10 Best Quality Soundbars to Buy Under 300 Dollars (In 2024)

In all consumer electronics, there comes a price point where you start to hit a point of diminishing returns. Soundbars around the price-tag of $3000-$500 strike the sweet spot between best technology you can get for the price and features provided with the device. Anything more is simply excess (for the kings of excess, the sultans of swing!).

Talking about hitting the sweet-spots, these are some of the best soundbars that an audiophile can possibly imagine in their heavenly dreams of passion. If you’re an entry level audiophile, a movie enthusiast or simply a sucker for a good pair of stereo drivers, this list is dedicated to you.

Here’s The List Of Ten Best Soundbars Under 300 Dollars:

1. LG Electronics SH4 2.1 Channel 300W Soundbar

Starting off the list is LG, a consumer electronics heavy hitter. The design of this thing looks like it was ripped straight out of a Lamborghini’s posterior (or a giant space harmonica). A beauty to behold, it even manages to break the curse of ugly subwoofers – which looks like the cute goth Spongebob Squarepants.

It’s pointless to talk about the i/o on this thing, it has it all – HDMI 2.0, Optical-in, AUX, and 3.5mm line inputs. No RCA connections found here (sorry to all the time-travellers from 1900s who only use cathode ray tube TVs). All of the ports are slotted into hollowed out areas behind the soundbar. The remote included won’t be passing a 5 star crash test any time soon but it is pretty sturdy and functional.  Subwoofer’s pretty great. Representations for each frequency level (low, mid and high) is pretty decent.

Also, it pumps out a whooping 300W output. Listening to it at full volume is like trying to tenderly kiss a tornado. It won’t give you any modern innovations since it’s an older model (the newer models are barely any better, tbh.)

2. Samsung HW-K450 2.1 Channel 300W Wireless Soundbar

There is much at offer here (like most Samsung products). The design keeps it down-low and blends under your TV seamlessly, its build quality is very very good. The subwoofer looks okay but sounds great (build quality is like a wet piece of cardboard). It pumps out a loud and proud 300W of output. The size of the soundbar is surprising for the output (at a miniscule 35 inches).

The i/o is all there – HDMI, Optical, 3.5mm analog input and a USB-A input. It supports Dolby digital and DTS sound. The spatial sound is punch and rounded. It performs a lot better than its tiny construction and subwoofer’s tupperware quality might suggest. Dialogues are clear, base is thumpy and it gives you plenty of options for your viewing preferences (Standard, music, clear, sports, movie and night).

3. Bose Solo 5 TV Sound System

Bose is commonly known for its sound engineering innovations and a premium price-tag – both of which seem to be missing here. Remember watching The New Hope in a theatre, when the Death Star has glorious explosion – you won’t be hearing it here. In the case of the Solo, the design isn’t bad, depending on which era you’re from (80s-90s retro-lovers will appreciate).

Calling it tiny isn’t fair, measuring it next to its remote for a size comparison is. Solo is a grotesque phablet middle child between a portable speaker and a soundbar. Criticisms aside, there’s not much else to say. It is on the list because of the brand name and the sturdy quality. This however does have the best remote control on this list, period (also a universal mote). It’s a premium brand experience for an entry price, even if it’s not a premium sound experience. It comes with an Optical, Coaxial and analog audio inputs.

No HDMI, sorry peoples of the 21st century. There is next to no spatial sound or any other bells and whistles for that matter. This is the only option for those who are looking for tiny soundbars in this price range. This is Solo-ly for the brand loyalists.

4. Yamaha YAS-207BL

Back in the day, when this came out, it was amongst the first few soundbars to have the DTS virtual X feature (for a better, rounded spatial sound). That tells you a lot about this device. If the sound pedigree of being Yamaha isn’t convincing enough, nothing is. The Yamaha YAS-207BL sounds excellent in every possible dimension.

It excels in every aspect, except design. That cloth design is sure to collect dust like a vacuum and the subwoofer with its giant hole will stare you right into your soul. The i/o has everything except RCA and coaxial connections.

The subwoofer sounds good, the soundbar sounds great. The stereo drivers are quite powerful (4 speakers, 2 tweeters & a subwoofer) and provide you with a few inbuilt presets (movies, music, etc). Finally, the companion app helps you configure the sound profiles and EQ on the fly. This is the best possible union of hardware and firmware in any soundbar of this price range.

5. VIZIO SB3851-C0 38-Inch 5.1 Channel Soundbar

Vizio probably hold a special place when it comes to developing soundbars. This soundbar is not an exception to their winning streak. It makes up a true 5.1 surround system by using two external satellite speakers and a pretty good subwoofer. The idea here is to give the more rounded and cinematic surround sound experience not the loudest or the heaviest or even the most innovative.

Comparing the design of this soundbar with other Vizio soundbars wouldn’t be fair – because it’s the same design. The same minimalistic black rectangular bar as before. The added satellite speakers and subwoofer do a good job at creating an overall, well tied aesthetic. It comes with every possible Dolby digital and surround sound certification possible.

The remote is intuitive, features rich and well designed – has a LCD display as a bonus. The soundbar puts out 100db of audio alone. Vizio went all out with this soundbar by putting every possible certification as a point of credibility here. It might be the best choice for watching films on this list.

6. ZVOX SoundBase 570 30 inch Sound Bar

This might be the least aesthetically appealing sound device on this list (or any other). It doesn’t even look like a soundbar. It doesn’t look like it even belongs in your living area, under your telly. It looks like an audio amplifier unit. However, there is more to this book (or a textbook in this case) than its cover.

This is also probably the best sounding soundbar on the list, if you’re a bass-head that is. It outperforms industry giants like Yamaha and Vizio with ease when it comes to its frequency (mid, low and high) reproduction and spatial sounds. It has clear and crisp mid tones (dialogues) even in bass heavy scenes. Somehow it manages to match its cinema and musical audio performances.

On the back, there are more connections than you’ll probably ever use (the obvious ones are coaxial, AUX, optical and four channel analog inputs). The remote is a piece of garbage, an expensive piece of garbage nonetheless.

7. Klipsch RSB-3 Surround Soundbar

The Klipsch RSB-3 is the only soundbar on this list that fits the minimalist aesthetic and having a decent bass without an external unit. The only reason to buy a soundbar is that they take up very little space and don’t have a mess of wires around them. Klipsch RSB-3 (just like the pronunciation of its name) lacks in the bass department.

It provides you with everything else you’d expect at its $299 price-tag. It has a good i/o (Optical-in, 3.5mm analog, USB-A, etc) that keeps it simple. The bass is pretty decent for an inbuilt system, but is amongst the weakest links on the list. The design of the soundbar is also quite unique, a black matte look with chrome accents and an opening on the left side for the in-built subwoofer.

The virtual surround sound is also pretty decent. The core idea is to keep everything housed into this small footprint to keep a minimalistic look. It has everything from spatial sound, digital audio decoding, dedicated subwoofer and in-built sound profiles. However, its doesn’t excel at any of them, it tries to tie it all up into this small package.