The 5 Best Budget Soundbars - Fall 2023 Reviews

The best budget soundbar we've tested is the Vizio V Series V51-H6. It's one of the only setups available at this price point with discrete satellites designed to improve the quality of 5.1 surround sound formats like Dolby Digital and DTS. It provides an immersive, cinematic feel with surround sound content, making you feel like your couch was dropped right in the middle of the action. The added subwoofer brings plenty of rumble in the bass for action-packed scenes. You'll have to wire the satellites to the subwoofer to get them to work, though, which isn't ideal for all living spaces.

The bar offers a great price-to-performance ratio, whether you're listening to music, movies, or TV shows. Its sound quality is especially impressive for the price, so voices and lead instruments in your favorite tunes are reproduced with clarity right out of the box. Dialogue is easy to follow, too, and Bluetooth compatibility makes it easy to stream podcasts, audiobooks, and other content from your phone. While it doesn't support Dolby Atmos content, this is common with bars in this price range. Overall, it's a great pick that won't break the bank.

If you don't have space for satellite speakers in your living room, check out the Samsung HW-Q60B. It's another versatile bar available at a budget-friendly price, and since it lacks satellites, it's more compact overall. Set up the bar and the subwoofer in your living room to enjoy a balanced sound with a clear and accurate representation of voices and lead instruments in the mix. Thanks to its graphic EQ and presets, this soundbar is super customizable, too, so you can switch up its sound based on your preferences.

Without satellites, this soundbar isn't quite as impressive with Dolby Atmos and surround sound. The bar has to downmix this content into stereo to play it, which sounds less immersive than what you get with the Vizio V Series V51-H6. Still, you can always add on satellites, sold separately, to improve its performance. For an affordable price, it's a great way to enhance your listening experience without taking up a lot of room.

Living in a studio apartment? Low on space? A standalone soundbar might be the best option since it packs sound into an all-in-one package that's available without a bulky subwoofer to take up extra space in your room. The best we've tested in the budget range is the Vizio M Series M213ad-K8. It has a unique trapezoidal design, and its 2.1 setup means it's ideal for listening to stereo content, including most music and TV shows. You get a clear sound right out of the box, so the dialogue on the screen is clear and easy to follow. Without a sub, you don't get the same rumble in the low-bass. It's not noticeable if you mostly listen to content without much bass mixed in, like dialogue-centric TV shows and sitcoms, but it's not ideal for those who love bass-heavy EDM and hip-hop.

It's a unique bar, as it's one of the only offerings in its price range to add Dolby Atmos support. However, since it's a 2.1 setup, it has to downmix both Atmos and 5.1 surround sound formats like Dolby Digital into stereo to play them. The resulting sound isn't immersive, and sound effects seem to come from a speaker in front of you rather than from speakers around you, like at a movie theater. It's nice that it offers the flexibility to enjoy Atmos every once in a while—but if you're an avid movie buff, you'll want to stick with a better-performing bar like the Vizio V Series V51-H6 or even the more expensive Vizio M Series M51ax-J6, which offers Atmos support.

The Samsung HW-S60B is another great option for smaller living rooms. It's a standalone soundbar that's smaller than the Vizio M Series M213ad-K8, at less than 27 inches in width, and can fit beneath your TV or PC without issue. While it's a little pricier than some of the other picks on our list, you may find it worth it since it offers impressive sound quality for only a few extra bucks. You can buy the all-black variant or try out the all-white version, the Samsung HW-S61B. Built-in Alexa offers hands-free control, too.

This soundbar has great sound quality and has many enhancement features to make the most of its sound. For example, you can access a graphic EQ to customize its sound. It supports many common audio formats, too, including 5.1 surround sound. It also supports Atmos, though it has to downmix this content into surround sound to play it. Without satellites, its sound isn't quite as immersive as what you get with products like the Vizio V Series V51-H6. It also has fewer connections than bars like the Vizio M Series M213ad-K8, so without an HDMI In port, it can't support video passthrough. Still, for the size, this small soundbar packs a punch.

If you want to spend less on a soundbar, check out the TCL Alto 6+. This 2.1 model is the best cheap soundbar we've tested, and it makes a solid choice for those new to the soundbar space. Though it sometimes retails for over $100, you can often find it at a more affordable price point. With a dedicated subwoofer, it can bring more thump and rumble in the bass than other cheap bars, most of which come as standalone setups. As a result, it's a good pick for bass-heavy music like EDM and hip-hop.

As a 2.1 bar, it's ideal for listening to stereo content, which includes most music and TV shows. Voices and lead instruments clearly reproduce. Audio sounds a bit dull due to the dip in the treble, especially compared to the Bose TV Speaker, but this is typical for cheap soundbars. It can also playback 5.1 surround sound content like Dolby Digital, though it has to downmix it into stereo to play it. This simple plug-and-play bar is a good way to upgrade your TV's sound without breaking the bank.