How To Buy A Soundbar In India In 2019

We all know that audiophiles need more than just the built-in speakers in TVs, and so do lots of other people. They do not produce enough sounds upfront so that you can hear clearly what is going on, especially when it comes to subtle details.

To upgrade your home’s sound system, fortunately, you do not need to stretch your budget for a five-speaker surround sound setup. For most living rooms, a soundbar or maybe if you like it, a subwoofer is more than enough.

To help you pick the best soundbar for your home, we have compiled a list of the criteria you can refer to make a more informed decision:

Features

As you may have guessed, the more you are willing to spend, the more features you will get. The most budget-friendly option, which comes at the price of less than Rs. 10,500 will do just one thing, which is to improve the audio system of your TV, and that is it.

In the Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 30,000 price bracket, you will have functions like wireless connectivity, built-in voice control, AirPlay 2, Chromecast, and even Android TV.

However, if you are after the best sound quality, you may have to splurge a bit, because it is provided by the top-tier offers only. What we are talking about is things like DTS:X or Dolby Atmos. Please note that not all Atmos soundbars are created equal so you might want to look into the smaller details before withdrawing from your savings account.

Ports

If you buy some affordable soundbars, what you have when it comes to connectivity are one HDMI jack and one optical port, if you are lucky, or if you are not, just one of these two.

In the mid-range price bracket, you may have more options, but that is not always the case. For example, users will have only one HDMI port on the Sonos Beam. Those who want to connect a gaming console or set-top box to the soundbar will have to look for one with HDMI (ARC) output, and two, or more HDMI inputs.

HDMI is needed if you want DTS:X, Dolby Atmos and other immersive and high-resolution audio format.

Wireless

Most soundbars you can find on the market these days offer either WiFi or Bluetooth, sometimes both. If the one you want to buy is WiFi-enabled, you will have functions like AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, voice control, or Chromecast. For some people, they need Spotify Connect and Chromecast more than anything else.

Size

This one is actually a crucial feature, as it can be strenuous and time-consuming to bring home a soundbar and then spend a few hours rearrange the living room finding a place for it, and you still have to think about the position that it can generate the best sounds for you.

Soundbars like Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar are heavy and large, and may not be the best for a small and already-heavily-decorated room. So think about the space before you pay for a soundbar.

So in short, the questions you need to ask yourself are: Do you need the best sound possible? Do you have much space for it? Or if you just want something added so that you can hear the TV better.