

The valley between most televisions' woeful onboard audio and the glory of a full-on 5.1-, 6.1-, or 7.1-channel audio system is a broad one indeed, and wending its way through the middle like some bittersweet creek is the much-maligned soundbar. Once dismissed by the techno-elite as home theater for the lazy, the soundbar has since evolved into a viable compromise bet ween…well, something great and nothing at all.