8 Smart Soundbars That Will Upgrade Your Home Entertainment System

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Buying a soundbar is one of the easiest ways to upgrade your home entertainment system. Built-in TV speakers are notoriously awful, so even if you don't spring for a top-of-the-line, crazy expensive soundbar system, you'll notice an improvement over your TV's likely unexceptional speakers.

In today's world, it's handy to seek out a smart soundbar for your home entertainment setup so you can easily control volume and give commands via voice. The term "smart soundbar" is a bit vague, as a simple Bluetooth soundbar could be considered smart by some, but in this article, I specifically looked for soundbars that feature built-in voice assistant support in order to consider it as one of the best smart soundbars you can buy.

The most popular voice assistant you can find built into a soundbar is Amazon Alexa, but I found a few with built-in support for Google Assistant. For those hoping to find a soundbar with built-in Siri, you'd be out of luck. Many soundbars are compatible with Siri, meaning you can use a smart speaker, hub, or an iPhone with Siri to give commands, but you won't be able to give commands directly through the soundbar.

Let's dive into the eight smart soundbars that earned a spot on this list.

Sonos is one of the best major soundbar brands, and perhaps the most impressive soundbar the company has to offer is the Sonos Arc Ultra. At full price, the Sonos Arc Ultra is just under $1,000, but it's a worthwhile investment if you're searching for a smart soundbar with high-quality sound and a thin design.

In our Sonos Arc Ultra review, we praised the soundbar for its broad and immersive soundstage. "Whether it's subtle arthouse movies or madcap blockbusters, everything sounds fantastic." It promises better Dolby Atmos performance over the original Arc, makes it easy to build out a full system with more speakers, and features a slim design that's fairly inconspicuous.

Looking at the finer technical details, the Arc Ultra comes with a "Sound Motion" woofer, six midwoofers, and seven tweeters, two of which are up-firing. With Dolby Atmos, the soundbar is capable of delivering 9.1.4 spatial audio. For built-in voice assistants, you can turn to Sonos' proprietary assistant or Amazon Alexa, or you can control the soundbar via Siri through Apple AirPlay 2 or via Google Assistant through a separate Google Assistant-enabled device.

If the Arc Ultra is a bit out of your price range, look at the base Sonos Arc instead. The Sonos Arc is just $100 cheaper than the Arc Ultra at full price, but it often goes on sale for as low as $599 and features built-in Alexa and Google Assistant.

The Samsung HW-Q900C smart soundbar features built-in support for Amazon Alexa, letting you control it with your voice without needing a smartphone or an Alexa-enabled device. Past that, this soundbar works with Apple AirPlay 2, so you can utilize Siri for voice commands through a supported device. While it originally launched at $1,399 in 2023, you can often find Samsung's HW-Q900C soundbar for just under $900.

This is a 7.1.2 configuration with Dolby Atmos, with 16 speakers in total, including a center, up-firing, side-firing, and front wide-firing speakers and a subwoofer for a fuller soundstage. In RTINGS' HW-Q900C review, they deemed this soundbar "a great choice for listening to audio in larger and more open spaces." It may take up quite a bit of space on your TV stand, and you'll need to find a home for the subwoofer, but this powerful combo will do a great job filling large rooms with sound.

Whether you're looking for a pair of noise-canceling headphones or an improvement to your home entertainment setup, Bose is one of the best brands you can turn to. The Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar only features Alexa built into the device, but it supports Apple AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect, and it's Chromecast-enabled, so it's possible to use other voice assistants with it.

At full price, the Smart Ultra Soundbar is $899, but I'd recommend waiting for a sale to snag it for just $699, a price it regularly drops to. Inside, there are nine total speakers, with a center tweeter and two up-firing speakers among them.

As a standalone soundbar, the Smart Ultra uses Dolby Atmos and Bose TrueSpace technology to fill the space well with high-quality spatial audio. In PCMag's Smart Ultra review, they specifically praise the soundbar's "detailed spatial audio imaging with height channels" and large overall soundstage. That said, this is a soundbar that truly shines when combined with other pieces, like a Bose Bass Module, but expanding your setup past just a soundbar will cost extra.

For a more affordable alternative, check out the Bose Smart Soundbar for just $499, often discounted to $399. It's equipped with five total speakers, built-in Alexa support, and compatibility with Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, and Chromecast.

Lastly, if you're stuck between Bose and Sonos, another top soundbar brand, here are the biggest differences between Sonos and Bose wireless surround sound systems.

If you're trying to improve your home entertainment system on a budget, the Roku Streambar is a fantastic option at a mere $129. Of course, there are pros and cons to budget-friendly soundbars. More affordable soundbars — the Streambar included — will almost always sound better than your TV's built-in speakers, but they often won't come with a subwoofer and pale in comparison with pricier options when it comes to full, atmospheric sound.

The Streambar features four 1.9-inch full-range drivers and sound modes that cater to dialogue, music, movies, and other specific listening needs. In CNET's Streambar review, they report the soundbar struggles to deliver strong bass but provides decent sound quality overall.

Roku's own voice assistant is built into the included remote, or the Streambar works with Apple AirPlay, HomeKit, Google Home, and Alexa via a separate supported device, like a smart speaker or hub. The Roku Streambar SE, an even cheaper option at only $99 full price, drops an Ethernet port, Dolby Audio, and two drivers compared to the original Streambar but gains HDR10+ support.

The original Streambar and new Streambar SE come with 4K HDR streaming capabilities, Roku's library of apps and content, and the ability to stream live sports and local news.

The Samsung HW-Q990D is a beautiful 11.1.4 setup consisting of 11 front-facing speakers, four up-firing channels, and a subwoofer to ensure you fully hear the bass in your music. In total, there are 22 speakers across four separate pieces. At nearly $1,800, this smart soundbar is a pricey investment, but it's well worth it. Plus, you can often find it on sale for less than $1,350.

The HW-Q990D soundbar earned a perfect score in TechRadar's review thanks to immersive spatial audio, improved gaming features over its predecessor, and plenty of sound-enhancing features. As for voice assistants, this soundbar includes built-in Amazon Alexa and is compatible with Chromecast, AirPlay 2, and more. You can also control the HW-Q990D via Samsung's SmartThings app or with the included remote.

If you have a Samsung TV, you'll get even more out of this soundbar. When you pair a Samsung TV with the HW-Q990D, you can take advantage of Q-Symphony, which utilizes your TV speakers in addition to the soundbar speakers to give you a better overall sound experience. You can also try out wireless Dolby Atmos, which lets your TV stream Dolby Atmos soundtracks.

Yamaha is a fairly good brand for soundbars overall, especially if you're shopping on a tight budget. While a Yamaha soundbar may pale in comparison with soundbars from Bose, Sonos, or Samsung when it comes to sound quality, it's easily one of the most affordable options out there, and it will likely be loads better than your TV's built-in speakers.

Although Yamaha has many soundbar options, the YAS-209 stands out as a perfect combination of features and price. The YAS-209 is $349 at full retail price, but it's reached as low as $149 on Amazon before and seems to go on sale frequently.

For that budget-friendly price, the soundbar is equipped with DTS Virtual X: surround technology, four front L/R drivers, and two tweeters, and it comes with a separate subwoofer to handle punchy bass notes. You can use voice commands with built-in Amazon Alexa and play music and podcasts via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or Spotify Connect. However, the YAS-209 soundbar doesn't support Google Assistant or Apple AirPlay 2.

The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is one of the most highly rated soundbars you can get your hands on, with a 4.2-star average rating at Amazon and a 4.7-star average at Best Buy at the time of writing. It's fairly affordable at $499, at least compared to some of the higher-end soundbar setups you'll find from Bose, Samsung, and even Sonos.

Despite its relatively low price, the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) features built-in support for both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. It's also compatible with the Sonos app, Apple AirPlay 2, and Spotify Connect. Inside, the speaker features support for Dolby Atmos surround sound and five channels, with one tweeter and four woofers to round out the soundstage.

You can add satellite speakers to the setup to get more of a surround sound feel, but that'll cost extra. Luckily, the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) sounds just fine all on its own. According to CNET's review, it "offers a clearer sound" compared to its predecessor and manages to "create a bubble of sound" despite all of its speakers residing in a single soundbar.

If you want the high-quality sound offered by Samsung's soundbars at a slightly more affordable price, check out the HW-Q800D. At full price, the HW-Q800D soundbar is right under $1,000, but it's frequently discounted to $697 or less.

This is a 5.1.2 channel system with Dolby Atmos, with five channels in the main soundbar, two up-firing speakers on top, and a dedicated subwoofer to help produce great room-filling sound. Ultimately, this soundbar earns a near-perfect score in TechRadar's review, primarily thanks to how punchy the audio is and the impressive surround sound capabilities for movies.

The soundbar features built-in support for Amazon Alexa and Samsung's own Bixby, according to RTINGS, and you can utilize Google Assistant via the SmartThings app and Google Home. The HW-Q800D also integrates with Chromecast and Apple AirPlay 2.

If you have a Samsung TV, you can unlock even more features. When you pair a Samsung TV with a Samsung soundbar, you can use Q-Symphony, which lets your TV's speakers join the fun and create a larger soundstage. Then, you can also try out wireless Dolby Atmos, which allows your TV to stream Dolby Atmos soundtracks.

To be selected for this list as a "smart soundbar," a soundbar needs to have at least one voice assistant built directly into the device. For most soundbars, this is Alexa, but some soundbars feature built-in Google Assistant or a proprietary voice assistant. Many of these soundbars can also carry out voice commands through a smartphone, smart speaker, or hub.

With that requirement in mind, I scoured major retail websites for smart soundbars and looked at customer reviews to ensure the soundbars were reliable and delivered on sound-related promises. Then, I looked at multiple professional reviews for each soundbar, many of which came from reputable sites, including but not limited to RTINGS, PCMag, TechRadar, and SlashGear.