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Audio quality so impressive it'll feel like you're at the movies.
There’s always room for improvement when it comes to your home theater setup, and investing in a soundbar is the perfect place to start. Whether you own a brand new flat-screen TV or an older model that could use a boost in the audio department, a soundbar can help significantly improve your TV’s audio quality and make dialogue clearer and easier to understand. “Soundbars are a relatively affordable, aesthetic upgrade to your home entertainment system, with easy setup and impressive sound quality,” says Chief Technologist Rachel Rothman. Some soundbars even enable you to stream music from Spotify as you would through a Bluetooth speaker. And most soundbars don’t take up too much space and will fit nicely beneath your TV console or mounted on the wall.
At the Good Housekeeping Institute, our Media & Tech Lab experts have been testing audio equipment for years ranging from the most popular home projectors to the best wireless earbuds and outdoor speakers. When testing the best soundbars, our engineers and audio experts evaluated everything from ease of use to performance and design, carefully assessing each soundbar’s configuration, size, audio output and more. Below are our top picks for the best soundbars in 2022, based on comprehensive testing conducted in the Media & Tech Lab.
After our top picks, read further to learn whether or not you need a soundbar, how to connect it to your TV and the best place to install it in your home.
Whether you’re new to Sonos or already have a few Sonos speakers throughout your home, the pros at the Good Housekeeping Institute agree that the Sonos Arc is the best soundbar for most households. While it’s not the cheapest (nor the most expensive), this soundbar is one of the easiest to set up and use. Not only did its compact and sleek design impress us, but we like that you can adjust settings directly from your smartphone via the intuitive Sonos app. Or you can use your existing TV remote to adjust the volume thanks to an HDMI eARC connection. This soundbar is even compatible with voice assistants like Google Assistant and Alexa so it’ll integrate seamlessly into your smart home, and it supports Dolby Atmos for a surround sound effect when watching movies or streaming music.
“As a music lover, I would definitely recommend and buy this soundbar. In addition to its modern look and feel, it has a great price point, and the clean sound throughout the unit is just amazing,” says Elliot Lopez, Hearst’s Director of Audio Visual Services. “This is a streamlined soundbar that offers a premium surround sound experience without the need for supplementary speakers. But if you want the full experience, you can always purchase the sub and rear speakers to complete the system.” And if you have a smaller TV or want to save some money, you can always opt for the Sonos Beam (Gen 2), which is another great pick from Sonos, though you’ll sacrifice some performance.
This compact, affordable soundbar is an excellent choice for anyone who wants to improve their TV’s speaker setup at a great price. And you'll get the perks of an integrated media player so you can stream shows and access all your favorite apps from Roku’s robust streaming platform. Our pros love that this soundbar is super lightweight, making it a great pick for smaller spaces, smaller TVs or even projectors. “If you’re not the biggest fan of your smart TV’s applications or interface, then Roku Streambar is a great option since it combines audio and streaming services together,” says one tester.
“I love its small, compact size that still offers enough volume for my whole space," says Senior Textile Analyst Emma Seymour. "It sounded great when listening to music and watching TV. I especially like that it offers Roku streaming directly for one less remote!” Another tester shared, “Though the bass was slightly on the disappointing side, this soundbar would do just fine in a small space."
This soundbar is a great pick for anyone that’s ready to invest in their home theater’s audio setup and wants premium sound performance. While this soundbar is one of the most expensive we feature, it earned top scores for performance and ease of use and blew our testers away with its outstanding sound quality (we witnessed some jaws-dropping). Our pros and engineers note that it is heavy, but it’s one of the most impressive all-in-one soundbars on this list, and it doesn’t require a sub or rear speakers for a 3D sound experience. “This soundbar features very impressive bass. It’s extremely powerful and the sound quality is fantastic,” says one tester.
Our pros love how easy it is to set up the Sony soundbar. Its compact and thin design makes it an ideal choice for smaller living rooms, and the front display is a useful feature for displaying volume. “The sound on this all-in-one soundbar is immersive, clear and packs a good punch, though you sacrifice some sub frequencies,” says one tester. “The Bluetooth connectivity was very easy to use, and the settings and sound levels are all visible on the soundbar making it simple to acknowledge which settings are active when selected.”
This soundbar stood out in particular among movie-watchers for its clear dialogue and omnipresent sound. “The voice quality for sporting events, movies, shows and news struck me as being consistently good," said one tester. "I did not need to throw the volume way up to hear the dialogue, only to then be drowned in some loud background sound from the program. The sound felt clean and immersive for a wide variety of programming across cable and streaming and was very impressive in comparison to my current home sound set up.”
For a great value, this soundbar comes with Alexa built-in so you don’t even have to pick up the remote to pause your TV show. The soundbar does include a subwoofer, so you’ll need some extra room near your TV, but nevertheless, our testers found it extremely easy to set up. “The soundbar is aesthetically pleasing and it’s easy to set up and adjust the settings to your liking. Though it doesn’t have an app, the sound quality was clean, the bass had great clarity and the treble was well balanced,” says one tester, though there was noticeable distortion at higher volumes.
We particularly enjoyed streaming music via this soundbar, finding the sound quality crisp, clear and loud, albeit smaller than other soundbars. Watching movies was also a joy. “The sound quality is perfect if you’re watching a movie — the omnipresent audio intensifies the movie-watching experience and provides movie-theater sound from the comfort of your home,” says Textiles Analyst Grace Wu. “I also like that it’s easy to turn off if I’m not in the mood for such a cinematic feel when watching the news or a more relaxed TV show,” she says.
This soundbar and speaker set from Samsung is a great pick for anyone who owns a larger TV or is looking to create a home cinema setup. Though it's a heavy set of equipment that's far from compact (you'll need enough space to handle the large soundbar itself, two rear speakers and a large subwoofer), we love that everything connects wirelessly so you don’t have to deal with hiding any long cables.
In our Lab tests, we were very impressed with the sound quality of this soundbar and gave it top performance scores. “The dialogue felt easy to understand even during movie scenes with lots of underscore and sound effects. The treble and bass were both well balanced, and the audio felt extremely clear without feeling thin,” says Lab Assistant Nik Greenwald. If top-notch audio quality is what you're looking for, this soundbar is worth the extra investment.
If you’re looking for a soundbar at a mid-range price, this pick from Vizio is an excellent choice that includes a subwoofer and two side speakers. While its design is sleek and thin, take note that the system doesn’t connect wirelessly and the long proprietary cables can hinder a clean setup. But the soundbar’s audio performance makes up for it. “This soundbar has top-notch sound quality with incredibly immersive surround sound,” says Greenwald.
According to another tester, “The sound quality was fantastic. The subwoofers and surround speakers really helped create an impressive sound experience.” On top of this soundbar’s stellar audio performance, we like that the remote features an LED display so you can easily keep tabs on any volume adjustments. And though voice assistants aren’t built-in, there’s a speaker input so you can still access Alexa or Google Assistant through your soundbar.
We like this all-in-one Bose soundbar for smart homes and smaller spaces that want a hassle-free, intuitive audio upgrade. Our pros gave this model top scores for ease of use, finding it a breeze to set up and operate. You're able to use a remote to operate your TV and soundbar, or you can adjust your soundbar’s settings further in the Bose app. We also like that voice assistants such as Google Assistant and Alexa are built-in, meaning that you can ask Google to change the channel without having to lift a finger.
Much like other Bose products, this soundbar features a super clear sound that our pros enjoyed. “The soundbar’s audio was crisp and well-balanced. The stereo was impressive and felt spatially accurate,” says Greenwald. Our pros also loved the soundbar’s design, though we do wish there was an LED display on the unit to indicate any volume or setting changes. “This soundbar has a sleek, modern look to it and will fit into any home theater setup. I love that there’s an option to hang the unit. What it lacked was the bass module, but for a small space this would work perfectly," says Lopez.
“Yes, soundbars are a sound investment,” says Good Housekeeping Institute Chief Technologist Rachel Rothman. “Because TVs have continually gotten thinner and thinner, this has made it more challenging to keep up with quality audio output allowed in thicker form factors,” says Rothman. Most soundbars are an easy upgrade over your TV’s built-in speakers. If you’ve ever had a hard time understanding dialogue when watching TV shows or movies, a soundbar can alleviate this problem. In addition to improving overall sound quality, soundbars can help make dialogue clearer to understand and some even feature speech enhancement modes, along with other EQ settings so you can adjust your TV’s sound to your liking.
"The most common way to connect your TV to a soundbar is with an HDMI ARC cable. If you don't see an ARC output on your TV, you can always use the optical out as an option," says Lopez. The advantage of an ARC (Audio Return Channel) connection is that it will enable you to use your TV remote to control your soundbar. This means that when you turn your TV on your soundbar will turn on as well, and you won’t have to get up off the couch to make any adjustments or use a separate remote to control the volume.
You should aim to place your soundbar as close to your TV as possible, without blocking the TV. “Soundbars are traditionally placed below your TV, either mounted to the wall or placed on a surface beneath it like a console or TV stand, but it’s important to check your model and see if that is in fact the best position," says Rothman. "For certain soundbars, placing them above the TV may be preferential."
"The most important factor in mounting a soundbar is that it is as close to ear level as possible, whether that is above or below the television," says Lopez. "Usually, manuals include details on best positioning and consider where the soundbar’s drivers are. In general, the closer the soundbar is to your TV, the more integrated the two will feel, however sometimes some trial and error may be required to find the best location for optimal audio output,” says Rothman.
The Good Housekeeping Institute’s Media & Tech experts, engineers and analysts tested each soundbar in collaboration with Hearst’s Audio & Visual Department over the course of a week for ease of use, performance and design. To evaluate the ease of use, we assessed how easy each soundbar was to set up and connect to a TV as well as how intuitive the soundbar was to use. To assess ease of operation, we considered each soundbar’s app (if applicable), remote and physical configuration.
To test performance, we connected each soundbar to a TV with an HDMI ARC or optical cable and watched clips of Batman along with other TV shows and movies. Our pros rated overall audio quality and enjoyment as well as how clear voices and dialogue sounded. To test streaming audio quality, we wirelessly connected each soundbar to a smartphone via Bluetooth and streamed Spotify’s Dolby Atmos playlist, evaluating overall sound quality as well as bass, treble and omnipresence.
We also listened to the audio at maximum volume to check for any distortion. Lastly, we considered each soundbar’s overall size and whether it had any additional features such as voice assistant control, smart home compatibility, audio modes or room calibration.
Media & Tech Reviews Analyst Olivia Lipski oversees product testing and covers everything from consumer tech to smart home devices and appliances, health, home and fitness. She's covered audio over the years, writing about outdoor speakers, wireless earbuds and noise-canceling headphones. She continues to stay on top of the industry’s latest innovations and helps readers make better buying decisions by testing and reviewing the best gadgets to hit the market. She most recently led soundbar testing, testing each soundbar with audio experts and engineers in the Hearst Tower in NYC.
Rachel Rothman, Chief Technologist and head engineer, has a B.S.E. in mechanical engineering and applied mechanics with a mathematics minor from the University of Pennsylvania and has been at GH for 14 years. She leads efforts for the constant evolution of GH’s technical and testing protocols, responding both to market drivers and growth opportunities. Rachel is the lead expert and key brand ambassador for GH across a number of categories — including electronics, smart home, automotive, toys, parenting, fitness, tech, startups and more — and a sought-after speaker at large-scale events.