Best soundbar for 2021: Yamaha, Roku, Vizio, JBL and more – CNET [CNET]

Looking to take your home theater to the next level? It’s time to consider investing in a soundbar. Soundbars are affordable, a breeze to set up and offer much improved sound quality over a standard built-in TV speaker, making them more popular purchases in general than larger home theater speakers, subwoofers, a surround sound system and AV receivers. 

In general, soundbars offer clear sound, more than one sound mode, and many work with your existing smart theater system — so you can talk to them through Amazon Alexa or your Google Assistant. There are a lot of soundbar options out there, but all offer better audio quality what you’ve already got. With a multitude of choices available, finding the best soundbar can be tricky, but this guide can help you cut through the noise.

To test the quality of each soundbar listed below, we compared them against similarly priced models with a combination of music and movies. We also took into account features such as the number of HDMI ports and whether the soundbar features multiroom, high-resolution audio, Bluetooth, surround sound or Dolby Atmos. We have options for both wireless soundbar aficionados and people who want to literally plug their soundbar into their existing audio system and immediately get to watching their favorite TV shows.

From solid bare-bones bars to Alexa-powered Atmos speakers, this is CNET’s lineup of the best soundbars available from $100 and up. This list is updated regularly as new products become available and are tested. 

Read more: Soundbar buyer’s guide