Compare the Best SoundbarsOctober 2020

Soundbar Buying Guide

Subwoofer

While most soundbars comprise of just the bar itself, others come packaged with a separate subwoofer unit. This is a loudspeaker designed specifically for bass frequencies, meaning it will augment the standard soundbar and provide substantially more powerful bass notes. This boosts the overall sound quality of the TV, and is especially good if you watch a lot of action-heavy blockbusters, since the explosions and gunshots will have a lot more presence.

Wireless Streaming

The majority of soundbars are designed to be plugged in directly to the TV, rather than using a wireless connection. This is minimise any delay in the audio - wireless connections can generate a very slight delay while the data is sent from the TV to the soundbar, meaning that the video and audio signals the TV could drop out of sync. Wired connections have no such delay, meaning the video and audio will always be perfectly in sync.

Many soundbars do have wireless capabilities, but they are instead used for streaming audio from your phone/tablet/etc. Because there is no video signal, the small delay doesn’t really matter. This means that as well as TV audio, soundbars can also be used for music on demand, making them great for parties or just relaxing with your favourite music!

Soundbar Prices

In total we found 126 soundbars ranging from $25 to $1,649. A new soundbar costs on average $402 and 80% of soundbars are priced between $80 and $899. The cheapest soundbar that we found is the Logik L32SBT17 at only $26, and the most expensive is the Samsung HW-Q90R at $1,649.

Soundbar Brands - Price Range

Bang & Olufsen soundbars range in price from $1,649 to $1,649, and the average price of Bang & Olufsen soundbars is $1,649 which is the highest average price of all soundbar brands.

Dali soundbars start at $899 and their most expensive soundbar costs $899. The second highest average soundbar price out of all brands is Dali soundbars with an average price of $899.

The third highest average soundbar price out of all brands is Canton soundbars with an average price of $832. Canton soundbars range in price from $622 to $1,145.

Soundbar Brands - Average Ratings

We have checked 19 expert 0 reviews and used this information to evaluate the average rating for each brand of soundbar. The top rated soundbar brand is LG with an average rating of 98%. The second best brand is Panasonic with 17% and the third best brand is Sony with 0%.

Biggest Soundbar Retailers

We found 121 current offers for soundbars from eBay making it the biggest soundbar retailer. That is over 3 times bigger than the second biggest retailer, Walmart for whom we found 33 current offers for soundbars. The third biggest retailer is Adorama with 22 current soundbar offers.

When Are Most New Soundbars Released?

April to May is the most common period for new soundbars to be released in. For the latest soundbar features you may want to consider waiting until April 2021. Also the price of the current soundbars may drop off just before the latest models are released in April. Last year most new soundbars were released in April, with 12 new soundbars released that month. In November 2018, 23 new soundbars were released making it the biggest month that year for new soundbar releases. The biggest month in 2017 for new soundbar releases was May, with 41 new soundbars released that month.

How Fast Do Soundbar Prices Drop After Release?

In the first 6 months after release, soundbars drop in price by 14% on average.

That means that on a typical soundbar costing $402 you could save on average $58 by waiting 6 months before buying.

Audio Channels

'Audio Output' denotes the number of individual channels for the soundbar to use. Specific sounds and parts of the screen are assigned to individual channels, allowing the soundbar to simulate surround sound and create a deeper audio depth.

Amongst new soundbars, the most frequently found audio channels is 2.1 channels. We found 195 soundbars that are 2.1 channels soundbars. We found 73 soundbars that are 2 channels soundbars, making this the second most common audio channels amongst new soundbars.

Bluetooth

Whether the sounder has support for wireless Bluetooth connections or not.

The vast majority of the 439 new soundbars currently listed on Kagoo are soundbars which support Bluetooth. 92% of soundbars are soundbars which support Bluetooth.

Subwoofer Included

Whether the soundbar includes a subwoofer, which is a loudspeaker for low frequencies (bass sounds).

Of the 439 new soundbars currently listed on Kagoo, the vast majority are soundbars with a subwoofer included. 293 out of 439 soundbars are soundbars with a subwoofer included.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Soundbars?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying soundbars. For each retailer it shows the total number of soundbars where they currently have a market leading price. The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying soundbars. For each retailer we took all of their prices and looked at what proportion of those prices where the cheapest on the market. The cheapest retailer that we found was eBay. 109 of their soundbar prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.

Proportion of Soundbars for Which Each Retailer is Cheapest?

Assessing how cheap each retailer is for soundbars by counting the number of cheapest prices for that retailer, makes the retailers that offer the greatest number of soundbar prices more likely to offer the greatest number of cheapest prices. The chart below considers the proportion of each retailer's soundbar prices that are the cheapest compared to other retailers. The cheapest retailer that we found using this approach was eBay. 90.1% of their soundbar prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.