News Beat
The best soundbars of 2025 for improving your TV audio, tested at home for music and movies
Television makers are quick to highlight the picture quality of their latest televisions, but sound is often overlooked. The reason is simple: the built-in speakers tend to be weak, which has helped soundbars grow in popularity.
“Everybody wants slim TVs,” explains Paul Murray, head of e-commerce at Sevenoaks Sound and Vision. “But the speakers inside them have had to shrink in tandem. Smaller, shallower speakers simply don’t sound as good as larger ones, which is why TV audio has got progressively worse over the years.”
The solution? A quality soundbar. Entry-level models start at less than £100 and improve clarity and range. More advanced options cost closer to £500 and add support for formats such as Dolby Atmos. Top-end brands like Sony and Sonos can deliver a cinema experience at home.
For this test, I focused on standalone soundbars. Below you’ll find my reviews of the latest models, followed by answers to some frequently asked questions.
The best soundbars: At a glance
How to choose the best soundbar
The key criteria to look out for when considering a soundbar are its physical size, connectivity, power and surround sound capability. “Pick one that’s appropriate for your specific room size,” Murray advises. “A huge living room will definitely need a more powerful soundbar to effectively fill the space.”
“Then think about your TV’s proportions. Generally, soundbars are designed to roughly fit certain size ranges of TV. If your TV is on the wall, it’s also worth checking the availability of a suitable wall-mount for your soundbar.”
“If you want a home cinema effect, you’ll need a soundbar that’s compatible with multi-channel formats like Dolby Atmos. These soundbars employ extra speaker drive units and clever audio processing technology to ‘trick’ your brain into hearing sounds coming from all around you.”
“Finally, consider multi-room audio. Many soundbars can be linked with other speakers to create a smart, connected, whole-house audio system. Brands like Sonos, Bose and Denon make great play of this sort of capability.”
