Reducing-edge Dolby Atmos know-how is designed to spice up a sound bar’s audio, bringing cinema-like sound into your front room. As soon as the reserve of £500-plus sound bars, it’s now beginning to make its means into cheaper fashions.
However simply because you will discover low-cost Dolby Atmos sound bars, it doesn’t essentially imply you should purchase one.
We’ve not too long ago examined the £400 LG SN7CY sound bar, which had such dreadful Dolby Atmos sound high quality we thought it was defective. The expertise was extra like watching TV in a cabinet than having a cinema at house.
Nevertheless, Dolby Atmos solely works with appropriate content material (see ‘What’s Dolby Atmos?’, beneath), and also you don’t should have it turned on. We’ve examined loads of sensational fashions that don’t have this know-how in any respect.
We’ve taken a have a look at whether or not the LG SN7CY is value shopping for regardless of its lacklustre Atmos efficiency, and if three different Atmos-enabled sound bars can really make you are feeling such as you’re on the cinema.
Sound bar reviews – browse greater than 100 fully-tested sound bars and sound bases to assist make your TV sound higher
Newest from our take a look at lab: LG SN7CY sound bar, £400
Atmos know-how is designed to boost the {surround} sound you get from a sound bar. However, in Atmos mode, this LG sounds decidedly monotone – there’s no depth, peak or some other dimension to the sound. It’s simply dreadful.
Atmos mode efficiency was so dangerous that we thought that there should be a fault. We contacted LG, which claimed that this might be mounted with a software program replace. Nevertheless, even after retesting the sound bar post-update, the Atmos efficiency continued to be poor.
Might this reasonably priced sound bar nonetheless be value shopping for to take pleasure in non-Atmos content material? Discover out all it’s good to know in our full LG SN7CY review.
Three different Dolby Atmos sound bars
Samsung HW-Q800T, £700
Hailing from Samsung’s QLED vary, this premium sound bar has 3.1.2 channel sound. Meaning you hear left, proper and centre channels (the three), with the ‘1’ indicating the presence of an included wi-fi subwoofer and the ultimate ‘2’ referring to the extra up-firing audio system within the sound bar itself.
This could create a pseudo surround-sound expertise, and you may covert that to full surround-sound by buying the extra SWA-9000S rear speaker equipment (round £200) in the event you choose.
The HW-Q800T helps Dolby Atmos, so you may take pleasure in enhanced content material out there on streaming companies similar to Disney+ and Netflix. It’s wi-fi-enabled and you may stream music to it out of your smartphone through Bluetooth.
Get the lowdown on this premium sound bar in our complete Samsung HW-Q800T review.
Sonos Arc, £800
Sonos’ first sound bar to assist Dolby Atmos is the Arc. It’s usually fashionable for a Sonos product and is finest suited to giant TVs (greater than 46 inches). You possibly can place it beneath your TV or mount it on the wall.
You principally management the Arc by downloading the free Sonos app to your smartphone or pill to make use of with the sound bar.
In the event you additionally obtain the Amazon Alexa app, you may management facets of the sound together with your voice, because it has a built-in voice assistant. You received’t want an Amazon Echo or different system for it to work.
This premium sound bar has a fairly premium value. See if it justifies the associated fee in our full Sonos Arc review.
LG SN11RG, £1,299
Some Dolby Atmos sound bars will put a severe dent in your financial institution steadiness, similar to this LG mannequin. You do get just about each premium characteristic and performance you could possibly think about in return, although.
The LG SN11RG, finest suited to TVs which are 55 inches or bigger, comes with a wi-fi bass subwoofer and two rear wired audio system, which means it nearly competes with house cinema techniques for a {surround} sound expertise.
It helps Dolby Atmos appropriate content material, is wi-fi-enabled and has built-in Google Chromecast performance, so you may stream audio on to the sound bar from any Chromecast-enabled cell app, similar to Spotify or YouTube Music.
Discover out if it’s value spending the additional on this high-end mannequin in our LG SN11RG review.
What’s Dolby Atmos?
Dolby Atmos, typically known as object-based sound, is designed to place you proper on the centre of no matter you’re watching. It wraps the sound round you, so you may really feel the increase of an explosion or make out even the tiniest chicken chirps.
With Dolby Atmos enabled, upward-firing drivers within the sound bar make it seem as if the sound is coming from overhead, in addition to throughout you.
To expertise it you’ll want an Atmos-enabled sound bar, and likewise be watching Atmos content material. There’s not a lot appropriate content material out there on common TV, however Atmos is now extra widespread on streaming companies, similar to Amazon Prime, Disney+ and Netflix.
Many sound bars declare to ship digital {surround} sound, however we’ve discovered many fail to do it properly. Test our sound bar reviews earlier than shopping for one to make sure you don’t find yourself with a dud.
