The 6 Best Dolby Atmos Soundbars - Fall 2019
Reviews

The Samsung HW-Q90R is the best Dolby Atmos soundbar we've tested so far. This 7.1.4 solidly-built setup comes with the main soundbar itself, a subwoofer, and two satellite speakers to be positioned behind you. Although the satellite speakers do need a power source, they're connected to the soundbar wirelessly for a cleaner setup. Samsung even included wall-mounting brackets and screws in the package. The soundbar provides a variety of inputs, including 4k HDMI passthrough, HDMI ARC, and optical. If you just want to listen to music or a podcast, you can stream wirelessly through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

On the whole, this setup sounds great. It has excellent bass extension to give you that rumble and thump, while still maintaining a fairly neutral sound profile, suitable for every type of content. If it doesn't suit you, there's an EQ for further customization. The up-firing speakers do a decent job at creating a sense of height in Dolby Atmos content, but doesn't sound as real as dedicated down-firing speakers.

If you want the most immersive Dolby Atmos experience you can get in a 7.1 soundbar setup or simply an upgrade from your TV's integrated speakers, this soundbar is worth checking out.

The best standalone Dolby Atmos Soundbar we've tested so far is the Sennheiser AMBEO soundbar. It has 13 speakers integrated directly into a single soundbar and features a neat 3D audio mode, which helps sound feel like it comes from over and around you. The result is an impressively immersive experience for a standalone soundbar.

With the AMBEO mode disabled, the soundbar's frequency response is sub-par: it struggles to accurately reproduce sounds in the bass range, so you'll find deep thump and rumble of explosions to be quieter than other frequencies at the same volume. This makes it sound a bit bright, but on the upside, it features a built-in parametric EQ so you can tweak the way it sounds to better suit your tastes. However, when using the AMBEO mode, the immersion is noticeably improved and the soundbar gives you the impression of height and surround sounds.

Not only is this Sennheiser soundbar the most expensive one we've tested so far, but it's also the largest. It's notably heavier than other soundbars and looks huge in front of your TV. If you don't mind the relative lack of bass and size, though, it's worth considering thanks to its unique 3D audio feature that pairs well with Dolby Atmos content.

The LG SL10YG is a decent soundbar, but has poor Dolby Atmos performance. Its default sound profile is pretty good overall, with overemphasized bass and treble that can make music sound more exciting, but isn't ideal for TV shows. It feels very well-made, though, with a premium design and a couple of different customization features.

This soundbar has an overall great bass performance and will be able to recreate the deep thump and rumble from bass thanks to its dedicated wireless subwoofer. It also performs quite well at its max volume, but the bar seems to be limited when it comes to volume output, as it performs noticeably quieter than other models we've reviewed. Some people might also hear a bit of distortion on higher frequencies when pushing the bar to its limits. However, we don't expect people to use the max volume with real-life content, so this shouldn't be an issue for most.

Also, this soundbar has a V-shaped sound profile, with overemphasized bass and treble ranges. Some people may prefer this exciting sound signature, but it won't be the best for a more neutral or accurate listening. The sound profile also changes drastically with Atmos content: the bass seems lower than usual and there's a lot of detail missing in the treble range. On the upside, this soundbar seems to often be on sale, so it could be worth considering if you can find it at a good price, but note it won't be as good for Atmos content as the Samsung HW-Q90R or even the Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar.