A Dolby Atmos soundbar can be a great compromise if you can’t afford or don’t have the resources for an Atmos-enabled AV receiver and surround sound speaker package. The best allows you to effectively experience the immersive Dolby Atmos audio format through a single bar (or bar and subwoofer), second best for a full setup, but much more practical.
You’ve got your top-notch Sonos Arcs and your Sennheiser Ambeos, but they’re pretty mega money. Maybe even more than you would ever spend on a TV. Fortunately, a decent Dolby Atmos soundbar experience is at your fingertips, courtesy of a handful of models designed to deliver a compelling surround effect for a lot less money.
The Sony HT-G700 soundbar and subwoofer package is one of them, and thanks to its current £200 savings in the UK (opens in new tab) And $202 savings in the US (opens in new tab), it’s our pick of the bunch for those who want to take one home this weekend. (Don’t delay as supplies are low.)
While the US saving has been kicking in for a while and it’s unlikely to change until the soundbar released in 2020 reaches end of life, the UK price is a further £50 off the best price we’ve seen before (late 2022).
Just how good is this soundbar deal?
Given that Sony’s deal price is now between 34 and 44 percent lower than the original MSRP in the two territories, there’s no arguing over the size of the discount. It makes it the best value for money Dolby Atmos soundbar, not least because there aren’t many available at this low price.
In our Sony HT-G700 review, we praised its “impressive cinematic performance”, which it delivered by being big and heavy and reaching bassy depths that rivals without a subwoofer can’t. “The way the sound fills the room is impressive… and the HT-G700 simulates a Dolby Atmos soundscape surprisingly effectively,” we noted.
The Atmos effect is well within the contextual confines of an Atmos soundbar, communicating a spaciousness and sense of height that non-Atmos models can’t, although you shouldn’t expect ceiling-high sounds or sounds behind you from anything short of a full Atmos arrangement of the speaker package. The HT-G700 is not magic, but it is smart…
It uses Sony’s own Vertical Surround Engine and S-Force Pro Front Surround processing technologies to simulate an Atmos effect, but crucially these don’t rely on sound bouncing off the walls, making their effectiveness less dependent in theory depends on the size and shape of the room. So if your TV (and therefore soundbar placement) is more out in the open than most, it shouldn’t take a toll on Sony’s processing wizardry.
This is a soundbar that’s clearly designed to impress on movie nights for its scale and weight, even if we think voice reproduction could be clearer and sharper. This small caveat was why the HT-G700 got four stars rather than five stars when tested in the context of its then £399/$598 price, but if you can live with the fact that other soundbars are a bit more forward thinking if when it comes to vocal delivery, the trade-off is a) a fuller-sounding soundbar than most – if not all – at this level, and b) a significantly cheaper price.
To quote our review again, “if you’re looking for big, meaty explosions and room-filling Atmos scale, the Sony is the soundbar to buy”.
What else does it do?
These days, soundbars are more media-savvy than they used to be, with plenty of streaming smarts like AirPlay, Chromecast, and voice control. The Sony is not one of these multi-tasking streaming machines, though there’s Bluetooth on board, allowing it to wirelessly receive and play music from a phone or tablet.
Its impressive features all have to do with it being a special piece of home cinema kit. First, it’s the ‘plonk down and play’ kind, where setup is a breeze with the soundbar and wireless subwoofer automatically establishing a connection at startup.
Getting sound into the HT-G700 is easy too. The soundbar’s HDMI output is fully compatible with eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel), so as long as your TV also supports that, or standard ARC, it will send the audio from whatever you’re watching to the bar instead of through its own speakers .
The dedicated HDMI input is fully compatible with Dolby Atmos (in both Dolby Digital Plus and True HD formats) as well as DTS:X, and the soundbar also passes 4K HDR signals (including Dolby Vision) to the TV.
Thanks to HDMI-CEC, you can even use your TV’s remote control to change the soundbar’s volume. If your TV does not support ARC, you can connect it to the HT-G700 using the included optical cable.
Also consider…
Would we recommend the HT-G700 so warmly today if it wasn’t so heavily discounted? Maybe not, because then it would be shoulder height with the Sonos Beam Gen 2, our favorite budget Dolby Atmos soundbar and the only alternative we’ve come across at about this level. If you can stretch to the Beam’s current discount price of £425 at Peter Tyson in the UK (opens in new tab) or $476 at Walmart in the US (opens in new tab), it may just be the better bar for you. After all, the Beam Gen 2 is a What Hi-Fi? Prize winner.
The Beam Gen 2 – also a great purveyor of Dolby Atmos audio – has that sharper, clearer mid-range where the Sony falls a little short, as well as the added bonus of streaming services built-in and multiroom and voice control support that come with being a Sonos -product. That said, it’s a single, compact soundbar with no subwoofer, so the ‘cinematic’ weight and bass are, unsurprisingly, relatively limited.
Which one is best for you will depend on your priorities, although your budget may well side you with Sony. And once you give it the reins with your favorite blockbuster, you won’t regret it.
MORE:
Our pick from the best Dolby Atmos soundbars
Experience the ultimate home cinema experience with the best surround sound systems
See the best soundbar deals live now