Sony's new Dolby Atmos soundbar does all the things the Sonos Arc Ultra doesn't, for a lower price — and it's expandable for home theater like Sonos, too

• Sony unveils Bravia Theater Bar 7 soundbar, with 9 speakers, 5.0.2-channels, for $869 / £699
• Also the 3.1-channel Bravia Theater Bar 5 with wireless sub for $349 / £399
• Two wireless subs and wireless rear Atmos speakers unveiled too

Sony has launched two new soundbars along with new companion subwoofers and rear speakers.

The Bravia Theater 7 is a nine-speaker, 5.0.2-channel all-in-one soundbar with dedicated up-firing and side-firing drivers, and automatic room calibration. It's very much in line to be a competitor to the Sonos Arc Ultra, but it has a bunch of key features that the Sonos lacks.

It supports Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, IMAX Enhanced — the latter two aren't supported by Sonos. It also has HDMI passthrough with 4K/120Hz and Dolby Vision support, and again the Sonos Arc Ultra lacks any HDMI passthrough.

There's also Bluetooth is 6.0 with LDAC, Wi-Fi 6, and the Bar 7 has Spotify Connect and Apple AirPlay 2.

You can also expand the new Sony with the new Bravia Theater Sub 8 smaller subwoofer, the bigger dual-driver Theater Sub 9, and the Bravia Theater Rear 9 speakers, which have large up-firing 80mm speakers for more immersive spatial sound.

Sony Bravia Theater Bar 5

The second soundbar, the Bravia Theater Bar 5, is a 3.1-channel model with an included wireless subwoofer. It supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X as well, and also comes with Sony's virtual surround technologies: Virtual Surround Engine for virtual spatial audio and S-Force Pro, which emulates side-firing speakers for a wider sound field.

The new soundbars are designed to work with Bravia TVs and the Bravia Connect app, which enables you control your home theater setup from your phone.

Both new soundbars are priced keenly. The Bravia Theater Bar 5 is $349.99 / £399, and the Bravia Theater Bar 7 is $869 / £699. Australian pricing and availability hasn't been confirmed just yet: the products are listed on Sony's Australian website but the prices haven't been published at the time of writing.

The Bravia Theater Sub 9 has an official price of $899 / £899; the Theater Sub 8 is $499 / £649, and the Theater Rear 9 speakers are $749 / £699. All of the new products are available for pre-order now, and we have a review on the way of the Theater Bar 7, so watch this space.

The best soundbars for all budgets

➡️ Read our full guide to the best soundbars
1. Best overall:
Samsung HW-Q800F
2. Best budget:
Sony HT-S2000
3. Best premium all-in-one:
Klipsch Flexus Core 300
4. Best Dolby Atmos surround system:
Samsung HW-Q990F

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