Want a cheap, spectacular-sounding soundbar? We’ve compiled a list of the best deals in town.
Just like you should never doubt the immense power of a soundbar to simulate surround sound as you watch movies on your television, never doubt the power of a deal. Saving on a unibody speaker is impossibly easy and even the cheapest soundbar can still add power and clarity to the audio on a level your regular TV’s speakers simply can’t.
While the results speak for themselves, trying to find the best soundbar deals can be an exercise in tedium. It’s a world filled with random series of numbers (take, for example, the Vizio SB-3830-D0 38-inch soundbar) and crazy differences in price. It’s overwhelming for most, and inconvenient for everyone. But that’s why you have us.
We’ve found tons of cheap soundbars you need to check out ASAP. On a bigger budget? Check out our guide to the best soundbars overall What’s the best soundbar deal?
This answer is going to be different for everyone. Some people are fine with a standard soundbar – no subwoofer, no streaming capabilities. Others might want the sub, but no streaming. Others might want all of the above, plus two satellite speakers. It’s a your-miles-may-vary situation.
That said, we can give you some good ideas of what to look for and where to find those great deals when they pop up.
For most folks, you really just want the basic package: a soundbar with a digital audio cable input that should connect to most modern TVs. You can get a bit tricky with HDMI passthroughs, RCA inputs and 3.5mm jacks, but sometimes basic is better. Of course, we also recommend looking for soundbars with a subwoofer included, that way you’ll get the full audio range from your favorite TV shows and movies, not just the highs and the mids.
There’s plenty of soundbars to pick from, and more coming out every week, so without further ado here are the best soundbar deals we’ve found this month.
Samsung HW-J355 2.1 Soundbar
Samsung’s HW-J355 is brilliant at the basics
Basic, but in a good way
Bluetooth enabled
Comes with a subwoofer
Not a ‘smart’ soundbar
Samsung’s HW-J355 is one of the best-selling soundbars, and for good reason. Not only does it offer good sound quality from its four combined-120W tweeters, but also comes with a wired subwoofer to add some meat to the sound. It’s a bit on the trim side at 37.13 x 2.28 x 2.56 inches, but it only weighs 3.5 lbs. The accompanying subwoofer is wired, so that might be one hang-up, and you won’t find a ton of ports here. On the plus side, though, it comes with 3D Sound Plus, which tries to simulate a surround sound effect using some clever sonic tricks. If you don’t mind something basic, this is your guy.
Read the review: Samsung HW-J355
Bose Solo 5 TV Sound System
This basic soundbar from Bose is your solution to better sound
Simple setup
Hefty bass
Awesome clarity
No subwoofer
Don’t want to be tied to a subwoofer? We don’t blame you. If you want the same robust quality of sound without the extra black box, check out the Bose Solo 5 TV Sound System. The bar measures in at a fair 2.6 x 21.6 x 3.4 inches (H x W x D) and 3.73 lbs, making it easy to wall-mount. As far as inputs and outputs are concerned it takes optical audio, coaxial audio and 3.5mm auxiliary. It comes with a remote control, which we appreciate, and has built-in Bluetooth.
Q Acoustics M3 Soundbar
A premium-sounding soundbar without a premium price tag
Beautiful musicality
Easy to use
Good value
No HDMI input
The M3 soundbar is easy to love. It might not be the most glamorous to look at, stubbornly only supports 2.1 channels of sound, and has never heard of Wi-Fi, but if there’s a better sounding soundbar on the market for less than £300/$300, we haven’t heard it. Unfortunately, there’s no subwoofer here or shot at simulated surround sound, but that’s because Q Acoustics has very deliberately kept things simple by not attempting to ‘muddy the waters’ by trying to apply (often ugly) psycho-acoustic processing.
Read the review: Q Acoustics M3 Soundbar
LG SH7B
The LG SH7B is a soundbar system that can do it all
Flexible and painless setup
Good sound for the price
Syncs with other LG speakers
Music playback is lacking
If you’re looking for a soundbar that strikes the balance between feature set, performance and price, LG’s SH7B is it. That said, it might cost a bit more than you were looking to spend. Thankfully, it’s very often on sale. This soundbar measures in at 41.73 x 2.09 x 3.35 inches, making it perfect for 49-inch and up TVs. The soundbar excels in the movie department – lasers, explosions and crushing bodily impacts in football hit home with impactful blasts of sound –that said, it’s probably not the best soundbar for the music lover out there.
Read the review: LG SH7B
Samsung HW-MS650 Sound+ Soundbar
New for 2017, Samsung’s latest trumps traditional Hi-Fi systems
Fantastically powerful sound
Physics-defying bass handling
Supports lots of sources
No external subwoofer necessary
Slightly limited stereo effect
Not content with dominating the TV world, Samsung now seems to have its sights set on becoming the number one brand for home entertainment audio, too. To that end, the Samsung HW-MS650 Sound+ Soundbar is one of our favorite pieces of AV equipment made this year – which is why we gave it our coveted Editor’s Choice award when it came out in April.
Samsung has rewritten the rulebook with the HW-MS650. No other one-body soundbar has combined so much raw power with so much clarity, scale and, especially, bass, or excelled so consistently with both films and music. It’s the sort of performance that only genuine audio innovation can deliver.
If you can afford it, this is the soundbar you need in your living room.
Read the review: Samsung HW-MS650 Sound+ Soundbar
Sony HT-NT5 2.1 Soundbar
A high-end Sony soundbar for those with money to spend
Outstanding clarity
Premium design and finish
HDMI 4K pass-through + HDCP 2.2
Subwoofer is a bit mild
One of the best deals on high-end soundbars comes in the form of Sony’s HT-NT5. This 6.1 soundbar offers 400 watts of power and, for the audiophiles out there, supports 24-bit/96KHz Hi-Res Audio. The main bar is 42.51 x 2.28 x 5.00 inches (W x H x D) while the accompanying wireless subwoofer sits at a portly 7.48 × 15.0 × 15.2 inches. As far as inputs and outputs are concerned, it has Analog Audio In, Bluetooth Reception, Bluetooth Transmission, Ethernet, USB, three HDMI-Ins and one HDMI-Out. Beyond traditional Wi-Fi and Bluetooth the HT-NT5 also supports multi-room listening through Sony’s SongPal app, and works with Google Home.
