Best soundbar for a small room 2024


Image of a black soundbar on a brown wooden TV stand in front of a television.
Credit: Sonos

The best soundbar for a small room can make sure you can get incredible audio, even if your setup is tight for space.

With so many incredible soundbars available, it can be tricky to know what to look for. That's without restrictions too, because if you've got a smaller room, or just don't want a massive soundbar underneath whatever top television you own, then size is important.

One of the coolest things about this niche is that the small stature doesn't mean a drop in performance, so you don't have to compromise on sound just because you want to compromise on size.

To help you find the best in this field, we've identified top choices in several categories, which we've detailed below, based on price, reviews, and, of course, their performance. Let's dive in...

Best soundbars for a small room

  1. Sonos Beam - a premium choice
  2. Bose Solo 5 - best wireless option
  3. Razer Leviathan V2 Pro - top pick for gaming
  4. BESTISAN S6520 - best budget pick
  5. Roku Streambar - a seriously compact soundbar
Sonos Beam Soundbar product image of a black, rectangular soundbar with curved edges.
click to enlarge
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Credit: Sonos

1. Sonos Beam

Best premium soundbar for small room

Power: Wired
Connectivity Technology: Wired, HDMI, Wi-Fi
Item Dimensions: ‎25.6 x 2.7 x 3.9 inches
Weight: 2.8 Kilograms

While being the largest product featured here, The Sonos Beam packs a mighty strong punch and can be a great choice if you have a little more room available, or are simply looking for fantastically rich audio.

The soundbar features a room correction feature to optimise audio reproduction based on your room's unique acoustic layout and puts it alongside some of the best speakers for home theatres too.

The Beam syncs up nicely with other Sonos products, with Sonos One SLs being available for surround sound, and for maximum noise quality, you may even want to consider adding the Sonus Subwoofer, for some additional bass.

If you're after audio in other parts of the house, you can check out some of the best wireless speakers to pair with this, although, with remote and voice control, the Sonos Beam should be more than capable of being moved around to suit your needs.

Bose Solo 5 product image of a black rectangular soundbar.
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Credit: Bose

2. Bose Solo 5

Best wireless soundbar for small room

Power Type: AAA Battery
Connectivity Technology: Bluetooth, Wired, Auxiliary
Item Dimensions: 3.4 x 21.5 x 2.8 inches
Weight: 1.59 Kilograms

Bose is a brand well-known for delivering quality audio products, and the Bose Solo 5 should be seen as a continuation of this trend.

It features Bluetooth connectivity to wirelessly stream music to various devices, and could even rival some of the best wireless speakers out there, due to its high versatility and universal remote control allowing for clear, accessible audio.

You can fully adjust the Solo 5's audio settings via this remote, including alterations such as upping or downing the bass, depending on your current situation, such as listening to music or watching TV, which we think is rather handy.

Razer Leviathan V2 Pro product image of a black soundbar featuring RGB lighting underneath and a black subwoofer next to it.
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Credit: Razer

3. Razer Leviathan V2 Pro

Best gaming soundbar for small room

Power Type: External Power Adapter
Connectivity Technology: Bluetooth, USB, 3.5 mm headset jack
Item Dimensions: ‎23.6” x 4.5” x 3.5”
Weight: 2.27 kg

If you're after a soundbar to enhance your gaming experience, then look no further than the Razer Leviathan V2 Pro.

It features 3D audio capabilities, setting a new standard in PC audio. To achieve this, it's equipped with head-tracking AI and adaptive beamforming, utilising THX Spatial Audio technology. By intelligently tracking your movements in real-time, it delivers personalised and immersive audio directly to your ears, creating an unparalleled audio experience.

Furthermore, it holds its place as one of the best soundbars for gaming as it boasts five 2-inch full-range drivers and a downward-projecting subwoofer. This powerful combination ensures exceptional sound clarity, fidelity, power, and range, enhancing every aspect of your gaming audio.

We think it's one of the best-looking soundbars too, with a modern, compact design that should blend seamlessly into your gaming setup, particularly with its RGB lighting. All in all, this gaming soundbar truly stands out as an exceptional all-in-one option, providing superb gaming audio above and beyond built-in speakers.

BESTISAN S6520 product image of a black soundbar with a curved triangular shape.
click to enlarge
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Credit: BESTISAN

4. BESTISAN S6520

Best budget soundbar for small room

Power Type: Wired
Connectivity Technology: Bluetooth, Wired, HDMI, USB
Item Dimensions: ‎28 x 4.1 x 4 inches
Weight: 3.1 Kilograms

When it comes to soundbars, the price range can vary wildly. The more premium options will set you back upwards of $500, whereas the more budget versions can be found for less than $100.

The BESTISAN S6520 is on the lower end of the scale and brings some features you may not expect for such an affordable soundbar, including Bluetooth and HDMI connectivity as well as an included remote.

A fine-tuned Digital Signal Processor should offer audio with rousing highs and deep lows, and you can customise both the bass and treble to your desired preference.

One of the best budget soundbars around, the S6520 features a slim, lightweight design, and with DSP audio mode and enhanced bass output, this soundbar can deliver the goods, without breaking the bank.

Roku Streambar product image of a small black soundbar.
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Credit: Roku

5. Roku Streambar

Best compact soundbar for small room

Power Type: Wired
Connectivity Technology: Bluetooth, HDMI, USB, Wi-Fi
Item Dimensions: ‎14 x 4.2 x 2.4 inches
Weight: 1.1 Kilograms

If you only have a small space available for creating a home theatre or gaming set-up, then you shouldn't be looking to compromise on your soundbar's size. Thankfully, the Roku Streambar has you covered.

A tiny size of just 14 x 4.2 x 2.4 inches means the Streambar can be positioned in any location and it's also very reasonably priced too.

There are a variety of optional purchases to go along with the soundbar, such as a surround sound subwoofer, but the Streambar should be more than capable of delivering strong audio quality on its own.

Being able to utilize Alexa or Siri allows the soundbar to fit snuggly into your setup, and in our opinion, it seems to be one of the most accessible soundbars around, which we think is a vital quality to possess.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Don't worry if you've got any questions at this point. We've answered some of the most frequently asked queries below.

Do you need a soundbar?

A soundbar is typically an optional purchase, as it primarily serves to enhance audio quality, rather than provide the function in the first place.

Upgrading from a standard TV or PC speaker is not a niche purchase, however, especially if you are looking to recreate a home cinema experience, or seeking to create an awesome gaming set-up.

Soundbars are much more affordable and easy to place than a proper surround sound speaker system, and you can easily maximise a small room's capacity with a cheaper soundbar option.

Should you mount a soundbar?

Mounting your soundbar is again, entirely optional, as the products are designed to work when placed at ground level.

However, the acoustics will generally always be improved when your soundbar is mounted at ear height, so investing in a soundbar mount could be a great option if you are looking to further improve your set-up's audio quality.

Is a soundbar better than a TV for audio?

Soundbars excel in providing clear, high-definition audio, with a wide frequency range. Most TVs will focus on maximising their picture quality, rather than their audio output, so a great soundbar can prop up that particular aspect of your viewing experience.

Great for both movie watching and gaming, even a low-cost soundbar is going to rival a TV for audio quality, however, one of the best speakers will typically be the best option for the very loudest and clearest sound.

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