The 5 Best Soundbars Under $500 - Summer 2022 Reviews

The Vizio M Series M512a-H6 is the best soundbar under $500 we've tested. It's a great choice for everything from music to movies to TV shows, offering a versatile overall performance at a more affordable price point than more premium models. With its immersive soundstage, the action on screen seems like it's happening all around you, and its sub brings the rumble in the bass for a real cinematic feel. Its rear speakers help position sound effects to pinpoint locations in the soundstage, so whether you're watching 5.1 surround sound formats like Dolby Digital or object-based formats like Dolby Atmos, you get a clear and real listening experience.

Right out of the box, this soundbar has a neutral sound profile suitable for listening to most types of audio content. Vocals and lead instruments are clear and present in the mix, thanks to their neutral, balanced mids. Also, its extended low-bass reproduces the deep thump and rumble in everything from bass-heavy music and action-packed movies. Of course, it doesn't offer as many sound enhancement features as premium setups, so you won't find a room correction feature, meaning that it sounds a bit different depending on your room's acoustics. There's no graphic EQ either to control its response across the range. That said, its bass and treble adjustments still give you some ability to control its sound, which is nice. Overall, it offers a great value for the price.

If you want an immersive-sounding Dolby Atmos soundbar, but don't have the space for dedicated satellite speakers, consider the LG SP8YA. It's a 3.1.2 setup with a dedicated subwoofer and a discrete center channel built into the bar itself to deliver more clear and more detailed dialogue in the mix. Out-of-the-box, this soundbar offers a slightly bass-heavy sound profile that adds extra thump and punch in the bass range. Its balanced mids ensure that vocals and lead instruments are still clear and present in the mix, too, so it's a versatile choice for many different types of audio content.

If you watch a lot of content on streaming platforms, you'll be happy to know that this soundbar supports Dolby Atmos content, too. However, you'll notice that the performance with surround sound isn't as impressive as 5.1 setups like the Vizio M Series M512a-H6. It can still playback surround sound like Dolby Digital, but it has to downmix this content into stereo. As a result, surround objects like voices and gunfire aren't as clear and real, and they seem like they're coming from a speaker placed in front of you. You do have the option to add on separate speakers from the manufacturer down the line to improve its surround sound performance, which is nice.

Another option for fans of Dolby Atmos is the Samsung HW-Q700A, the best customizable soundbar under $500 we've tested. If you want to control how your bar sounds, it's a great pick since it comes with a whole range of sound customization tools. You get the standard bass and treble adjustments, but the added graphic EQ is handy since it lets you control the bar's audio reproduction across the range. You can even adjust the subwoofer level to control the amount of thump you get from the sub as opposed to just the bar. There's no room correction, so it sounds a little different depending on your space, but given all the other tools on hand, you can still make up for this to get a consistent sound.

Its default performance is pretty great, so you might not even need to use the customization tools. The bar's sound is balanced, so voices and lead instruments are clear and present in the mix. You don't have any trouble following the action on screen, and sound effects reproduce with accuracy. It doesn't reproduce as extended of a low-bass out-of-the-box, especially compared to the LG SP8YA. Customization tools can't make up for this, but if you mostly listen to vocal-centric TV shows and movies, you won't notice a huge difference since there isn't usually a lot of bass mixed into these formats. However, lovers of the cinematic rumble in action-packed scenes and bass-heavy genres like EDM will want to stick with the LG instead.

The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is the best small soundbar under $500 we've tested. Its compact design is less than 25 inches in width, so it can easily fit underneath your TV stand or monitor without blocking the screen. It may be small, but this bar still packs a punch; its wide soundstage extends audio well past the edges of the bar itself, resulting in a performance that rivals that of home theater speaker towers. Whether you're listening to music or watching movies, you get the sense that sound effects take place in the space around you, as if your living room couch was dropped into the center of the action. Of course, without a sub and satellites, it doesn't perform as well as our top picks, but if you move to a bigger place down the line, the manufacturer lets you add these features for a separate fee, which is handy.

Like other premium Sonos setups, the Sonos S2 app pairs with the bar to enhance your listening experience. In the app, you find the room correction feature, which uses a microphone built into the bar to analyze the acoustic characteristics of your room and optimizes audio reproduction accordingly. This feature is called TruePlay, but it's only available with compatible iOS devices at this time. Turn it on, and you get a balanced sound that ensures voices and instruments are clear and detailed in the mix. If you own other Sonos audio devices, you can control them in tandem with the bar to create a whole sound ecosystem across your living space, which is a nice touch.

Dolby Atmos is a popular object-based audio format that's found on lots of different streaming platforms, especially when it comes to newer releases. If you're just looking for a bar to playback stereo content, which includes most music and TV shows, as well as 5.1 surround sound formats like Dolby Digital, there are options on the market that come at an even more affordable price. The Vizio V Series V51-H6 is the best of the bunch, and it's a 5.1 bar with a subwoofer and two satellite speakers. These speakers are a great value—they enhance the bar's surround sound performance by representing sound effects in a clear and real way in the space around you.

Right out of the box, the bar's sound is balanced, so voices and lead instruments are clear and accurate in the mix. Thanks to its sub, you get plenty of thump and rumble in the low-bass, even with your favorite bass-heavy genres like EDM and hip-hop. Naturally, you don't find as many features as with the top-of-the-line offerings—there's no room correction, for example, so the bar sounds a little different depending on your room's acoustics. With its bass and treble adjustments, you can still make up for this a bit and can control the bar's sound to get it more to your liking.