The 6 Best Budget Soundbars - Winter 2020
Reviews

The best cheap soundbar we've tested so far is the Sony HT-S100F. This is a standalone entry-level soundbar from Sony that performs decently, despite its price. The soundbar itself is fairly unassuming. The top is covered with a faux-leather while the front grill is metal, all in a matte black color. The overall build quality is decent and you shouldn't have any issues with it. Do note, however, that the soundbar itself is quite large and won't fit between the legs of a 55 inch TV or smaller, so you may have to adjust the placement accordingly.

Without a dedicated subwoofer, though, you can expect the sound to lack the deep bass needed to produce that rumble and thump, and that's the case here. What you're getting is pretty barebones, but if you only watch TV shows with the occasional movie, this soundbar does have a few sound enhancement features to make it a better experience. Connectivity is also pretty limited, with only one HDMI ARC and a USB port. But it does support Bluetooth if you want to stream music from a portable device. Surprisingly, the soundbar can get pretty loud without any compression and supports Dolby Digital content. However, the latter gets downmixed to a 2.0 configuration and it's always on.

If you're only looking to upgrade the sound from the integrated speakers of your TV and you're on a tight budget, this soundbar will do the job.

The best budget soundbar under $200 we've tested so far is the TCL Alto 7+. This soundbar set up comes with a dedicated subwoofer for deeper bass, so it's a better choice for movies than some of the cheaper models we've reviewed. It feels surprisingly well-built for a budget soundbar, with a durable plastic and metal build. It also comes with lots of cables and accessories, like a wall-mounting kit, which is quite nice at this price point.

Its sound signature is fairly neutral, but it performs noticeably better in the treble range than the Sony HT-S100F. This results in brighter sounding vocals and dialogue in TV shows. There are a few EQ presets as well, which offer a bit of customization depending on what type of content you're listening to. It even supports Dolby Digital over HDMI ARC, but don't expect a very immersive surround performance, since everything is downmixed to 2.0.

Unfortunately, if you like listening to movies or music at a very high volume, this soundbar might not be the optimal choice. Although it can get loud, it has trouble performing well when pushed to its limits. There's some audible compression, especially in the bass range. On the upside, it's quite sturdy for its price point and will offer decent performance for people who aren't looking for the most premium setup.

The best soundbar under $300 we've tested so far is the Yamaha YAS-207. This soundbar has plenty of connection options, whether you want to use wired to your TV or even wirelessly via Bluetooth. It also has a dedicated app if you plan on using it often with your phone. This setup comes with a wireless subwoofer that offers decent overall performance and should please most users.

This soundbar has a surprisingly well-balanced sound that's bright enough to make dialogue present and understandable while still delivering more bass than most of the budget options we've reviewed. It can get pretty loud without too much distortion, but does compress a bit at max volume. This shouldn't be a problem if you're just watching your favorite shows, though, and you can even enhance dialogue to be clearer at lower volumes, which is nice.

Although the bar is fairly well-built, especially for the price point, it's almost entirely covered by mesh-like fabric that doesn't feel very high-end. It's prone to tearing and can quickly become dirty and catches dust and pet hair. Also, even if it comes with dedicated wireless subwoofer, people might feel like it doesn't perform as well as more high-end products, and results in a bit disappointing low-bass. Nevertheless, this soundbar has one of the best performance to price ratios and will offer great value for users.