Smart soundbars are a great way to enhance your home entertainment audio, adding voice command and music streaming capabilities into the mix, as well as providing impressive cinematic surround sound.
These sleek and intelligent devices seamlessly combine superior audio with cutting-edge technology to bring out the best in your home theater. Whether you’re a cinephile, a music enthusiast, or just seeking a better way to enjoy your favorite media, choosing the right smart soundbar can revolutionize your experience.
Here are our picks for the best smart soundbars for 2023.
Our Favorite Smart Soundbars in 2023
Sonos Beam Gen 2
Best Overall
A well-rounded soundbar for your home entertainment
With Dolby Atmos for 3D surround sound, plus voice control via Alexa and Google Assistant, the Sonos Beam Gen 2 is one of the best mid-range smart soundbars you can get. And with support for Apple AirPlay 2 as well, it’s also a great way to get the most out of your favorite music.
- Dolby Atmos support
- Alexa built-in
- Works with Google Assistant
- Great for music
- Easy to set up
- Works best for smaller or medium-sized spaces
With its one-two combo of Dolby Atmos and Alexa built-in, the Sonos Beam Gen 2 is one of the best mid-range smart soundbars you can get. It also works with Google Assistant and can be controlled using the Sonos app, Apple AirPlay 2, or your TV remote.
The Beam Gen 2 has been finely tuned to deliver crystal clear dialogue, which can be boosted even further with the Speech Enhancement feature in the Sonos app. Naturally, Dolby Atmos provides 3D stereo sound to give you a rich, immersive viewing or listening experience. And there are plenty of other neat features like Night Sound, which reduces the intensity of loud effects and amplifies quieter ones. Ideal for late-night viewing if you have sleeping children to consider.
Set up is nice and easy, with just two cables to plug in and step-by-step guidance from the Sonos app. Great for TV and movies and fantastic for music streaming, the Sonos Beam Gen 2 is an excellent smart soundbar. Providing incredible sound quality and multiple methods of control, this versatile speaker is unbeatable in its price range.
Sonos ARC
Best Premium
A premium smart soundbar for optimized cinematic surround sound
Sonos Arc brings your entertainment to life with incredible Dolby Atmos 3D sound. Its integrated TruePlay technology optimizes all acoustics in the room to bring you an unrivaled audio experience.
- Dolby Atmos
- Auto-optimization with TruePlay technology
- Alexa built-in
- Eleven built-in speakers
If you’re looking for a high-end, feature-rich smart soundbar to envelop your living space with gorgeous 360-degree sound, then the Sonos Arc is still one of the very best that money can buy. This sleek and elegant speaker can be table or wall-mounted, features Dolby Atmos, and has Amazon Alexa built-in. It can also be controlled via the Sonos app, Apple AirPlay 2, and Google Assistant.
The Sonos Arc has eleven internal speakers, including two dedicated height channels, which project sound in all directions. The result is that every nuance is rendered with crystal clarity. There’s an Enhanced Trueplay feature that optimizes sound to complement the acoustics of the room, plus a Speech Enhancement option in the Sonos app to offer extra customization.
Music streaming is supported by Dolby Atmos Music, too, so you know your ears are in for a real treat when you settle in with your favorite tunes. This powerful soundbar offers an exceptional cinematic experience, with plenty of bowel-rumbling bass right when you want it. And although the price tag may be rather steep, it’s a smart choice that your visual and audio media will thank you for.
Roku Streambar
Best Value
A channel hopper’s dream
$99 $130 Save
$31
Offering stunning 4K streaming across more than 300 TV channels, the Roku Streambar is perfect for TV lovers. Plus, with Dolby Audio, you can enjoy superb sound quality for your favorite TV and music. And a customizable home screen lets you put all your favorite streaming apps in one place.
- 4K streaming
- Dolby Audio
- Over 300 streaming channels available
- Affordable
- No power saving mode when idle
As affordable as smart soundbars can get but still offering high-quality 4K audio, the Roku Streambar is the obvious choice for buyers on a budget. Plugging into your TV’s HDMI ARC port, this soundbar offers a built-in 4K streaming service, with a customizable home screen and dedicated buttons for your favorite streaming services on the included Roku voice remote.
It offers a huge selection of free and live TV (over 300 channels), and thanks to its four 1.9-inch built-in drivers, plus Dolby Audio, the sound quality is surprisingly good. You’ll find five different sound modes to choose from, including movie and music modes, as well as handy, quality-of-life features, like the auto-quieting feature for commercials.
The Roku Streambar is the TV lover’s dream. Stream a near-endless amount of TV content in HD, 4K, and HDR. Enjoy rich Dolby Audio for all your favorite shows and customize your settings to get the mix just right for your media. With all this on offer for around the $100 mark, the Roku Streambar offers excellent value for money.
Sony HT-A3000
Most Versatile
Provides the best possible audio quality, no matter your setup
$498 $700 Save
$202
The Sony HT-A3000 supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, S-Force Pro Front Surround, and 360 Spatial Sound Mapping, which adapts to your environment. Calibrate it to your room with sound field optimization, and bring your music to life with 360 Reality Audio. Get the most from all your entertainment with this versatile surround sound smart speaker.
- Can be optimized to cater to any setup
- Dolby Atmos and DTS:X
- Chromecast built-in
- 360 Reality Audio for music
- May require additional rear speakers for larger spaces
- Expensive
Sony’s HT-A3000 3.1-inch Dolby Atmos Soundbar ticks all the right boxes for a premium smart soundbar. Featuring Dolby Atmos, DTS: X, S-Force Pro Front Surround, and 360 spatial sound mapping, you can expect a truly sublime audio experience here. It works with Google Assistant and Alexa, has Chromecast built-in, and offers support for Spotify Connect and Apple AirPlay 2.
Sound Field Optimization calibrates the HT-A3000 to your room, and 360 Spatial Sound adapts to your environment to give you the best possible multi-dimensional sound quality. The HT-A3000 features built-in dual subwoofers as well as three front speakers, which include a center channel for super clear dialogue.
If you happen to own a Sony Bravia XR TV, this is definitely the smart soundbar for you, as they pair together and allow you to use the Acoustic Center Sync function, giving you easy access to the soundbar’s controls. For everybody else, this is a premium smart soundbar that brings the wow factor to your living room and is jam-packed with additional features to upgrade your audio.
Bose Smart Soundbar 600
Best Multi-Channel
Provides an intelligent upgrade for every identified signal
$449 $499 Save
$50
Equipped with Bose’s TrueSpace technology, the Bose Smart Soundbar 600 identifies all signals in the room and upscales them to create an immersive multi-channel experience. Enjoy voice control with Alexa or Google Assistant, and bask in incredible Dolby Atmos 360 sound.
- Upscales audio across the board
- Alexa built-in
- Dolby Atmos soundbar
- SimpleSync pairs with other Bose products
- Instant access to your Bose Music library
- Occasional connectivity issues with some TVs
The Bose Smart Soundbar 600 is another excellent mid-range prospect if you’re on the hunt for a smart soundbar. It’s a Dolby Atmos soundbar with TrueSpace technology and comes with Alexa and Chromecast built-in. It also works with Google Assistant and provides support for Apple AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect.
Bose’s TrueSpace technology will intelligently analyze sound signals other than Dolby Atmos (such as 5.1 and stereo). It then upscales these sounds and separates them out, providing you with an intense multi-channel experience. And with two upward-firing transducers built-in (five in total), the sound is also reflected off the ceiling, filling the room with sound.
Once paired, the Bose Music app will guide you effortlessly through the setup process. It also gives you quick access to your music in one place. With integrated Voice4Video technology allowing you to control your TV and cable box with voice commands, the Bose Smart Soundbar makes life easier and sound better.
SAMSUNG HW-Q990B/ZA
Best Speaker Kit
A wireless soundbar that comes with a wireless rear speaker set
$1000 $1400 Save
$400
With a central smart soundbar and wireless rear speaker set, the Samsung HW-Q990B projects surround sound to every corner of the room. Using the Spacefit Sound+ function, it analyzes the acoustics of the room and optimizes the audio to fit the space, giving you a truly immersive experience.
- Complete wireless speaker set
- Dolby Atmos
- Dynamically optimized audio
- Active Voice amplifier
- Alexa-enabled
- Expensive
- SmartThings app isn’t particularly intuitive
The Samsung HW-Q990B/ZA Smart Speaker boasts the World’s first built-in Dolby Atmos connection. Featuring 11 channels, one subwoofer, and four up-firing channels, you can enjoy wireless surround sound that truly impresses you. It comes with Alexa and AirPlay 2 built-in and also includes a wireless rear speaker kit for even more oomph.
This smart soundbar analyzes the room and will automatically calibrate the audio so that you can enjoy a fully optimized sound for your space, including enhanced voice clarity. Plus, if you own a compatible Samsung TV, the Q-Symphony feature floods the room with fully synchronized audio from every Samsung speaker in the room for even more immersion.
There’s a Game Pro Mode to provide you with 3D audio for gaming and a Tap Sound Mode, which plays music or podcasts from your phone to the soundbar with just a simple tap on the speaker. The addition of the rear speaker kit provides the icing on this big booming cake, giving you everything you need to immerse yourself in stunning sound.
Polk MagniFi Mini AX
Most Compact
Proving that some of the best things do come in small packages
Enjoy big sound from a compact smart speaker with the Polk MagniFi Mini AX. This smart speaker includes a powerful subwoofer and is Dolby Atmos and DTS:X certified. With an easy one-cable setup, this space-saving smart speaker can be up and running in no time and will help you get the most out of your entertainment.
- Compact, space-saving design
- Includes subwoofer
- Dolby Atmos and DTS:X certified
- Alexa-enabled
- Remote could be more responsive
With a compact design that still packs a punch, the Polk MagniFi Mini AX soundbar is a great space-saving choice. It has a five-speaker array and delivers Dolby Atmos and DTS: X-certified cinematic sound with a decent amount of bass.
Polk’s VoiceAdjust technology is present here to provide clarity to speech levels, using the integrated center channel speaker to amplify voice levels without affecting the rest of the output. It isolates the dialogue and ensures that you’ll never be struggling to hear what’s being said on-screen. The MagniFi Mini AX also comes with a wireless subwoofer that provides the bass and can be easily adjusted using the Bass Adjust feature to fine-tune the balance between the soundbar and subwoofer.
Music streaming is well catered for, too, with Apple AirPlay 2, Chromecast, and Spotify Connect all supported. And you’ll find dedicated sound modes for both music and movies to ensure you’re getting the best out of both. It offers plenty of value for money and is a good solution if you’re after something more discreet that won’t dominate the room.
Choosing the Right Smart Soundbar for You
When it comes to home theater, there’s no limit to how much you can fork out to get the very best from your entertainment media. However, for most of us, our budget will limit that choice for us. Luckily, there are plenty of smart soundbars across the mid-range that provide excellent audio without costing you a small fortune.
If you’re less constrained by budget or simply throwing caution to the wind, the Sonos Arc is one of the very best premium smart soundbars you can get. It features Dolby Atmos 3D sound and comes with Alexa built-in for easy voice control access to your favorite media. A slew of additional features, like Speech Enhancement, mean that every sound can be fine-tuned so that you don’t miss a thing. With its eleven built-in speakers, it fires out sound in all directions, immersing you in an absorbing audio experience that fills the whole room.
A much more budget-friendly option is the Roku Streambar which sails in around the $100 mark and adds a canon of 300+ streaming channels to your TV roster, which you can enjoy in stunning 4K. The speaker itself provides Dolby Audio and will represent a significant upgrade from most integrated TV speakers, and the Roku remote allows you to enjoy voice control of your favorite TV.
But for that sweet spot at the center of the Venn diagram of sound quality, functionality, and price point, the Sonos Beam Gen 2 gets our vote. With Dolby Atmos surround sound and Alexa built-in, it is comfortably high-spec at the mid-range. Besides voice control, you can use it with the Sonos app, Apple AirPlay 2, or the remote control. Enjoy crystal clear dialogue by engaging its Speech Enhancement feature, with smart Trueplay tuning automatically optimizing the audio to fit the room. It’s a great way to enjoy your favorite music, too, with support for most streaming platforms, and it has a Bass Boost feature to give things an extra thump.
Sonos Beam Gen 2
Best Overall
The best smart soundbar overall
With Dolby Atmos for 3D surround sound, plus voice control via Alexa and Google Assistant, the Sonos Beam Gen 2 is one of the best mid-range smart soundbars you can get. And with support for Apple AirPlay 2 as well, it’s also a great way to get the most out of your favorite music.
- Dolby Atmos support
- Alexa built-in
- Works with Google Assistant
- Great for music
- Easy to set up
- Works best for smaller or medium-sized spaces
