The Best Soundbars, According to the Reviews

On averaged review scores, two soundbars tie for best: the Sonos Arc Ultra and the Sony HT-S2000, each 9.3 out of 10 across What Hi-Fi?, Tom’s Guide and TechRadar. The Arc Ultra, $1,099 at Sonos, is the one bar all five roundups we checked recommend, while Sony’s US store showed the HT-S2000 as unavailable on 14 October; for $499, less than half the Arc Ultra’s price, the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) averages 8.7 and What Hi-Fi? says it works just as well with music.

Update, 14 October 2026. We had said the Sony HT-S2000 does not expand into a system with a subwoofer and rear speakers. Sony’s own page says it pairs with Sony’s SA-SW3 or SA-SW5 wireless subwoofers and SA-RS3S rear speakers. We had also said the Bose Smart Soundbar’s two lower scores both cite thin bass and a narrow soundstage; the narrow soundstage is TechRadar’s complaint, made alongside the highest score. Separately, Sony’s US store showed the HT-S2000 as “no longer available” on 14 October, so it keeps its place and scores but shows no price, and we have added the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) as a pick that is on sale. Every outlet score here was re-read on 14 October 2026, and none had changed. Corrected throughout.

The four, at a glance

	Review average	Price at the maker	Atmos height	The catch
Sonos Arc Ultra	9.3 / 10, spread 2	$1,099	Upward-firing drivers	No HDMI passthrough
Sony HT-S2000	9.3 / 10, spread 1	Unavailable at Sony US	Virtual	Bluetooth is its only wireless route for music
Sonos Beam (Gen 2)	8.7 / 10, spread 2	$499	Virtual	No Bluetooth
Bose Smart Soundbar	7.6 / 10, spread 2.2	$549	Upward-firing drivers	Light bass without a sub

Each average is three published scores, converted to ten. Spread is the gap between the highest and lowest of them. Prices are each maker’s US list price on 14 October 2026; Bose’s page showed the bar in stock in one of its listed variants. The catch column is ours, read off the reviews and the makers’ pages; none of the outlets ranked these four against each other, and we have not tested them.

On these scores, the Arc Ultra’s extra $600 buys 0.6 of a point over the Beam (Gen 2), plus upward-firing height drivers and Bluetooth. It does not buy the option to grow: Sonos says the Arc Ultra pairs with a Sub and Era 300 rear speakers, sells Beam sets with a Sub Mini and a pair of Era 100s, and SoundGuys says the Bose pairs with Bose’s Bass Module 500 and surround speakers.

What the reviewers say about music

Most of the searches that find this page ask about sound, and music in particular. None of these outlets scored music on its own, so what follows are remarks inside reviews of a television speaker. They do not line up neatly with the scores.

Sonos Arc Ultra. What Hi-Fi?’s roundup calls it “almost as well-suited to music as it is to movies”. Tom’s Guide gave it five out of five and still listed music among the things it did not like: “music performance could be slightly better.” TechRadar calls it “a huge step up for music quality over the original Sonos Arc”, while putting it “essentially on par for music quality with the Sonos Era 300, which is half the price”.

Sonos Beam (Gen 2). What Hi-Fi? says it combines spacious movie sound “with clarity and punch that works just as well with music”. TechRadar lists “Great for music” among its findings.

Bose Smart Soundbar. Here the verdicts run against the scores. Tom’s Guide, which gave it three and a half stars to TechRadar’s four and a half, lists “Great for TV and music” and says it was “really impressed with music playback”. TechRadar, which scored it highest, says its narrow soundstage holds it back “especially when listening to music”. SoundGuys warns against leaving its AI Dialog mode on for music.

If music is the deciding use, What Hi-Fi?’s two verdicts point to the Beam (Gen 2): just as good with music, against the Arc Ultra’s almost as good. That is one outlet’s wording, not a measured ranking.

The more practical split is how music reaches the bar:

	Getting music to it	Noted by
Sonos Arc Ultra	Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and AirPlay 2	Sonos’s shop page
Sony HT-S2000	Bluetooth, plus a USB-A port for files	TechRadar
Sonos Beam (Gen 2)	Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect; no Bluetooth	What Hi-Fi?; SoundGuys
Bose Smart Soundbar	Chromecast, AirPlay and Bluetooth	SoundGuys

A bar you stream to over Wi-Fi from a phone app behaves like a speaker; one you pair over Bluetooth behaves like an accessory to whatever device is in your hand.

If music is the main event rather than the television, a soundbar may be the wrong shape of product to start from; our portable speaker shortlist is built from the same averaged-score method for things designed to play it.

Where the reviewers disagree: the Bose

TechRadar gave the Bose Smart Soundbar four and a half out of five and called it a compact, feature-packed Atmos bar, while noting light bass and a narrow soundstage. Tom’s Guide gave it three and a half, citing inconsistent Dolby Atmos and bass that disappoints without a subwoofer, and recommended it “for TV fanatics over hi-fi movie enthusiasts”. SoundGuys gave it 6.8 out of ten.

That 6.8 is the plain average of five sub-scores SoundGuys publishes: durability and build 8.0, value 8.0, design 7.5, features 9.5 and portability 1.0. The lowest score in this set is pulled down by a portability rating for a bar that sits under a TV. SoundGuys’ own list of dislikes is short cables, spatial audio that cannot be switched off, and no room calibration.

The Sony: the same score, harder to buy

The Sony HT-S2000 matches the Arc Ultra’s average with the tightest spread here: What Hi-Fi? 5 out of 5, Tom’s Guide and TechRadar 4.5 each, for 9.3. On 14 October 2026, though, its page on Sony’s US store said “Item no longer available”, so we show no price for it. TechRadar’s roundup still names it the best budget soundbar and What Hi-Fi?’s the best step-up soundbar. If you find one new, Sony says it takes its SA-SW3 or SA-SW5 subwoofers and SA-RS3S rear speakers. For music, What Hi-Fi? said it “isn’t the most musical soundbar we’ve ever tested, but it gets the basics right”, and Tom’s Guide called it “fantastic for both movies and music”.

The Samsung most people expect

samsung soundbar is the most-searched brand term in this category, and Samsung’s Q990 flagship is well regarded. It is still not a pick here, because the recommendations split across two generations. What Hi-Fi? picks the HW-Q990F; TechRadar and Digital Trends pick the newer HW-Q990H. Different products, so neither model reaches three roundups, and we do not average a blur of the two. If you are choosing between them, that split is the useful part. Below the Q990, Samsung’s own Q, S and B series are laid out in what each Samsung soundbar series adds.

What actually decides it

• Does your TV have eARC? Without it you will not get lossless Atmos to the bar whatever the bar supports. Check the TV first.
• Do you want real height drivers? The Arc Ultra and the Bose bounce sound off the ceiling; the Beam (Gen 2) and the Sony make height virtually. A sloped, beamed or very high ceiling works against upward-firing drivers, which narrows the gap. How Atmos bars make height without up-firing speakers explains the two approaches.
• Will you stream music to it? Then the connection table above matters more than the tenth of a point between bars.
• Will you add a subwoofer later? Each of these makers pairs its bars with its own subs only; what a sub adds, and whose fits which bar, is set out in the makers’ own figures.
• Mounting it on the wall? Sonos and Bose sell their brackets separately; which soundbars include a wall mount lists what 15 models put in the box.
• Settled on Sonos? How its four bars differ, from the Ray to the Arc Ultra, is set out from Sonos’s own specs.
• Shopping TCL, JBL, Hisense, Polk or Yamaha? None of their bars is a pick here, but each lineup is laid out from the maker’s own pages: which TCL soundbars have height channels, how JBL’s MK2 bars differ, Hisense’s AX and HS soundbars compared, which Polk soundbars have height speakers and which Yamaha soundbars list Atmos.

Our TV shortlist covers the screen this plugs into, and what separates the price tiers explains why the TV’s own speakers are the first thing a manufacturer cuts.

Questions people ask

What is the best soundbar?

On averaged review scores, the Sonos Arc Ultra and the Sony HT-S2000 tie at 9.3 out of 10 across What Hi-Fi?, Tom’s Guide and TechRadar. The Arc Ultra, $1,099 at Sonos, is the one bar all five roundups we checked recommend; Sony’s US store showed the HT-S2000 as no longer available. The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) averages 8.7 for $499.

What is the best soundbar for music?

No outlet here scores music on its own, so this rests on what the reviewers wrote. What Hi-Fi? says the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) works just as well with music as with films, and calls the Arc Ultra almost as well suited to music as to movies. Tom’s Guide says the Arc Ultra’s music performance could be slightly better.

What are the best sounding soundbars?

By average score, the Sonos Arc Ultra and the Sony HT-S2000 at 9.3 out of 10, then the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) at 8.7 and the Bose Smart Soundbar at 7.6. Those averages score the whole product, not sound alone: SoundGuys’ 6.8 for the Bose includes a 1.0 for portability.

Which soundbar reviews disagree the most?

Of these four, the Bose Smart Soundbar’s: TechRadar gave it 9 out of 10, Tom’s Guide 7 and SoundGuys 6.8. TechRadar and Tom’s Guide both found its bass light without a subwoofer, yet Tom’s Guide, the harsher of the two, was impressed with its music playback.

What is the best Dolby Atmos soundbar?

All four here decode Dolby Atmos. The Sonos Arc Ultra shares the highest average, 9.3, with the Sony HT-S2000, and like the Bose it has upward-firing drivers that bounce height effects off the ceiling. The Sony and the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) create height effects virtually.

Is the Sony HT-S2000 still available?

Not from Sony’s own US store: on 14 October 2026 its page there said “Item no longer available”. It still averages 9.3, level with the Arc Ultra, and Sony says it pairs with its SA-SW3 or SA-SW5 subwoofers and SA-RS3S rear speakers.

Do I need eARC for a soundbar?

For lossless Dolby Atmos from the TV to the bar, yes, and the TV has to have it too. It is the constraint people tend to discover last, and an Ultra High Speed (48Gbps) HDMI cable is the other half of it.

Is an expensive soundbar worth it?

On these scores, the Arc Ultra’s $1,099 buys 0.6 of a point over the $499 Beam (Gen 2), plus upward-firing height drivers and Bluetooth. All four bars here can add a subwoofer and rear speakers later, so expansion is not what the extra money buys.