Compare the Best SoundbarsJune 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 £1,542 and in total we found prices for 217 soundbars. On average, a new soundbar costs £299 and 80% of soundbars are priced between £59 and £654. The most expensive soundbar that we found is the NEC SP-ASCM at £1,541, and the cheapest is the DELL AX510 at only £14.

Soundbar Brands - Price Range

Bang & Olufsen soundbars range in price from £1,250 to £1,250, and the highest average soundbar price out of all brands is Bang & Olufsen soundbars with an average price of £1,250.

NEC soundbars range in price from £516 to £1,541, and the average price of NEC soundbars is £1,012 which is the second highest average price of all soundbar brands.

The average price of M&K soundbars is £750 which is the third highest average price of all soundbar brands. M&K soundbars start at £750 and their most expensive soundbar costs £750.

Soundbar Brands - Average Ratings

We have analysed 1,452 expert reviews and 481 user reviews for soundbars and used these reviews to evaluate the average rating for each brand of soundbar. The top three soundbar brands are Samsung, LG and Yamaha. Samsung has an average rating of 96%, LG has an average rating of 71% and Yamaha has an average rating of 70%.

Biggest Soundbar Retailers

The biggest soundbar retailer by number of products currently for sale is Amazon UK. We found 113 current soundbar offers from Amazon UK. The second biggest retailer is eBay with 112 offers. That means Amazon UK is very close in size to eBay when it comes to soundbars. Currys is the third biggest retailer with 86 current offers.

When Are Most New Soundbars Released?

March to May is the most common period for new soundbars to be released in. In 2019 most new soundbars were released in March, with eight new soundbars released that month. 30 new soundbars were released in November 2018 making it the biggest month that year for new soundbar releases. May was the biggest month in 2017 for new soundbars, with 42 new soundbars released that month.

How Fast Do Soundbar Prices Drop After Release?

On average, in the first 6 months after release, soundbars drop in price by 12%.

That means that on a typical soundbar costing £299 you could save on average £37 by waiting 6 months before buying.

Audio Output

'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 181 soundbars that are 2.1 channels soundbars, which makes this the most popular audio output amongst new soundbars. The second most frequently found audio output amongst new soundbars is 2 channels. We found 70 soundbars that are 2 channels soundbars.

Bluetooth

Whether the sounder has support for wireless Bluetooth connections or not.

The vast majority of the 407 new soundbars currently listed on Kagoo are soundbars which support Bluetooth. 374 soundbars (92%) are soundbars which support Bluetooth.

Subwoofer Included

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

Most new soundbars are soundbars with a subwoofer included. 267 out of 407 on Kagoo 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. 71 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. 63.4% of their soundbar prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.