Best Buy Soundbar Deals [CRACKED]
Equipping your home theater system with speakers can cost a fortune. Thankfully, you don't have to break the bank to find a decent soundbar that can make watching TV or movies more exciting. Even some of the cheapest soundbars perform well, especially if you watch a lot of dialogue-heavy content like TV dramas or listen to podcasts or audiobooks at home. Whether you're looking for a soundbar with a subwoofer for watching action movies or a small soundbar that'll fit under your TV, there's something for everyone in the budget range.
best buy soundbar deals
We've tested over 165 soundbars, and below you'll find the best soundbars under $250 to buy. See our recommendations for the best soundbars, the best soundbars under $200, and the best soundbars under $300.
The best budget soundbar we've tested is the Vizio V Series V51-H6. It's one of the few setups available in this price range with discrete satellite speakers for an improved surround sound. With 5.1 audio formats like Dolby Digital and DTS, both of which are commonly found on streaming services and Blu-rays, you get an immersive, cinematic feel, as if your couch were 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.
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 comes in 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 pretty clear sound right out of the box, so the dialogue on 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 a lot of 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.
For those with smaller-sized living rooms, the Bose TV Speaker may be the better choice. It's a compact soundbar available at a budget-friendly price, with a great sound to improve your listening experience. At less than 24 inches in width, it can fit beneath your TV or PC without issue. Plus, it's Bluetooth-compatible, making it easy to stream audio from your phone to the bar. With streaming platforms and Blu-rays, you can enjoy 5.1 surround sound content with this bar. Of course, as a 2.0 setup, it has to downmix it into stereo to play it, which doesn't sound quite as immersive.
If you don't want to spend much on a soundbar, check out the TCL Alto 6+. As the best cheap soundbar we've tested, it makes a solid choice for those who are 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 are clearly reproduced. 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.
Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the best cheap soundbars for most people to buy. We factor in the price (a cheaper soundbar wins over a pricier one if the difference isn't worth it), feedback from our visitors, and availability (no soundbars that are difficult to find or almost out of stock everywhere).
If you would like to choose for yourself, here's the list of the best value soundbars. Be careful not to get caught up in the details. No soundbar is perfect. Personal taste, preference, and listening habits will matter more in your selection.
The best cheap soundbars bring a sonic boost to the sound from a TV's built-in speakers, with better-sounding dialog and bigger bass to make action movies come alive. Each of these sub-$150 models has been thoroughly reviewed for its ability to deliver a more engaging listening experience for medium-sized TV screens without bleeding your wallet dry.
Although they're packed with an impressive array of features and sound customization options, you may not get top-notch features like Dolby Atmos format support as found on many of the best soundbars overall. But the sonic upgrade these low-cost soundbars bring your TV sound makes them worthwhile all the same.
Read on to discover the right TV soundbar speaker for you. And don't forget, you'll find lots more info in our in-depth standalone reviews, covering installation, customization, and performance. Just follow the link at the end of each product summary to learn more.
Best value overall: Creative Stage V2This low-priced soundbar delivers clear, articulate sound, highlighted by powerful bass that the accompanying subwoofer handles with ease. There are built-in bass and treble controls, plus the bundled remote comes programmed with a variety of functions that simplify usage.
Best value alternative: Vizio V-Series 2.1 Home Theater Soundbar V21-H8A superb, low-cost soundbar and subwoofer combo, the Vizio is well featured with inputs to hook up other media devices and compatible with numerous surround sound formats. Bass fans will enjoy the low end that comes out of the small subwoofer, and although it sacrifices control and precision, you can't grumble at the price.
The Creative Stage V2 soundbar is outstanding value for money. In addition to a sleek soundbar with a relative bounty of connectivity, including HDMI ARC, the small outlay also gets you a dedicated subwoofer to help pump out impactful bass.
Vizio has a variety of soundbar and subwoofer bundles to choose from, but our current favorite is the V-Series 2.1 Home Theater Soundbar V21-H8. The speaker itself has a nondescript, minimalist design that blends nicely into any home theater setup. There are numerous inputs to hook up other media devices, including televisions, gaming consoles, and any Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri smart speaker.
The Roku Streambar is Roku's second soundbar outing, and just might be the company's best yet. This unique all-in-one device is both a compact soundbar and a 4K Roku streaming player at once, allowing you to enjoy great sound for shows and movies while tapping into your favorite streaming services all from the same hardware.
Soundbar size: There are a number of factors that play into deciding which soundbar you should buy. Size will likely be prohibitive for most customers; you obviously need a soundbar that will suit your TV and space constraints within your entertainment console. And, because a soundbar is one of the centerpieces of your home theater setup, it has to look good and fit stylistically.
Pricing considerations: Obviously, price is a big consideration when looking for the best soundbars. Although there are always exceptions, big-name brands will typically command a bit extra, but generally speaking, the less you spend on a soundbar the greater the chance that sound and features will be compromised. Going for a budget option isn't always the best choice, as any money you save on your purchase won't do you much good if the sound quality is poor.
We test soundbars for vocal clarity and low-end effects by watching a variety of movies and TV shows, including video in action and drama genres. We also listen to various songs ranging from rock to hip hop to acoustic to evaluate music performance. We benchmark volume using an app that measures decibels.
Ease of use depends on how quickly and simply we can connect the soundbar to the TV and how easily we can make adjustments to the sound quality. We'll let you know if this process is particularly easy or difficult, though cheap soundbars pretty much never require specialist audio knowledge to set up.
As a former editor of the U.K.'s Hi-Fi Choice magazine, Lee is passionate about all kinds of audio tech and has been providing sound advice to enable consumers to make informed buying decisions since he joined Which? magazine as a product tester in the 1990s. Lee covers all things audio for Tom's Guide, including headphones, wireless speakers and soundbars and loves to connect and share the mindfulness benefits that listening to music in the very best quality can bring."}; var triggerHydrate = function() window.sliceComponents.authorBio.hydrate(data, componentContainer); var triggerScriptLoadThenHydrate = function() if (window.sliceComponents.authorBio === undefined) var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = ' -9-5/authorBio.js'; script.async = true; script.id = 'vanilla-slice-authorBio-component-script'; script.onload = () => window.sliceComponents.authorBio = authorBio; triggerHydrate(); ; document.head.append(script); else triggerHydrate(); if (window.lazyObserveElement) window.lazyObserveElement(componentContainer, triggerScriptLoadThenHydrate, 1500); else console.log('Could not lazy load slice JS for authorBio') } }).catch(err => console.log('Hydration Script has failed for authorBio Slice', err)); }).catch(err => console.log('Externals script failed to load', err));Lee DunkleySocial Links NavigationAudio EditorAs a former editor of the U.K.'s Hi-Fi Choice magazine, Lee is passionate about all kinds of audio tech and has been providing sound advice to enable consumers to make informed buying decisions since he joined Which? magazine as a product tester in the 1990s. Lee covers all things audio for Tom's Guide, including headphones, wireless speakers and soundbars and loves to connect and share the mindfulness benefits that listening to music in the very best quality can bring. 041b061a72