Top 5 Soundbars With Google Assistant And Amazon Alexa

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1. LG SN9YG

The Dolby Atmos support means that the soundbar will try to recreate the surround sound experience digitally. It achieves that with 5 drivers for the horizontal channels—left, right, center, and 2 x side-firing speakers. This setup is polished off with the signature vertical-firing speaker for the height effect. The surround sound experience is convincing. The soundstage is spacious and expansive, with the vertical-firing speakers delivering the over-head sound effect. Note that, if you want the fully immersive sound effects of Atmos, the room must be square or rectangular (with the soundbar at one end). Other than that, the audio output is clear and crisp, with slightly heavy bass. Well, the LG SN9YG brings the Google Assistant to your TV room. All you need to say is the signature ‘Hey Google’ keyword, and the soundbar will kick into action. Do note that Google Assistant only works if either the Wi-Fi or the Bluetooth connection is enabled. If not, you will have to go the traditional route of activating it via the soundbar remote. Yes, it ships with a remote. Other than the primary HDMI eARC port, there’s another HDMI port that lets you hook other HDMI-compatible devices such as gaming consoles.

2. Sonos Arc

This is one of the few soundbars which ships without a subwoofer. You can buy a wireless subwoofer of your choice and add to this setup. Even without the subwoofer, the audio output has a deep and rich bass. As noted earlier, it delivers excellent audio and is accompanied by clear and crisp vocals. When it comes to Dolby Atmos, the Arc packs three horizontal channels (left, center, right) and includes two side-firing drivers and a single upward-firing speaker. All these combine to produce a stellar surround sound. The Verge folks argue that the Arc manages to deliver a convincing surrounding effect that sounds equally immersive even though it is not as wide. Besides that, the ARC includes Wi-Fi and an option to connect the soundbar to a wired network via the Ethernet port. Being a premium device, it includes a couple of additional connection options such as Apple Airplay and Spotify Connect. However, it’s not without its shortcomings. For one, it doesn’t have a physical remote. Secondly, it lacks Bluetooth streaming. Bummer, I know. And lastly, there’s only one HDMI port.

3. Bose Soundbar 700

The Soundbar 700 doesn’t have Dolby Atmos support or DTS:X. But the good news is that it still delivers an impressive surround sound experience. On top of that, the audio output is crisp, clear, and pleasing. The clever arrangement of speakers inside the soundbar creates a home theater-like experience, which adds to the experience. The feature that sets it apart from the rest is that you can tune the soundbar’s output as per your room’s layout. The Soundbar 700 uses the Adaptiq microphone and its companion app to do the required work. All you need to do is pick the spots you usually use to watch TV, and the rest will be taken care of. The connection is via an HDMI ARC port at the back. However, that’s not the only thing that the Soundbar 700 packs. It also has options for Bluetooth, optical cable, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, IR repeater, among others. The only flaw is that the physical remote doesn’t at all resemble the looks of the glass-topped soundbar and sticks out like a sore thumb. Buy Bose Soundbar 500

4. Sonos Beam

Speaking of the voice assistants, the Beam receives your voice commands nicely. That is made possible by the array of five mics on the soundbar. So even if Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic is blaring at full volume, Beam will still hear you loud and clear. Speaking of music, one of the best things about it is that this nifty soundbar can play music from any source. Be it a music streaming app or your old network-connected drives, which has your collection memorable songs. That one can pull it off in a jiffy. Though it doesn’t have Dolby Atmos, the drivers and radiators are arranged to project the sound around the room. In short, you get an immersive surround sound experience. Note that it’s not designed for larger rooms. It works best in small to medium-sized rooms. The Beam’s music and sound can be filling in the latter, with a clear separation between vocals and the background music. Since it’s meant for TVs, the sound prioritizes vocals over playback.

5. Yamaha YAS-209BL

It bundles Yamaha’s Clear Voice feature, and together with DTS Virtual:X, it attempts to deliver a wide and spacious soundstage, along with loud and powerful audio. The YAS-209BL is neither too big not too small, and at 37-inches, it fits easily below most TVs without sticking like a sore thumb. Similar to most soundbars, it has an HDMI ARC Out connector with an additional HDMI port. The other noteworthy connectivity options include Ethernet and Wi-Fi for Spotify Connect. Unfortunately, there’s no AirPlay 2 or Chromecast support.