Soundbars can be a decent option when you don't have the room for a full home theater setup. You also don't have to spend thousands to get a good-performing product that'll do a better job than most TV speakers. Whether you need a full Atmos setup or a good 2.1 system, many options are available at a decent price point.
We've tested over 230 soundbars. Below are our recommendations for the top soundbars under $500. Also, check out our picks for the overall best soundbars, the best Dolby Atmos soundbars if you watch a lot of movies, and the best budget soundbars if you're on an even tighter budget.
Quick Look
Our recommendations are built upon our thorough testing and rigorous reviews. Every soundbar we evaluate goes through multiple testing stages with different teams to ensure accurate, authentic results. No cherry-picked units or data.
Curious how we've tested over 200 soundbars (and counting)? Look at our How We Test Soundbars article for a behind-the-scenes look at our lab and process.
-
Best Soundbar Under $500
The Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus with Sub + Speakers is the best soundbar under $500 we've tested. It's a very good choice for everything from music to movies to TV shows, offering a versatile overall performance at a more affordable price than more premium models. This setup comes with two rear speakers that help position sound effects to pinpoint locations within the soundstage. Out of the box, this soundbar has a balanced and even sound that's suitable for listening to lots of different types of audio content. Vocals and instruments in your favorite tunes are present and detailed in the mix, while dialogue is reproduced with good clarity. The sub also brings plenty of rumble in the bass during intense scenes for a real cinematic feel. This bar doesn't offer as many sound enhancement features as more premium setups, so you won't find a room correction feature, meaning that it sounds a bit different depending on your room's unique acoustics. That said, bass and treble adjustments still allow you to control the bar's sound, which is nice.
While this bar supports 5.1 surround sound formats like Dolby Digital and object-based formats like Dolby Atmos, it doesn't have discrete up-firing drivers, which can limit the sense of immersive height the system is capable of producing. If discrete drivers are a must for you, consider the Vizio Elevate SE SL512X-0806. Unsurprisingly, the Vizio lends a greater sense of verticality to your audio, but its satellites and subwoofer connect via wires, rather than wirelessly like the Amazon, which can give you fewer positioning options. The Amazon's sound is also more balanced, with greater impact in the bass.
-
Best Soundbar Without Satellites Under $500
Depending on the setup of your room, you may not have enough space for a soundbar with dedicated satellite speakers, like those that come with the Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus with Sub + Speakers. In that case, you'll want to look at bar plus sub combos like the Samsung HW-B750F. This 5.1 setup consists of a soundbar and a subwoofer, and that's it. You'll miss out on object-based audio formats like Dolby Atmos, but not everyone needs a soundbar that can decode this format. What this bar does give you is a clean and clear sound that is well-suited for a variety of audio content, including music and TV shows. It's a great pick if you want a budget-friendly option with a subwoofer.
While this setup (obviously) doesn't have satellite speakers, its side-firing drivers add a sense of immersion to your audio. This bar is well-suited to many different types of content. By default, it has a well-balanced sound profile with a bit of extra punch and warmth. Its center channel keeps dialogue comprehensible during busy cutscenes. 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. But thanks to its bass, treble, and subwoofer level adjustments, you can make up for this and tweak the bar's sound to your liking. It's worth noting that this bar and its predecessor, the Samsung HW-B750D, perform very similarly, so get whichever you can find cheaper.
-
Best Small Soundbar Under $500
If you don't have a lot of room in your setup, you can always opt for a small standalone bar like the Sonos Beam (Gen 2). Since it doesn't come with a subwoofer like the Samsung HW-B750F, it takes up even less space in your listening space. The bar is less than 25 inches wide, so it easily fits underneath most TVs with bipedal stands like those made by Sony. You don't have to sacrifice sound quality with a small bar, either. The Sonos brings a wide and immersive soundstage performance that rivals that of some home theater speakers; audio formats like Dolby Atmos and Dolby Digital are immersive and life-like.
This soundbar has many of the same features as Sonos's more premium offerings. For example, its companion app allows you to connect the bar with other Sonos products to spread audio throughout your room. Also, the TruePlay room correction tool automatically calibrates the bar's output based on your room's unique acoustics. It's only available with iOS devices at this time, but if you're an Android user, you can still manually adjust the bar's sound with its bass and treble adjustments. Of course, without a sub, you don't get as much rumble in the bass. Still, it's a solid choice if you're low on space and mostly listen to content without a lot of bass mixed in.
-
Best Customizable Soundbar Under $500
Lots of soundbars on the market come with sound customization tools so you can switch up their sound to your liking, and the best we've tested under $500 is the Samsung HW-Q600F. This versatile 3.1.2 setup comes with more traditional bass and treble adjustments and a graphic EQ so you can customize its output across the range. There are lots of EQ presets on hand, like Standard, Surround, and Adaptive Sound. If you want a lot of control over how your bar sounds, this soundbar is worth a look. That said, the Samsung downmixes surround channels, limiting the immersive experience of panning car chases. The bar performs very similarly across the board to the older Samsung HW-Q600C, so it probably makes the most sense to buy the one you can find cheapest. As with most bars in this price range, there's no room feature, but thanks to its wide array of customization tools, you can manually tweak its sound to account for the acoustics of your room.
The bar supports many audio formats that you'll likely find on both streaming services and Blu-rays, like Dolby Digital and Dolby Atmos. The manufacturer's unique Acoustic Beam technology uses side-firing drivers inside the bar to send audio through a series of up-firing drivers to improve verticality in your listening experience, which isn't as convincing as the sense of space produced by dedicated drivers. Still, it's nice to have, especially if you value format support, and it sets the bar apart from competitors like the Samsung HW-B750F.
Notable Mentions
-
Vizio SV510X-0806:
The Vizio SV510X-0806 is a 5.1 setup that's quite a bit cheaper than the Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus with Sub + Speakers, while still offering features like Dolby Atmos support. It even delivers better surround performance than the Amazon, but it lacks an Optical port, and its sound isn't as balanced as our pick.
See our review -
Bose Smart Soundbar:
The Bose Smart Soundbar can get louder with less compression than the Sonos Beam (Gen 2). If you already own Bose products, it could make a good alternative. However, the Sonos has a wider stereo soundstage that works well with music and TV shows.
See our review
Recent Updates
Oct 06, 2025:
The Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus with Sub + Speakers is our new top pick, with the Vizio Elevate SE SL512X-0806 an alternative for anyone who knows they want up-firing drivers. The Samsung HW-B750F is our choice for the top bar and sub combo (without satellites). The Samsung HW-Q600F replaces the Samsung HW-Q600C as our customizable pick, although you can safely buy whichever of the two you can find cheaper. We also removed the 'Best Soundbar Without Atmos' pick because the Samsung HW-B750F covers that option. Finally, we removed the Vizio M Series M51ax-J6 from our Notable Mentions, as it's out of stock.
May 12, 2025:
We've replaced the Vizio M Series M51a-H6 with its more available successor, the Vizio M Series M51ax-J6, in the Notable Mentions.
Feb 06, 2025:
The Vizio M Series M512a-H6 is getting hard to find, so the Hisense AX5125H is our new top pick for its good all-around performance. The Samsung HW-B750D is our new pick for the 'Best Soundbar Without Atmos' because it's great for watching movies and listening to music. Finally, we also added the Bose Smart Soundbar to our Notable Mentions.
Nov 08, 2024:
We've added the Vizio SV510X-0806 as a Notable Mention; it's more affordable than the Vizio M Series M512a-H6, but it only has an eARC port.
Aug 12, 2024: We've checked our picks for product accuracy and availability, but our recommendations have remained the same.
All Reviews
Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the top soundbars under $500 for most people to buy. We factor in the price (a cheaper soundbar wins over a pricier one if the difference isn't worth it), feedback from our visitors, and availability (no soundbars that are difficult to find or almost out of stock everywhere).
If you'd like to choose for yourself, here's the list of all our soundbars for under $500 reviews. Be careful not to get caught up in the details. No soundbar is perfect. Personal taste, preference, and listening habits will matter more in your selection.