The Best Budget Soundbars That Beat Your TV Speakers
The best budget soundbar for most rooms is the INFITBO D40CS, because it beat the 2025 winner, the Ultimea Poseidon M60, on sound in The Hook Up’s September 2026 test.
| Pick | Best for | Why |
|---|---|---|
| INFITBO D40CS | Most rooms | Won The Hook Up’s 2026 test |
| Ultimea Poseidon M60 | More volume for big rooms | Won The Hook Up’s 2025 test |
| Fire TV Soundbar Plus system | Real surround | A sub and two rear speakers |
| Samsung HW-B750D | Surround without rear speakers | 5.1 from the front of the room |
| Polk Signa S4 | Dolby Atmos height | 3.1.2 with a wireless sub |
| Hisense HS2100 | A name-brand bar | 2.1 with a wireless sub |
| Sonos Beam (Gen 2) | Small rooms and music | RTINGS’ best budget standalone bar |
| Polk Signa S2 | Clearer TV voices | A slim 2.1 bar with a sub |
| Yamaha SR-B20A | Apartments and small rooms | Subwoofers built into the bar |
| Amazon Fire TV Soundbar | The simplest setup | One HDMI cable to the TV |
| Roku Streambar SE | Older TVs that need streaming | Streaming built into the bar |
- ✓ Separate subwoofer with tight, controlled bass
- ✓ Bass, treble and midrange controls, plus presets
- ✓ 5.1 surround with a subwoofer and two rear speakers
- ✓ Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support, plus a center channel for dialogue
- ✓ 5.1 channels with a subwoofer included
- ✓ Side-firing drivers widen the sound without rear speakers
- ✓ 3.1.2 with two up-firing height speakers
- ✓ VoiceAdjust lifts voices, not the soundtrack
- ✓ Wireless subwoofer for real bass
- ✓ HDMI ARC and optical, with Dolby Digital and DTS
- ✓ Compact 5.0 bar with clear, present vocals
- ✓ Plays Dolby Atmos and works with other Sonos speakers
- ✓ VoiceAdjust raises voices without raising the volume
- ✓ Only 2.15 inches tall, with a 5.25-inch wireless subwoofer
- ✓ Two 3-inch subwoofers built into the bar, so there's no box on the floor
- ✓ Clear Voice mode and four sound modes
- ✓ One HDMI cable to the TV's eARC or ARC port
- ✓ Compact 24-inch bar with DTS Virtual:X and Dolby Audio
- ✓ 4K streaming built in, with Roku's apps and voice search
- ✓ Speech clarity and volume leveling modes
One bar adds volume but no bass; another carries features, like Atmos height speakers, that a room with a very high or acoustic-tile ceiling can’t use.
A separate subwoofer matters more than the brand name, and the INFITBO and the Ultimea both come with one.
Below are the picks, from the two test winners down to a single bar, then what each step up adds, whether you need a subwoofer, what cheap bars give up, the best for dialogue, music and small rooms, and the simplest setup.
The sound notes come from RTINGS’ and The Hook Up’s published tests, the feature notes from the makers and Amazon’s listings.
What Is the Best Budget Soundbar?
Pick the INFITBO D40CS if you have floor space for its subwoofer, or the Ultimea Poseidon M60, the 2025 winner, if you need more volume for a big room. For speakers behind you, the Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus system adds true 5.1 surround.
The channel count tells you most of what you need. The first number counts the main speakers, the second the subwoofer, so a 2.1 bar has left and right speakers plus a subwoofer, and a 5.1 system adds a center and two surrounds (Dolby).
The descriptions come from the makers’ manuals and spec pages.
Every pick met Burton Acoustix’s rating, review and stock checks on 9 November 2026.
The Best Budget Soundbars in 2026
The picks below start with The Hook Up’s two test winners, then run from the most complete system down to the simplest single bar. Start with the one that fits your room, then read one step up to see what the next pick adds.
INFITBO D40CS: Best Budget Soundbar Overall
The newest head-to-head test of budget soundbars has a new winner. The INFITBO D40CS won The Hook Up’s September 2026 test, taking the final round from the Ultimea.
INFITBO D40CS
It’s a bar of about 32 inches that splits into left and right speakers, with a separate wired subwoofer, and it connects over HDMI ARC, optical, aux or Bluetooth. The Hook Up found it the most dynamic of the finalists, with clear vocals and bass that stayed out of the boomy midbass.
Worth knowing: The Hook Up preferred the Ultimea’s build quality, app and remote, and the INFITBO has a lower maximum volume and a shorter subwoofer cable, 73 inches against the Ultimea’s 115. Amazon’s listing now pictures it as the D40-4M with Bluetooth 5.4, while The Hook Up tested the D40CS with Bluetooth 5.3.
Skip it if you need a big room filled at high volume or the subwoofer far from the bar; the Ultimea below plays louder and has the longer cable.
Ultimea Poseidon M60: Winner of a 16-Bar Budget Soundbar Test
It’s one bar and a separate wired subwoofer, 5.1 as Ultimea lists it.
If you need more volume, the 2025 winner is still the pick. The Ultimea Poseidon M60 won The Hook Up’s August 2025 comparison of 16 soundbars in every category, then came second to the INFITBO in its 2026 test.
Ultimea Poseidon M60
In 2025, The Hook Up found it has tight, clean bass, an even frequency response and good connections. Of the four finalists it tested further, it also had the lowest Bluetooth delay and the most sound controls, with separate bass, treble and midrange settings and presets.
Its verdict favored the M60 as long as the room has space for a separate subwoofer. Ultimea sells it as a surround system, but The Hook Up heard no virtual surround from it.
Skip it if you have no floor space for a subwoofer; the Yamaha SR-B20A below keeps its bass inside the bar.
Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus With Sub and Speakers: Best Budget Surround System
The Fire TV Soundbar Plus system puts speakers behind you. It’s a 5.1 system with a dedicated center channel for dialogue, plus Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support, according to Amazon’s listing.
Fire TV Soundbar Plus system
The setup is simple for a surround system. The subwoofer and rear speakers only need power, then connect to the bar on their own, and a Fire TV remote can run the TV and the sound together.
Skip it if you can’t run power to two rear speakers behind the couch; the B750D below creates its surround effect from the front.
Samsung HW-B750D: Best Budget Soundbar With a Subwoofer and No Rear Speakers
Not every room has space for speakers behind the couch, and that’s where the B750 fits. The Samsung HW-B750D is a 5.1 bar with a subwoofer that creates its surround effect from the front of the room.
Samsung HW-B750D
RTINGS tested the 2025 version, the HW-B750F, and picked it as the best budget bar and subwoofer without satellites. It found the side-firing drivers bounce sound off the walls to imitate effects coming from the sides.
RTINGS also found its sound balanced out of the box, with a touch of extra warmth. Like most budget bars it has no room correction, but you can adjust the bass, treble and subwoofer levels.
Worth knowing: it doesn’t support Dolby Atmos. For the rest of Samsung’s range, from budget bars to flagships, see our guide to the best Samsung soundbars.
Skip it if you stream a lot of Atmos movies; the Polk Signa S4 below adds real height speakers.
Polk Signa S4: Best Budget Soundbar With Dolby Atmos Height Speakers
Most budget bars that list Dolby Atmos have no speakers pointing up, and the Signa S4 is the exception. The Polk Signa S4 is a 3.1.2 bar with two up-firing elevation drivers and a wireless subwoofer.
Polk Signa S4
Polk lists a seven-driver array, including a dedicated center channel, and pairs it with VoiceAdjust, which raises only the voices while leaving the rest of the soundtrack alone. Its HDMI eARC connection carries Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby Atmos from the TV (Polk).
Those up-firing drivers need the right room to work. Dolby’s setup guide for Atmos bars recommends a flat ceiling of about 7.5 to 12 feet made of a hard surface like drywall, and says acoustic ceiling tiles absorb the effect (Dolby setup guide).
Worth knowing: it’s a front-of-room system, with no rear speakers, so the surround effect comes from processing rather than speakers behind you.
Skip it if your ceiling is very high or covered in acoustic tiles; the Samsung B750D and the Fire TV system above don’t rely on the ceiling for surround.
Hisense HS2100: Best Budget Name-Brand Soundbar
If you’d rather buy a brand you know, the HS2100 is the lab pick. The Hisense HS2100 is a 2.1 bar with a wireless subwoofer.
Hisense HS2100
RTINGS found its dedicated subwoofer helps add bass to action-packed scenes. Dialogue and instruments sound natural, if a little lacking in treble sparkle.
It gets loud enough to fill a larger room, but RTINGS found it overemphasizes the treble relative to the bass at high volumes, which can make shattering glass sound piercing or harsh. It has HDMI ARC and optical inputs, and plays Dolby Digital and DTS.
Worth knowing: without satellites, its surround effect is limited. If a fuller system matters more than the brand name, the Ultimea above won The Hook Up’s 16-bar test in every category.
Skip it if you often watch at high volume in a large room, where RTINGS found its treble gets harsh.
Sonos Beam (Gen 2): Best Budget Soundbar Without a Subwoofer
Some rooms have no space for a subwoofer at all, and a good all-in-one bar is the answer there. The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is RTINGS’ pick for the best budget standalone soundbar.
Sonos Beam (Gen 2)
For more of them, including Yamaha’s SR-B30A and Denon’s DHT-S218 with their dual built-in woofers, see our guide to the best soundbars without a subwoofer.
It’s a 5.0 bar under 25 inches wide, small enough to fit between the feet of most TVs, and the 2.0 vs 5.0 soundbar comparison explains what those five channels do inside one box. RTINGS found vocals clear and present out of the box, with some extra emphasis on the high bass to compensate for the lack of low bass.
It plays Dolby Atmos, though without up-firing speakers, and links with other Sonos speakers through the Sonos app. Its Trueplay room tuning works only from an iPhone or iPad, while Android users get bass and treble controls.
Worth knowing: it won’t produce room-shaking bass. RTINGS suggests the Samsung HW-S60D as a similar-size alternative with Bluetooth and Chromecast support.
Skip it if bass is your priority; most picks here include a subwoofer.
Polk Signa S2: Best Slim Budget Soundbar for Dialogue
For a bar that sits low under the screen and keeps voices clear, the Signa S2 is the pick. The Polk Signa S2 is a 2.1 bar with a 5.25-inch wireless subwoofer.
Polk Signa S2
Polk’s VoiceAdjust setting makes speech clearer without raising the overall volume, which is exactly what helps with mumbled dialogue. The bar is only 2.15 inches tall, so it’s less likely to block the bottom of the screen or the TV’s remote sensor (Polk).
It connects over HDMI ARC or Bluetooth and decodes Dolby Digital 5.1. That covers most TV and streaming soundtracks, though not the newer Atmos and DTS:X formats.
Worth knowing: without Atmos or DTS:X, it’s a bar for TV and dialogue rather than a movie system.
Skip it if you want height effects; its bigger sibling, the Signa S4, adds them.
Yamaha SR-B20A: Best Budget Soundbar for Apartments and Small Rooms
A separate subwoofer isn’t always welcome, especially with neighbors below, and the SR-B20A builds its bass into the bar. The Yamaha SR-B20A has two 3-inch subwoofer drivers and bass ports inside the bar itself.
Yamaha SR-B20A
Yamaha adds Clear Voice, which lifts dialogue above music and effects, and four sound modes: Stereo, Standard, Game and Movie. It connects over HDMI ARC and supports DTS Virtual:X for a wider virtual sound (Yamaha), and Yamaha’s newer Atmos bars swap its DTS support for eARC.
It’s also built for wall mounting. Yamaha includes keyholes on the back and a sensor that adjusts the sound when the bar is mounted rather than lying flat.
Worth knowing: its bass comes from the drivers inside the bar, with no separate subwoofer.
Skip it if you want a separate subwoofer for a large room or bass-heavy movies; every pick above except the Sonos Beam includes one.
Amazon Fire TV Soundbar: Best Simple Budget Soundbar
For one box and one cable, with no subwoofer to place, this is the pick. The Amazon Fire TV Soundbar is a 2.0 bar that sets up with the included HDMI cable, according to Amazon’s listing.
Amazon Fire TV Soundbar
It’s 24 inches long and 2.5 inches tall, so it fits most TV stands, and it adds DTS Virtual:X for a wider virtual sound. With a Fire TV device or Fire TV smart TV, one remote controls the TV and the bar.
In The Hook Up’s test of 16 budget bars, it ranked sixth: ahead of most of the group, but short of the Ultimea and the top all-in-ones. That fits its job as the easy option rather than the best-sounding one.
Worth knowing: without a subwoofer, the lowest bass is missing. If simple matters most, it’s the pick; if sound matters most, the Ultimea placed first in the same test, though it needs room for a subwoofer.
Skip it if your TV isn’t a Fire TV and you don’t use a Fire TV stick, since the one-remote control is a big part of its appeal.
Roku Streambar SE: Best Budget Soundbar for an Older TV
An older or non-smart TV needs streaming as much as sound, and the Streambar SE handles both. The Roku Streambar SE is a compact soundbar with a Roku 4K streaming player built in, though unlike Roku’s discontinued Streambar and Streambar Pro it can’t add Roku Wireless Speakers.
Roku Streambar SE
Roku describes it as the easy way to add 4K streaming and clearer dialogue to smaller or older TVs. It includes speech clarity and volume leveling settings, Bluetooth for music, and Roku’s voice search (Roku).
The Hook Up measured bass from about 75 Hz, strong for a 9.5-inch bar, and ranked the SE ninth of its 16. Buy it for the streaming and convenience rather than the sound.
Worth knowing: if your TV already streams everything you watch, the Ultimea and the Fire TV Soundbar above both ranked higher in The Hook Up’s 2025 test.
Skip it if you have a big living room; Roku aims it at smaller or older TVs.
What Does Each Step Up Add?
The picks fall into three steps, and each step adds something specific. The first step adds a separate subwoofer, the second a known brand with a dialogue feature, and the third surround channels or Atmos.
First step: a subwoofer is the upgrade
The Hook Up found one bar it bought barely better than a TV’s built-in speakers, and noted it produced almost no bass below about 80 Hz.
The Hook Up’s biggest takeaway was that there’s no replacement for a subwoofer if you want bass you can hear and feel.
For more picks, the best soundbar under 100 dollars list covers four from Philips, Sony and Vizio, including one with two subwoofer drivers built into the bar.
Second step: name brands and dialogue features
This step adds known brands like Hisense and Polk, and features like Polk’s VoiceAdjust.
For more picks, see our guide to the best soundbars under $200.
Third step: surround and Atmos
This step adds channels. A 5.1 system like the Fire TV Soundbar Plus or the Samsung B750D puts effects around you, and bars like the Sonos Beam add Dolby Atmos support.
For more picks, these nine soundbars under $300 sort bars that come with a subwoofer from standalone ones.
Our guide to soundbar prices at every tier covers the bars and full systems above these steps, from Sonos, Bose, Samsung, Vizio and Roku.
Do You Need a Subwoofer With a Budget Soundbar?
That subwoofer finding from The Hook Up’s test answers the question: yes, if you have the floor space. A subwoofer handles only the lowest bass, the oomph in explosions, and Yamaha’s How to Shop for a Sound Bar guide adds that a stand-alone sub is often more powerful and effective than one built in.
The Hook Up’s testing showed it clearly. Its top two picks both used a separate subwoofer, while all-in-one bars like the Mzeibo and the Puxinat struggled with low bass.
There are good reasons to skip one, though. Apartments with close neighbors, small rooms and wall-mounted setups can all work better with an all-in-one like the Sonos Beam, which RTINGS found gives the high bass some extra emphasis to compensate for the lack of low bass.
If you do get a subwoofer, where it sits matters as much as which one you buy. Our guide to placing a soundbar subwoofer covers the best spots and a simple test for finding yours.
What Do You Give Up With a Cheap Soundbar?
A subwoofer fixes the bass, but every budget bar still makes trade-offs, and knowing them helps you pick the one whose trade-offs you won’t notice. These are the five to check:
- Room correction. RTINGS notes that budget bars usually skip features like automatic room tuning, so the sound changes more with your room.
- Sound at high volume. Some bars turn harsh when pushed, as the Hisense HS2100’s treble does in RTINGS’ test.
- Real surround. Most budget bars fake surround with processing. Only the Fire TV Soundbar Plus system here puts actual speakers behind you.
- Bluetooth timing. The Hook Up found some of its test bars lag behind the picture over Bluetooth, so use HDMI or optical for TV and keep Bluetooth for music.
- Height effects. Budget Atmos support usually means the bar can decode Atmos, not that it has up-firing speakers to put sound overhead.
None of these matter much if your main complaint is muffled dialogue. They start to matter if you watch a lot of action movies or play music loudly.
Which Budget Soundbar Is Best for Dialogue?
That trade-off list matters less if voices are your main problem, because most of the picks carry a feature aimed at muffled dialogue. For voices alone the Polk Signa S2 is the pick, and for voices with surround the Samsung B750D.
Two features do most of the work: a dedicated center channel, and a dialogue mode that lifts voices without raising everything else. The Ultimea M60, Samsung B750D, Polk Signa S4 and Fire TV Soundbar Plus all have a center channel, which gives voices a speaker of their own.
Several other bars add a dialogue mode instead. Polk’s VoiceAdjust on the Signa S2, Yamaha’s Clear Voice on the SR-B20A and Roku’s speech clarity setting on the Streambar SE all aim at the same problem.
What’s the Best Budget Soundbar for Music?
Those dialogue features matter less for music, which asks for balance more than boom. The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is the strongest here: RTINGS found its vocals clear and present, and it streams through the Sonos app and joins other Sonos speakers around the house.
The Hook Up found a difference in bass character among the bars it tested. The Ultimea’s tight, controlled bass suited rock, country and jazz, while the Saiyin bar it also rated was tuned for punchier bass that suits rap and pop.
For casual listening, every pick here takes music over Bluetooth from a phone. Yamaha’s SR-B20A also has a dedicated Stereo mode that Yamaha recommends for music and podcasts, and its manual describes it as 2-channel stereo playback rather than surround.
Which Budget Soundbar Is Best for a Small Room or Apartment?
Music in a small room needs a bar that fits, and Yamaha’s buying guide points smaller spaces to compact models and a spot without much floor space to a bar with a built-in subwoofer.
The Yamaha SR-B20A keeps its subwoofers inside the bar, so there’s no separate box on the floor. The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is the pick for music in a small space, and the Roku Streambar SE suits a bedroom TV that also needs streaming.
If the space under the screen is the real limit, these seven compact bars measured for fit start from width and height.
Apartments add neighbors to the equation, so look for an adjustable subwoofer level or a night mode, like the Fire TV Soundbar Plus’s Night mode, for late viewing, and Burton Acoustix’s apartment soundbar table lists what each maker says its mode does.
What Size Soundbar Do You Need for Your TV?
Those small rooms raise the question of size, and it’s worth checking before you buy. A bar should be no wider than the TV, and ideally close to its width, so the sound seems to come from the picture.
The picks here span a wide range. Amazon lists the Fire TV Soundbar at 24 inches long, RTINGS puts the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) under 25 inches, and Polk lists the Signa S2 at 35.4 inches.
Samsung publishes its own pairings, and they’re a useful rule of thumb. It matches its budget B550F with TVs from 55 inches up and its smaller B400F with sets from 43 inches up (Samsung).
For a small bedroom TV, a compact bar like the Fire TV Soundbar or Roku Streambar SE looks right. Under a 55-inch or bigger TV, a full-width bar like the Signa S2 or Samsung B750D fills the space better.
What Is the Simplest Soundbar to Set Up?
Once the bar fits, the next question is cables and remotes. The Amazon Fire TV Soundbar is the simplest here: one bar on one HDMI cable to the TV’s ARC or eARC port, which carries the sound and lets the TV remote control the bar.
Amazon’s listing says the HDMI cable comes in the box. The Roku Streambar SE is just as easy, and adds streaming for TVs without it.
If your TV has no ARC port, most budget bars also accept an optical cable. Our guide to hooking a soundbar up to a TV walks through both, plus the TV settings that make the sound switch over.
Which Connections Should a Budget Soundbar Have?
That one-cable setup depends on the right port, so check the connections before you buy. An HDMI ARC or eARC port matters most, because it carries the sound and lets one remote control everything.
When the bar arrives, our step-by-step soundbar setup order covers placement, ports and the TV settings that most setups miss.
Optical is the fallback for older TVs without ARC, and Bluetooth is useful for music from a phone. The Hook Up counted good connections among the reasons its 2025 winner came out on top.
Check which ports your TV has before you buy. A bar with only Bluetooth and optical will still work, but you’ll lose the single-remote control and may notice lip-sync delay on Bluetooth.
How Do You Get the Best Sound From a Budget Soundbar?
These steps use the bar and TV you already have:
- Use HDMI ARC or eARC for the TV. It carries the best sound your TV can send and avoids the Bluetooth delay The Hook Up measured on some of its test bars.
- Center the bar below the screen. Dolby says a soundbar should sit close to the TV and near seated ear level, and that an off-center bar makes sound seem to come from the wrong place.
- Pull it to the front edge. A bar pushed back behind a TV stand’s lip loses part of its sound before it reaches you.
- Turn on the dialogue mode for TV. VoiceAdjust, Clear Voice and speech clarity each aim at clearer voices.
- Set the subwoofer level from your seat. Turn it up for movies and down at night, rather than raising the whole volume.
- Match the sound mode to what you watch. Yamaha’s Stereo, Standard, Game and Movie modes, and the Fire TV Soundbar Plus’s Movie, Music, Sports and Night modes, exist for exactly this.
What Should You Check Before Buying a Budget Soundbar?
Those setup steps come after the purchase; these six quick checks come before it and save a return. Confirm:
- Your TV’s ports. HDMI ARC or eARC gives the simplest setup; optical is the fallback.
- Space for a subwoofer. If there’s none, choose an all-in-one like the Sonos Beam or Yamaha SR-B20A.
- The width. The bar should fit under the TV without being wider than it.
- The height. A tall bar on a low TV stand can block the bottom of the picture or the TV’s remote sensor.
- A dialogue feature. A center channel or a voice mode matters more than extra watts.
- Tested results. Look for independent measurements, not just a long spec list, especially from unfamiliar brands.
Are Cheap Soundbar Brands Any Good?
Some are, going by The Hook Up’s test, which is why that last check asks for tested results. The 2025 winner, the Ultimea Poseidon M60, beat name-brand bars from Samsung, Amazon, Roku, Vizio and Sony in the same test.
The catch is consistency: unknown brands also filled the bottom of the same test, with the Assistrust last of 16, so an unfamiliar name tells you nothing on its own.
That’s why tested results matter more than brand. Stick to bars with independent measurements behind them, or a long record of strong buyer reviews.
So Which Budget Soundbar Should You Buy?
Those tests also give the short answer: with floor space for a subwoofer, get the INFITBO D40CS, or the Ultimea Poseidon M60 if you need more volume for a big room. For speakers behind you, the Fire TV Soundbar Plus system adds a subwoofer and rear surround speakers.
With no room for a subwoofer, the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is RTINGS’ best budget standalone bar. For clearer TV voices from a slim bar, the Polk Signa S2 is the pick.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a 2.1 soundbar better than a 5.1 soundbar?
A 5.1 bar adds a center channel for dialogue and surround channels for effects, so it’s better for movies. On budget bars, though, channel claims can outrun the sound: the Geoyeao in The Hook Up’s 2025 test advertises Dolby 5.1 but had no virtual surround effects, so check tested reviews rather than channel counts alone.
Can you add a subwoofer to a budget soundbar later?
Some bars allow it: RTINGS notes the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) can be expanded with a subwoofer and satellites from compatible speakers if your listening space changes. For a bar without that option, buy the version with a subwoofer if you think you’ll want the bass.
Can you use a budget soundbar with a projector?
Yes, and Bluetooth spares you a long HDMI cable from a projector at the back of the room. In The Hook Up’s 2026 test, a projector’s remote set the volume on every finalist over Bluetooth, and all five played shows with no noticeable audio delay.
