The 6 Best Dolby Atmos Soundbars to Elevate Your Movie Night

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."

Between high-tech projectors, standout TVs, plush recliners, and smart lighting to set the mood, it’s never been easier to replicate the immersive theatrical experience in your home. However, to truly capture the cinematic magic of Rowdy Herrington’s Road House—or the new Doug Liman remake—a proper Dolby Atmos soundbar is essential. These devices are the perfect upgrade to your TV’s shitty speakers. They deliver rich, detailed sound to match the exceptional visuals of a shirtless Patrick Swayze on your screen.

It’s about to get real nerdy. Ready? Here it goes: Dolby Atmos technology creates a three-dimensional sound experience with height channels, allowing sound to move around you. Imagine the roar of Tom Cruise in a hypersonic plane soaring overhead or the pitter-patter of rain your roof—Dolby Atmos can bring these effects to life with unmatched realism. Beyond the height effects, Dolby Atmos elevates the overall richness and clarity of the soundscape, making you feel like you’re truly in the middle of the action.

That all sounds like marketing hype, but take it from us, it's not. We’ve been recommending headphones, Bluetooth speakers, and surround sound systems for years, and the best Dolby Atmos soundbars are absolutely worth it. Don’t know where to start? Not to worry, we did the hard work for you. Sit back, grab a tub of popcorn, some red vines, and please put your fucking phone away before the movie starts. These are the best options for cinematic sound.

M-Series Elevate Soundbar

The Vizio M-Series Elevate takes the crown as our best overall soundbar, striking a perfect balance between impressive features, sleek design, and user-friendly functionality. It delivers powerful sound that will rumble during action scenes and keep dialogue crisp in quieter moments. This dynamic and immersive audio experience makes any movie or show come alive.

The secret to its performance lies in its 5.1.2 channel system, packing a punch with two height channels that automatically adjust for optimal sound positioning, a dedicated subwoofer for deep bass, and two strategically placed satellite speakers for a complete surround sound experience. Plus, the M-Series Elevate seamlessly integrates into various room sizes thanks to its compact design and stylish charcoal fabric exterior that blends effortlessly into any decor. The subwoofer connects wirelessly, giving you the freedom to place it anywhere in your room without worrying about messy cables.

All-in-One HW-S60B Soundbar

The Samsung HW-S60B is a reasonably affordable soundbar that houses seven speakers, including four woofers for deep bass and three tweeters for crisp highs. A dedicated center speaker ensures you never miss a word of dialogue, even during action-packed scenes. When pairing with a Samsung TV or projector, it connects wirelessly for a seamless experience. Or, you can use the HDMI ARC port for a wired connection. The soundbar also supports AirPlay 2 for streaming music directly from your Apple devices.

Additionally, the HW-S60B features DTS Virtual:X technology. The feature creates a simulated surround sound experience, making it a great option for those who want immersive audio without the extra speakers. Priced at around $300-$350, the HW-S60B is a budget-friendly choice that delivers a powerful and convenient home theater experience—perfect as a starter soundbar.

HT-A7000 Soundbar

The Sony HT-A7000 soundbar offers a powerful 7.1.2 channel audio system, all built into a single unit. At 51.25 inches wide, there's a lot in terms of sound and size. It also boasts a variety of connection options, including Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, along with two HDMI input ports and one output port. Two of these HDMI ports are advanced enough to handle 4K video at 120Hz, making the soundbar a great companion for gamers using the latest consoles from Microsoft or Sony.

Audiophiles will appreciate the HT-A7000’s support for high-resolution audio formats. It also features Sony’s 360 Reality Audio, which creates a more immersive listening experience by simulating the feeling of being at a live concert. And for those who crave an even more expansive soundstage, the soundbar allows you to connect optional subwoofers and satellite speakers for a true surround sound setup.

Smart Ultra Soundbar

The Bose Smart Ultra elevates your home entertainment with intelligent features and a premium design. The AI Dialogue Mode can automatically detect dialogue and adjust the sound balance for improved clarity. Additionally, Bose’s “TrueSpace” technology intelligently separates and positions sounds throughout the room, creating a more realistic and immersive listening experience. Imagine instruments, voices, and sound effects placed all around you, not just coming from directly in front of you.

Beyond its smarts, the Bose Smart Ultra features a sleek design with a metal grille and an acrylic top panel. Inside, it packs a powerful 5.1.2 channel system with nine drivers, including two up-firing drivers for enhanced height effects. It also boasts built-in Alexa for voice control and supports AirPlay 2, Chromecast, and Spotify Connect.

MagniFi Mini AX

Living in a compact space doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice great sound. The Polk MagniFi Mini AX measures under 15 inches wide, so it can easily fit on most media furniture or side tables. Despite its size, the soundbar delivers surprisingly robust and detailed audio, offering multidimensional sound and rumbling bass thanks to the included wireless subwoofer.

The MagniFi Mini AX keeps connectivity in mind with Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, and Chromecast. It also has five drivers and offers four distinct sound modes: Music, Movie, 3D, and Night. These modes optimize the listening experience for different types of content. Movie mode, for example, prioritizes clear dialogue and sound effects, while Night mode ensures you won’t wake the neighbors with booming explosions during a late-night movie marathon. One thing to note is the soundbar has a single HDMI eARC port to connect it to your TV. Unfortunately, that means there are no additional HDMI ports for devices like Blu-ray players or gaming consoles.

Arc Soundbar

The Sonos Arc is a top-of-the-line soundbar that delivers an impressive audio experience on its own, with no additional speakers. But where it truly excels is its ability to seamlessly connect with additional Sonos products. Thanks to Wi-Fi connectivity, you can easily link multiple Sonos speakers together, allowing you to create a surround sound system or a full-home, multi-room audio system. No matter if it’s a Sonos speaker in the same room or on the other side of the house, the Arc can connect and expand your listening experience.

The Sonos Arc boasts 11 drivers, including two that fire upwards to create a more enveloping soundscape. It also features a built-in microphone array for picking up voice commands. Finally, it offers connectivity support for AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect.

What to Consider When Buying a Soundbar

A soundbar oughta sound good, right? What other criteria is there? Turns out, there’s a lot to consider before throwing down your hard-earned cash. Everything from the internal hardware, size, connectivity, and smart assistant support determine which soundbars are worth getting or skipping.

Hardware: When shopping around, you’ll come across terms like “drivers” and “channels.” Basically, drivers are the speakers within the soundbars. Woofers handle the deep bass tones, while tweeters take care of the high-pitched sounds. In general, the more drivers a soundbar has, the wider range of sound it can produce. Channels, on the other hands, act like pathways that deliver sound to specific drivers.

Common setups include 2.0 (stereo) for left and right channels, 2.1 (stereo with subwoofer) adding a dedicated bass channel, and 5.1 (surround sound) incorporating left, right, center, rear surround, and subwoofer channels. Dolby Atmos soundbars take things a step further with numbers like 5.1.2 or 7.1.4. These extra digits represent the number of height channels (usually 2 or 4) that create a more realistic, three-dimensional sound.

Connectivity: While soundbars offer wireless convenience, premium models often rely on wired connections like HDMI ARC or eARC. Imagine them as highways for sound transmission between your TV and soundbar. Standard HDMI ARC acts as a two-lane highway, perfectly suitable for most situations. It can handle compressed audio formats, which is how streaming services like Netflix deliver Dolby Atmos. However, for the uncompressed glory of Dolby Atmos found on 4K Blu-ray discs, you’ll need the superior bandwidth of HDMI eARC. Think of eARC as a multi-lane highway with a much higher capacity, allowing for the full, uncompressed audio experience.

Also look for a soundbar that can connect to your smartphone, tablet, or laptop through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi make it easy to set up a connected sound system by wirelessly linking other compatible speakers. Meanwhile, Wi-Fi offers compatibility with Apple AirPlay 2 and Google Chromecast systems, allowing you to stream music with higher quality than Bluetooth.

Size: The right size for a soundbar is a balancing act between space and sound. A soundbar too large for your room can overpower your setup. On the flip side, larger soundbars tend to deliver richer and more immersive audio. The key is finding the perfect fit. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, as room size, TV size, and available media stand space all play a role.

Smart features: Many soundbars come with built-in support for popular virtual assistants like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri. While not essential, these features offer a big perk: hands-free control. Instead of fumbling for a remote, you can tell Siri to play your favorite song. Voice control not only adds convenience but also makes your soundbar experience more accessible and user-friendly.

Why Trust Esquire?

We've been poking, prodding, and stress-testing products for years, allowing us to recommend the best tech worth your hard-earned money. With years of experience, our discerning ears are finely tuned to know what sounds good. We also know when something is just hype, so we’re here to sift through the bullshit. We promise to give it to you straight—no-frills, no-nonsense. We compile our guides by performing heavy research and testing, and the gadgets we choose are what we'd spend our money on.

You Might Also Like

• Kid Cudi Is All Right

• 16 Best Shoe Organizers For Storing and Displaying Your Kicks