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A good soundbar will enhance the sound profile of your TV, and consolidate the number of boxes on your TV cabinet. Voice assistants, music streaming and even video streaming are features you can expect from the best soundbars out there. Soundbars of good quality don’t cost an arm and a leg anymore, either, with prices starting at about $130.
Editors’ choice
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The Polk React with DTS Virtual Surround Sound is a single soundbar update to one of my favorite smart soundbars, the Polk Command Bar. While it misses the subwoofer you can always buy an add-on one, and rears too. The 3D surround sound technology offers excellent sound quality and the Alexa onboard is responsive. But the Yamaha YAS-209 is worth considering for its subwoofer and additional HDMI port, and it can often be found for the same price or less than the Polk.
<div content="LIST ITEM" superlative="Best smart soundbar and sub combo" description="
The Yamaha YAS-209 offers excellent sound quality in a compact soundbar with Amazon Alexa voice control built-in. The mics work well in loud environments and you can use them when you’re streaming music. The soundbar offers DTS Virtual:X surround sound processing and a wireless subwoofer. The YAS-209 doesn’t use the company’s MusicCast system, though, so you can’t sync up with other Yamaha speakers. It’s currently on sale for $159.
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With the addition Dolby Atmos, the Sonos Beam Gen 2 is now the midpriced smart sound bar to get. It offers a choice of either Alexa or Google voice assistant, and the Sonos ecosystem is one of the best music streaming platforms around. You may be missing out on deep bass without a sub, but this compact speaker makes your movies sound huge with its virtual surround capabilities.
<div content="LIST ITEM" superlative="Best single bar with Dolby Atmos" description="
The Sonos Arc is the grown-up version of the Beam and offers a number of upgrades for the extra cash. The first is the use of dedicated, upfiring Dolby Atmos speakers which gives it an edge in movies, and the second is more drivers and a bigger cabinet for better bass performance. Otherwise this is another great Sonos offering with the choice of voice assistants and the best music streaming ecosystem.
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While a smart soundbar is usually used to describe a soundbar with an onboard voice assistant, but it can also mean a soundbar that has video streaming capabilities, such as the Roku Streambar. A smart soundbar is often used both as a streaming device and to control other smart home devices via voice. The two assistants that are commonly included with soundbars are Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.
It’s worth noting that adding a separate Google Nest mini or Amazon Echo device to an existing, internet-connected soundbar can often give the same capabilities as a smart soundbar. The added advantage is that it doesn’t tie up your soundbar when you ask it a question.
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As most TVs these days are smart TVs it doesn’t really matter if the soundbar is smart or not, the combination should still work great. A smart soundbar will add voice capabilities to any system. The Roku Streambar will also work with an existing smart TV, and you can choose either the TV or the soundbar as your main streaming device.
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There are two types of smart soundbar — one which offers a single voice assistant (usually Amazon Alexa) and one which offers a choice of either Google Assistant or Alexa. The Polk React and the Yamaha YAS-209 are two examples of Alexa-only soundbars, while Sonos products offer both assistants.
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