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

Soundbars range in price from £14 to £3,478 and in total we found prices for 237 soundbars. The average price of a new soundbar is £332 and 80% of soundbars are priced between £66 and £659. The NEC SP-ASCM is the most expensive soundbar that we found at £3,478, and the DELL AX510 is the cheapest at only £14.

Soundbar Brands - Price Range

NEC soundbars start at £574 and their most expensive soundbar costs £3,478. The highest average soundbar price out of all brands is NEC soundbars with an average price of £1,601.

Bang & Olufsen soundbars start at £1,000 and their most expensive soundbar costs £1,000. The average price of Bang & Olufsen soundbars is £1,000 which is the second highest average price of all soundbar brands.

M&K soundbars range in price from £750 to £750, and the average price of M&K soundbars is £750 which is the third highest average price of all soundbar brands.

Soundbar Brands - Average Ratings

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

Biggest Soundbar Retailers

The biggest soundbar retailer by number of products currently for sale is eBay. We found 143 current soundbar offers from eBay. The second biggest retailer is Quzo with 65 offers. That means eBay is more than twice as big as Quzo when it comes to soundbars. Currys is the third biggest retailer with 51 current offers.

When Are Most New Soundbars Released?

The most common period for new soundbars to be released in is between April and May. For the latest soundbar technology you may want to think about waiting until April 2021. Also the price of the current soundbars may drop off just before the latest models are released in April. 12 new soundbars were released in April 2019 making it the biggest month that year for new soundbar releases. In November 2018, 23 new soundbars were released making it the biggest month that year for new soundbar releases. May was the biggest month in 2017 for new soundbars, with 41 new soundbars released that month.

How Fast Do Soundbar Prices Drop After Release?

New soundbars drop in price by an average of 13% in the first 6 months after they were first released.

That means a saving of £42 on a typical £332 new soundbar if you wait 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.

We found 195 soundbars that are 2.1 channels soundbars, which makes this the most frequently found audio channels amongst new soundbars. 2 channels is the second most common audio channels amongst new soundbars. We found 73 soundbars that are 2 channels 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. 406 soundbars (92%) are soundbars which support Bluetooth.

Subwoofer Included

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

The vast majority of the 439 new soundbars currently listed on Kagoo 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. 91 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. 63.6% of their soundbar prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.