It’s not long until Amazon Prime Day is upon us and if you’re looking to upgrade your home theater setup with one of the best soundbars, then this is a great time to bag yourself a bargain. The big sales event begins on July 11 and will end on July 12, which means you don’t have long.
Not sure which soundbar to buy or how to determine if it’s a good deal? We’ve got you covered. We’ve tested all the major brands out there, including Samsung, Sony, Bose and LG, so we’ve got a few favorites that we tend to look out for across varying budgets to suit anyone and everyone.
In addition to our best soundbars guide, you can also check out our rankings for the best Dolby Atmos soundbars if you’re looking to access spatial audio, which provides an ever more immersive experience, positioning sounds more precisely in space to match the action.
There are plenty of deals already surfacing ahead of the event, which we’ll add to our Amazon prime Day soundbar deals list, but until the big sales event kicks off, here are some of TechRadar’s top recommendations for soundbars to pay attention to during the deal announcements.
The soundbars to look out for on Prime Day
LG S95QR
LG's flagship soundbar is a great option for anyone looking for the company's best audio quality. The four-piece set has a 9.1.5 channel configuration, which is a big step-up from previous models thanks to an all new up-firing center speaker.
The extra speaker really does help to make a more immersive listening experience, so much so that we gave it 4.5 stars out of 5 in our LG S95QR review. Not only does it deliver extremely powerful and dynamic surround sound, it also has an appealing design and has other neat features like an exclusive Meridian music mode that was made in conjunction with the high-end speaker maker.
If you own one of the best LG TVs, then there are even more reasons why you should consider this as your next soundbar. It can take advantage of LG's AI Sound Pro processing and optional extra WowCast audio dongle. It's also worth highlighting that passthrough support includes 4K, Dolby Vision HDR, VRR and ALLM.
But this premium Dolby Atmos and DTS-X playback soundbar doesn't come cheap. It was released in June 2022 at $1,499.99 in the US, £1,699 in the UK and AU$1,749 in Australia, which certainly puts it at the more premium end of the soundbar price spectrum.
The LG S95QR has been known to be discounted though and we've spotted it for sale on Amazon as low as $990 in the US, so it's not unheard of that you can get a great bargain on this top quality soundbar.
Samsung HW-Q700B
We rate Samsung’s HW-Q700B to be the best for most people right now, which means that any discount makes this top rated soundbar even better value for what’s an already well-priced product.
The HW-Q700B launched in August 2022 for $699 in the US, £699 in the UK and AU$899 in Australia. But it has seen plenty of discounts in the months since, with its price being slashed to as low as $400 at one point in December last year. It’s currently selling for close to $500 on Amazon so any further price deductions from here would make this a top choice.
If you’re after a 3.1.2-channel Dolby Atmos soundbar for your 55- to 77-inch TV, then the HW-Q700B is the best all-rounder. It’s capable of delivering an impressively immersive sound right out of the box and can even double as a big-sounding Bluetooth speaker if you wish.
Samsung has also included all of its premium features, such as a 4K HDR HDMI passthrough port (so you don't lose the use of the HDMI port you connect it to on the TV), Bluetooth, AirPlay 2, and its Q-Symphony tech, which means it can combine its speakers with those on a compatible Samsung TV for even bigger sound. If you want a full breakdown of why we gave it five stars, then check out our Samsung HW-Q700B review.
Of course there are limitations (it doesn't support 4K 120Hz passthrough and lacks side-firing drivers), but this soundbar is so good for the price – and you can add rear speakers in the future, if you want to go for surround.
Yamaha SR-C30A
Yamaha makes some of the best budget soundbars and speakers you can buy. We rate the brand's SR–C30A as an excellent cheap option if you're looking for a compact design that won't take up too much space. While it doesn't come with Dolby Atmos support and the sound quality isn't the most expansive compared to higher-end stuff, it does still deliver robust, full-range audio.
And given its price point, this makes it a fantastic buy. As we wrote in our Yamaha SR-C30A review, it's not packed with features but soundbars at this price rarely are. "It's got enough going on to satisfy us, it's all so easy to set up and is overall satisfying to listen to."
It launched in October 2022 with a price tag of $299 in the US, £269 in the UK and AU$399 in Australia. But that quickly came down to $280 not too long after its launch and it has been seen on sale as low as $175 in the past month, making it even better value than it already was.
It's a product that works straight out of the box, with an easy, straightforward setup and multiple control options. As a result, if it were up to us and we were looking to upgrade our home entertainment audio setup but didn't want to spend too much, then this would be our soundbar of choice.
