Top sound for your screen: The best TV speakers of 2024

Hunting down the best speakers can be something of a minefield, and that's before you even get into the best TV speakers category. A browse through the pages of online stores can seem like inspecting a rogues gallery instead of a line-up of audio superheroes. And this is made worse by the plethora of soundbars on the market; many of which are actually low-fi compared to the 4K 65-inch televisions they end up perched under.

Sometimes all you want are some of the best TV speakers for the job without having to invest in a bulky amp plus speakers setup. And, while a few TVs can have unpowered (passive) speakers attached to them, here we’re talking about active speakers. In other words, they’re powered and amplified independently from the television. They’re often soundbars – space-saving alternatives to needing a large separate AV amplifier; although there are complete home cinema systems here too – a great match for 50-inch or larger screens, like some of the best 75-inch TVs.

Best TV speakers at a glance:

• Best overall: MAJORITY Everest 5.1 Dolby Audio Surround Sound System with Sound Bar – View at Amazon
• Best budget: Majority K2 Sound Bar with Subwoofer – View at Argos
• Best premium: Sony HT-A5000 premium 5.1.2 channel Dolby Atmos Soundbar – View at Argos
• Best smart: Bose Smart Soundbar 600 Dolby Atmos with Alexa Built-In – View at Amazon

For us, a good TV speaker will be able to connect to your TV (normally via optical or HDMI cables) and output the sound of whatever you’re watching. They can also have other auxiliary inputs for other pieces of equipment. Many soundbars can even switch between video sources for you – handy for those with a console or Blu-ray player. As simple as this sounds, you still have some choices to make. That’s where we come in.

You’ll probably have ideas already on size and style – whether that’s a compact soundbar or a surround system with a separate subwoofer. You'll also need to look at connectivity, as some older TVs may not have HDMI ports with ARC (an Audio Return Channel). And lastly, you'll need to decide on how big you want your sound to go in terms of volume, bass and surround features. We’ve put together a buyer’s guide with more details at the end of the article, but first – here’s our pick of the best TV speakers for truly heroic sound to suit all budgets.

The best TV speakers

All prices are correct at the time of writing. Prices, stock and deals are subject to change without notice.

How to choose the best TV speakers for you

Decide on how much sound you want

We're not just talking about sheer volume here, although that will depend partly on the size and number of speakers you're looking at. We're also thinking about the bass and overall performance – including surround sound. While many soundbars can do an excellent job of stimulating a surround experience, nothing is better than an array of physical speakers dotted around your room. While that may suit many cinephiles with deeper pockets, others may just want a competent bookshelf speaker set for their TV, or a soundbar.

Plan your connections

There’s no point in opting for that neat little soundbar if you can’t plug anything into it. Actually, that’s not true – if you only want it to connect to your TV, it’ll work just fine. But for everyone else, you might want a system with Bluetooth for easy connections with your other devices. Consider an optical input for a CD player, or a 3.5mm jack for that old MP3 player you have lying around.

Lastly, and by no means least, if you have more than one piece of AV kit to hook up to your TV you’ll want to make sure your chosen speakers have at least two HDMI inputs. You could then switch between those inputs without needing to reach for the TV remote. Tally up your connections and buy accordingly.

Measure up for placement

Soundbars have a habit of being able to fit underneath most TVs. If your television is wall mounted, you’ll have nowhere to sit your soundbar, or non-freestanding speakers for that matter. So, if you’re concerned that your first choice of best TV speaker won’t fit, measure up. If you need to wall mount them to match your wall-mounted TV, that’s a great option all around, as solid wall mounting provides excellent sound isolation.

Beware of too much bling

Many cut-price speakers, and even some with higher price tags, are actually all about flashy looks; The cheap internals hidden inside over-stylised casings, with LEDs and plastic-chrome details to boot. All of our expert picks above have avoided the swamp of straight-to-landfill speaker tech and honed in on quality brands and solid performance. As with so much gadgetry these days, it’s a case of all that glitters…

Listen first, ask questions later

In an age of distance buying via the web, the days of in-store demonstrations would seem to have come and gone. But, if you literally shop around, you can still find showrooms where you can try these things out. If not, perhaps you have a friend who has a similar, speaker system that you can put through its paces. Perhaps the best option though is to buy from a store that supports easy returns if you’re not satisfied with the sound. After all, audio reviews and tech specs aside, there is no substitute for listening to the best TV speakers in person.

Speaker jargon-buster

The best TV speakers come with more than their fair share of jargon. Many of our recommendations here are soundbars that don’t require an encyclopaedic knowledge of impedance and wattage. But, here are some of the most common terms you’ll come across.

Active speakers

Unlike passive speakers that have no active power or amplifier circuitry, active speakers do. This means that you can hook up any sound source directly to the speakers, usually via an auxiliary input connection; such as an audio jack or twin phono plugs in the case of speakers for a record player. In the case of a TV speaker, audio from the television is commonly passed to the soundbar via HDMI or an optical port. For connected devices like Bluray players, audio is passed to the active speakers along with the picture information which is then passed on to the TV.

HDMI ARC

ARC stands for ‘Audio Return Channel’. This is basically an HDMI connection that will feed sound information from your television to your TV speaker or soundbar. And that includes other devices attached to your TV, like Bluray players. All of this means you can easily listen to various audio sources without needing a separate AV amplifier and lots of extra cabling. In this regard, your HDMI ARC-enabled TV speaker becomes an efficiently wired hub for your connected kit.

Watt

Wattage in regard to sound output and speaker power is a measure of the strength of the audio signal that drives the speaker. A 100w amplifier will have a maximum output of that many watts and a speaker that is rated for a range of, say, 80w-120w, will be able to handle that power input. The wattage between the speaker and amp needs to be compatible to avoid potentially damaging both.

Decibels

Sound is measured in decibels (dBs). While it's an accepted measure of volume, it doesn’t correlate with wattage. More wattage doesn’t necessarily mean bigger or better volume, or quality for that matter. Usually, manufacturers specify the amount of dBs that a speaker can produce with a single watt of power at a 1-metre distance.

Drivers

A driver is a device inside any speaker, be it wired headphones or an external speaker, that converts electrical signals into sound. So it follows, that larger drivers tend to be able to deliver a more powerful sound with greater accuracy. That said, this isn’t always the case as build material quality also plays an important role.

Tweeters

A speaker has two basic component types: a woofer and a tweeter. A tweeter is responsible for producing high-frequency sounds. They're often a dome shape and may even be independently positionable.

Woofers

A woofer is part of the speaker that produces low-frequency sounds. You'll commonly see these described by the width of the cone – in inches or centimetres. This will also give you a slight indication of how much range and power they may have.

Frequency Range

This is a measurement, in Hertz (Hz) of the range of frequencies a speaker can reproduce. Our ears can perceive 20-20,000 Hz, with the lower number being a lower tone and vice versa.

FAQs

Are TV speakers good enough?

Even the thinnest and lightest of televisions can house some of the best TV speakers ever made. As speaker technology has become slimmer, lighter and ever more powerful, different manufacturers still have very different approaches when it comes to sound quality. Depending on budget, your TV might have a fantastic QLED or OLED screen, but that panel might also account for nine-tenths of the budget. Sound is often left by the wayside. Other, more premium brands, will emphasise their sound tech as part of the television’s specification. Either way, depending on how serious you are about audio, you’ll need to fire up your TV, play your favourite content and judge for yourself. In our experience, there are very few TVs out there that won’t benefit at some level from additional speakers.

What are the best external speakers for TV?

Again, this is highly subjective. What’s great for some might be totally lacking in bass or have muddy dialogue for another. Everyone’s hearing is different, so it makes sense to try before you buy or read reviews from trusted sources.

Who makes the best TV speakers?

Here at What’s The Best. we’re huge fans of Sony when it comes to the best TV speakers. Partly because they really do understand what television viewers need from their audio – unsurprising given the range of impressive TVs they release every year; but also because they’re so good at it. The Sony HT-A5000 TV speaker above is a great example. But if you’re not a Sony fan, we recently reviewed the Denon soundbar which also impressed us on a number of levels. Ultimately, choose from any of our recommendations above and you won’t go wrong.

What are the best TV speakers for a small room?

Small rooms place a couple of demands on your speaker choice. Firstly, as you’d expect, they need to fit. A 5.1 system with monolithic floor-standing speakers, a centre speaker and a subwoofer might look great on paper, but make your modestly-sized living room feel like it’s been shrunk in the wash. Having crammed everything in, you might also find the sound is just too big for the space. Secondly, go too small and you risk poor quality, thin sound. So, find a happy medium. Larger cones typically sound better and louder than smaller ones, so work out what size you can live with and choose a recommended well-reviewed brand.

What are the best TV speakers for dialogue?

In the case of a full surround system, the centre speaker is often a dedicated dialogue channel – although other sounds will emanate from it too. They’re built to reproduce vocal frequencies with clarity, so dialogue through one of these will really pop. As for others, like soundbars, many of these will favour dialogue too - but how good this really comes down to the number of speaker units inside the bar itself.

What are the best TV speakers for music?

If you’re looking to do more listening through your TV via apps like Spotify, a pair of active speakers is the way to go. You might also be using Bluetooth to connect a mobile device to your speaker for streaming music from the internet. Either way, it’s worth mentioning that the best TV speakers can handle music clarity similar to an actual hi-fi system. But, many others will be more attuned to general listening, TV shows and movies. For that reason, TV speakers tend to be great all-rounders. But if you’re serious about music, even a little, you should look at some of the best hi-fi systems on offer instead.

What are the best TV speakers for the hard of hearing?

TV speakers and those with hearing impairments are a tricky pairing to get right. It’s easy to think of extra TV speakers as extra volume, which is what you need – isn’t it? Well, not really. What you need is clarity. For this reason, choose a speaker that is well renowned for clear dialogue as that’s often what those who are hard of hearing miss out on the most. An excellent example here is the SIMOLIO Digital Wireless TV Speakers for the Hard of Hearing.

Also, it should be said that a TV's internal and external speakers shouldn’t be pushed to unsafe or uncomfortable volumes for others. For that reason, we recommend that you pair a good, clear TV speaker with your prescribed hearing aids.

How we chose these products

We selected our pick of the best TV speakers based on reliable and trusted brands, average user reviews, price, and suitability for each use case. We look carefully at the technical specifications of all products before we recommend them to ensure that they will meet buyers' needs without requiring modifications or costly additions to function as intended. With TV speakers, our main focus is on sound quality, build quality, overall design and connectivity options. Our writers also choose products based on hands-on experience where we own or have reviewed them ourselves. Retailers are selected based on price, availability and reputation as reliable and trusted sellers.

Chris Duffill is a Senior Tech Writer and Reviewer for What's The Best. His background includes writing, editorial, marketing, design, video production and photography.

He specialises in home entertainment and audiovisual tech, including speakers, amplifiers, turntables, streaming media players, and TVs. He is also one of our resident experts in computing (PCs, tablets, smartphones, smartwatches), DSLR photography and all kinds of digital cameras. He also writes about retro gaming, game consoles and various electronic gadgets. If it plugs in, lights up or makes a noise, he’ll write about it.

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