The Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus with Subwoofer and Speakers is one configuration of Amazon's Fire TV Soundbar Plus. This successor to the original Amazon Fire TV Soundbar, released in 2023, introduces bundles that include a subwoofer and satellite speakers, expanding the discrete channel options available and improving the standalone soundbar to support 5.1 channels. Positioned as a value pickup, this soundbar supports a wide variety of audio formats, including lossless Dolby TrueHD and object-based Dolby Atmos. That said, the soundbar doesn't have discrete up-firing drivers, so height cues will be virtualized. As expected, the setup is constructed from inexpensive materials and doesn't feature an app or comprehensive sound enhancement features. That said, small improvements to usability are available when connecting the soundbar to a compatible Fire TV via HDMI.
Our Verdict
The Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus with Subwoofer and Speakers is very good for mixed usage. This soundbar has a slightly excited sound suitable for most content, from music to movies. You can also cycle through presets and adjust treble and bass levels on the fly to suit your preferences. If you're playing back content like TV shows or movies, audio latency won't be much of an issue, as most TVs have A/V syncing features. That said, the soundbar's latency is high enough that you may notice A/V-desync when gaming, depending on your setup.
Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support.
Auto-volume feature.
No room correction.
The Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus with Subwoofer and Speakers is great for dialogue-heavy TV shows. It gets decently loud and does a good job presenting voices clearly, making speech easy to follow. That said, dialogue can sound a bit thin for deeper voices. Although the discrete center channel gets reasonably loud without too much distortion, the elevated bass from the external sub can sometimes overpower speech in shows with heavy effects, like explosions or intense action scenes. Fortunately, a dedicated button on the remote lets you boost dialogue, which can help keep voices front and center when the mix gets busy.
Dialogue enhancement feature.
Bluetooth support for streaming podcasts.
No room correction.
The Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus with Subwoofer and Speakers is very good for music. Using the 'Music' preset, the soundbar has a slightly excited sound profile with a bit more bass than treble, giving tracks a bit of extra thump. If you prefer a different tuning, you can easily adjust the bass and treble settings to your tastes. Stereo positioning is clear, and instruments are well-defined across the soundstage. That said, there are noticeable gaps between the left and right bounds of the soundbar, which can cause moving audio objects, like panning instruments or vocals, to sound unnatural as they transition across the stage.
Bass and treble adjustment.
Minimal compression at max volume.
No room correction.
The Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus with Subwoofer and Speakers is good for movies. It supports most widely used audio formats, including lossless ones found on Blu-rays and Dolby formats commonly used by streaming services. The dedicated satellite speakers help enhance immersion for effects like planes or cars whizzing past, though the lack of up-firing drivers means vertical sound cues aren't reproduced with much height or realism. Once the action gets right in front of you, the soundbar characterizes audio from dramatic reveals to impactful fistfights clearly. However, sound cues in panning shots may be reproduced somewhat unnaturally due to gaps in the stereo soundstage.
Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support.
Dialogue enhancement feature.
No room correction.
Check Price
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus is available in three different bundles: the standalone soundbar, the soundbar with subwoofer, and the soundbar with subwoofer and satellites. We tested the soundbar with subwoofer and satellites configuration. You can see our soundbar's label here. If you purchase a bundle without the satellites and/or subwoofer, our results won't be representative of your experience across each test.
If you encounter a cosmetic variant or a different bundle, let us know in the comments below, and we'll update the review.
Popular Soundbar Comparisons
The Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus with Subwoofer and Speakers is one of the configurations of Amazon's second Fire TV soundbar. This value-oriented soundbar improves on Amazon's past 2.1-channel entry, the Amazon FireTV Soundbar, by expanding to 3.1 channels on the standalone soundbar and 5.1 channels with bundled satellite speakers. Additionally, the soundbar supports most audio formats, including Dolby Atmos, and directly competes with similar value-oriented soundbars like the Hisense AX5125H and the Vizio Elevate SE SL512X-0806. While its external subwoofer can reach lower frequencies than the sub of either the Hisense or Vizio, the Amazon setup lacks up-firing drivers, leading to a lackluster reproduction of vertical cues.
If you're looking to complete your home theatre setup with a soundbar and need a starting point, check out the best soundbars under $500 and the best Dolby Atmos soundbars.
The Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus with Sub + Speakers and the Hisense AX5125H are similar value-oriented soundbars. They're positioned in the budget-to-mid range, but unlike most other products in this category, both soundbars come with an external subwoofer and satellite speakers. While the 5.1-channel Amazon soundbar typically reaches higher levels at max volume in all channel content, the 5.1.2-channel Hisense facilitates a more immersive Atmos listening experience with two up-firing drivers housed in the bar.
The TCL Q85H is better than the Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus with Sub + Speakers in most ways. The 7.1.4-channel TCL has additional discrete channels compared to the 5.1-channel Amazon. The TCL's additional surround and height channels help facilitate a more immersive Atmos listening experience by bouncing height cues off your ceiling and improving the tracking of panning audio objects in the soundscape. Both soundbars support most audio formats, but the TCL has lower audio latency and the option to pass through video from a gaming console to mitigate A/V-desync. That said, Amazon is the less expensive pickup with lower optical latency, making it better for use with older home theater gear.
The Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus with Sub + Speakers and the Vizio Elevate SE SL512X-0806 are both positioned in the budget-to-mid range. Unlike the Amazon, the Vizio has up-firing drivers, which help add a sense of verticality to your audio. That said, the Vizio requires a wired connection between its satellite speakers and its wireless external sub, while the Amazon's sub and satellites all communicate wirelessly.
The Vizio M Series M51ax-J6 and Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus with Sub + Speakers are similar 5.1-channel soundbars with external subwoofers and satellite speakers. The Amazon is built better and reaches similar levels at max volumes in individual channel tests. That said, the Vizio is priced more competitively and supports PCM-7.1 channel input via HDMI and can pass through 4k @ 120Hz video.
Test Results
