I test soundbars, and 2025 was the year that Dolby Atmos spread its wings

From Dolby Atmos FlexConnect to Marshall and KEF getting into the game, 2025 was a great year for soundbars Features Samsung's flagship HW-Q990F soundbar system(Image credit: Future) The JBL Bar 1000MK2 features rechargeable wireless surround speakers and a potent wireless subwoofer(Image credit: Future / Simon Cohen) KEF's XIO soundbar is designed to sound good with both movie soundtracks and stereo music(Image credit: Future) Marshall's Heston 120 (shown) and Heston 60 soundbars feature the same distinctive styling used on the company's guitar amplifiers(Image credit: Future) TCL shipped the first Dolby Atmos FlexConnect speakers in 2025(Image credit: Dolby / TCL) Dirac Live can make speakers go from good to great-sounding, and in 2025, Klipsch was the first to incorporate the room correction tech in a soundbar, the Klipsch Flexus Core 300(Image credit: Future) Bluesound swung back into soundbar action in 2025 with the new Pulse Cinema (shown) and Pulse Cinema Mini(Image credit: Bluesound) Simon Cohen published More players in the game, and way more options 2025 was an unusual year for soundbars. While perennial favorite flagships from Samsung and LG saw only tiny incremental changes, the race was joined by Marshall, and home audio heavyweights KEF and Bluesound reimagined their soundbar strategies. It was also the year that marked the arrival of Dirac’s audiophile-grade room correction to the category, and a new challenger: Dolby Atmos FlexConnect. 2025 was also the year we got a taste of things to come. Marshall’s new Heston soundbars are Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast-ready, setting up a new kind of expansion in 2026 when the company plans to let customers use its Homeline portables as home theater surrounds. And TCL offered us our first peek at Dolby Atmos FlexConnect, a multi-speaker alternative to the best soundbars . Here’s a breakdown of everything that happened in 2025. LG and Samsung: If it ain’t broke ... After years of major innovation, improvement, and critical acclaim, Samsung and LG both decided to take a breather on their 2025 flagship soundbars. The Samsung HW-Q990F received a revamped subwoofer that’s both smaller and, thanks to horizontally opposed drivers, more vibration-free when compared to 2024’s Samsung HW-Q990D . For its part, LG’s S95AR also gets a new subwoofer, though this one looks nearly identical to its predecessor. Other than the addition of Alexa and Google Assistant support, LG made no other changes from 2024’s LG S95TR . These two new 2025 systems are considered such minor upgrades that most reviewers found themselves suggesting that buyers look for deals on the remaining 2024 inventory before spending more money on the newer models. How long will these Korean giants be content to rest on their soundbar laurels? Perhaps 2026 will hold the answer. Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. JBL doubles down on fully wireless speakers JBL already had a successful formula on its hands with the JBL Bar 1000 soundbar, a Dolby Atmos and DTS:X system with a unique twist: Its included surround speakers are battery powered and...

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