Should you buy a cheap soundbar? I tested 16 budget friendly sound bars under $100

During Prime Day, I bought 16 budget soundbars under $100 to find out which ones are the best, and this video has all my favorite themes: a clear winner, cheap products outperforming name brands, and gut feelings backed up by cold hard measurements. But if you’re just here for the conclusion, the Ultimea Poseidon M60 is the right soundbar for 90% of people and the remaining 10% should get either the Saiyin SBP, Hisense A620, or Puxinat BT103. I’ve links for those but stick around for all the testing and side-by-side comparisons. As always there are no sponsored reviews on this channel, and I bought all these soundbars with my own money.

Mzeibo Soundbar

Jumping right into the head-to-head testing, the cheapest soundbar I’ve got today is this $39 Mzeibo. The Mzeibo has inputs for HDMI ARC, optical, and AUX, and supports Bluetooth. The Mzeibo is about 17 inches long and has two small 4” speaker compartments on either side of a center port.

For each soundbar I ran a frequency response sweep which shows how well the speakers can reproduce different types of sounds. You can see that the Mzeibo doesn’t start producing bass until about 80 Hz, so we can expect it to be missing a lot of low end sound for things like gunshots and explosions. The midrange where dialog is reproduced is also a bit uneven, which may cause some voices to be louder than others, and the treble drops off rapidly after 4000 Hz and then spikes at 15,000 Hz so we can expect high pitched sounds to be muted for everything but the harshest tones.

Puxinat BT103

In round 1, the Mzeibo will go head-to-head against the $54 Puxinat BT103. For connectivity, the Puxinat has HDMI ARC, optical, AUX, RCA coax, a USB port that can play audio files from a flash drive, and Bluetooth connectivity. The Puxinat is quite a bit bigger at just under 33” and has a detachable design that lets you set it up as a soundbar or two tower speakers which can help widen the front sound stage and each side of the Puxinat has two 2” drivers and a bass port.

The Puxinat’s frequency response also shows that it will struggle with low end, though once it gets started at around 75 Hz it has a fairly even curve with its only major peak at around 200 Hz, so it should provide consistent sound throughout the vocal range and into the highest frequencies.

For the head-to-head testing, I normalized the volume on each bar to 80 decibels at 500 Hz if they could go that high and then used my Tascam Portacapture X8 to record the opening race scene from Ready Player One. I then picked three small clips that illustrate the soundbar’s ability to recreate bass, midrange, and treble, and I’m going to play each clip back-to-back, overlay my commentary, and choose a winner for each clip.

So, the Puxinat easily took round 1, and the Mzeibo was just barely better than a set of built-in TV speakers.

Geoyeao SD0151

In round 2, the Puxinat will go up against the $55 Geoyeao which is even smaller than the Mzeibo, coming in at just under 16 inches. The Geoyeao has HDMI ARC, Optical, RCA coax, AUX, and USB for playing audio files as well as Bluetooth connectivity. The Geoyeao has two front facing drivers and two downward facing drivers as well as a front facing display behind the grille and proudly advertises that it supports Dolby 5.1 and says it can fill your room with surround sound.

The Geoyeao’s frequency response graph is not terrible in that it is relatively flat throughout the midrange and treble. But again, the low end is extremely lacking, and we can expect it to push sounds like explosions into the lower midrange.

To me, round 2 was another easy win for the Puxinat. I think the Geoyeao actually came through a little better on camera than it did in person, and despite promising a surround sound performance, it had an extremely narrow front sound stage and no virtual surround effects.

Assistrust KY8000

So, in round 3 the Puxinat will go up against the $56 Assistrust. Coming in at just under 31” long, the Assistrust is another bar that can be separated into two tower speakers for a wider sound stage. The Assistrust has HDMI ARC, Optical, and AUX, as well as Bluetooth. Looking at the back, the Assistrust and Mzeibo are pretty clearly made in the same factory and the Assistrust is basically two Mzeibo soundbars that work together, each one with two drivers and what they call a bass diaphragm that ports out the back.

The Assistrust’s frequency response shows an interesting peak around 70 Hz indicating it might be able to produce decent bass response, but like the Mzeibo, it has a concerning dip in treble that may cause it to sound harsh and shrill.

I hope that round came through as clearly to you as it was to me in person. The Assistrust was the worst performer yet, and the Puxinat seemed like a premium sound system by comparison.

Riowois SD6441 Pro

In round 4, the Puxinat will be in for a challenge against the $58 Riowois, which is the first bar we’ve seen so far that also comes with a separate subwoofer. The Riowois has all of its connectivity on the side rather than the back, and includes optical, AUX, and Bluetooth but is notably missing an HDMI ARC connection. The Riowois soundbar portion is small at just under 17”, and it has two larger drivers on either side of the bar and two small drivers near the middle of the bar. The subwoofer is tall but thin with a 5” ported side firing woofer.

As expected, the frequency response graph for the Riowois shows the advantage of an external subwoofer and reaches competent sound pressure levels as low as 45 Hz compared to around 75 Hz on the Puxinat. You can also see that the subwoofer provides extra volume throughout the low midrange up to around 200 Hz where everything then more or less levels off and is handled by the main soundbar unit, but there is a dip around 7000 Hz, so the Riowois may struggle with the coin sounds in the 3^rd clip.

Pretty much as predicted by its frequency response diagram, the Riowois’s big strength was in the low end and mid-bass, but the main unit wasn’t able to provide enough sound to compete with the subwoofer. As a result, the overall sound came off as muddy and lacked clarity in mid-range and treble.

Saiyin Soundbar S

In round 5, the Puxinat goes up against the Saiyin Soundbar S, which is another detachable design with HDMI ARC, optical, AUX and Bluetooth. The Saiyin comes in at 24”, but despite its larger size, each side only has a single speaker driver. The Saiyin’s subwoofer is shorter and wider than the Riowois but still has that same 5” ported side firing woofer.

The Saiyin’s frequency response shows an even stronger bass response than the Riowois, and, like the Riowois, the subwoofer’s range carries into the low mid-range up to about 200 Hz. The large peak in the upper midrange of the Saiyin may help with vocal clarity for some voices, but the dips between 300 Hz to 500 Hz and 5000 Hz to 9000 Hz could definitely be problematic.

Again, as predicted, the subwoofer was doing significant work in the lower frequencies, but the two-driver design of the main bar was just not enough to be able to give separation for dialog, and it had almost no high-end presence, meaning the Puxinat moves on again.

Yenjuty SD03

In round 6, the Puxinat will face off against the $61 Yenjuty, which is another detachable design with HDMI ARC, optical, and AUX inputs, but no subwoofer. The Yenjuty is the largest bar yet, coming in at 30”, and says it has two tweeters, two full range woofers, and two bass diaphragms.

Looking at the frequency response graph, the Yenjuty lacks the low-end presence of the bars that include subwoofers and has some concerning dips between 300 Hz to 500 Hz and 5000 Hz to 9000 Hz, but then a huge spike around 10,000 Hz, so the coins in the 3^rd clip are probably going to be very harsh.

That round was closer than most, but I think that dip in the treble and subsequent spike made the Yenjuty overly harsh and shrill. While the Puxinat comes across as bright and maybe a little harsh, the Yenjuty was uncomfortable to listen to, so the Puxinat moves on again.

Saiyin Soundbar SBP

In Round 7, the Puxinat will go up against another bar from Saiyin. This is their slightly more premium $69 Soundbar SBP which, like the Soundbar S, is detachable with HDMI ARC, optical, AUX, and Bluetooth. But unlike the two-driver design of the Soundbar S, the SBP has two full range woofers, and two tweeters mounted near the edges of the bar. The SBP has an almost identical subwoofer to the Soundbar S with a single 5” ported side firing woofer.

The frequency response of the Saiyin SBP shows competent bass response as low as 40 Hz followed by pretty boomy performance in between 60 Hz and 200 Hz. But, most importantly, the rest of the curve for the SBP is relatively flat, suggesting it will do a great job reproducing all types of sound.

Wow, that is definitely not the kind of sound I was expecting for less than $70. Compared to all the previous rounds, the Saiyin SBP had extremely good bass response and strong midrange with good separation of vocals and background sounds. Also, something that’s hard to capture through headphones is that the front sound stage seemed much wider, probably due to the subwoofer playing sounds into the low midrange. So, while I’ll miss that bright sparkly treble on the Puxinat, the Saiyin SBP definitely won that round.

Puxinat BT100

But Puxinat isn’t out of it yet because I’ve also got their $72 BT100 model, which is a detachable unit with a separate subwoofer, but the main soundbar is weirdly skinny and long at 32”. Like the other Puxinat, the BT100 has HDMI ARC, optical, AUX, RCA coax, a USB port that can play audio files from a flash drive, and supports Bluetooth connectivity. As mentioned, the length of the BT100 is a bit odd considering all four drivers are mounted in the middle 16”, and the Amazon listing seems to imply that there are bass response diaphragms on the edges, but there’s clearly nothing there. However, the subwoofer looks promising and is the biggest yet, with a single 6” ported side firing woofer.

Looking at the frequency response curve the subwoofer seems much more tuned to not overpower the main unit, but the entire response curve is full of small peaks and troughs and there’s a pretty significant dip between 6000 Hz and 9000 Hz and a huge spike at 10,000 Hz, so it’s going to be very shrill in those highest frequencies.

Well, that was disappointing to say the least. Despite a promising frequency response curve, the performance of the Puxinat BT100 was focused almost entirely into the high midrange, and the spike in the treble was noticeable in every clip. I strongly preferred the Saiyin SBP throughout the entire scene.

Roku Streambar SE

That means Round 9 will be the Saiyin SBP up against the $79 Roku Streambar SE which is a completely different concept than the rest of these soundbars. The Streambar SE comes with a Roku media player built in, in addition to being able to accept HDMI ARC and optical inputs. The Streambar is by far the smallest yet, coming in at just 9.5,” but feels extremely dense and well made with two 1.5” drivers.

Looking at the frequency response of the Roku Streambar, it’s extremely impressive given its tiny size. It shows a bass response starting around 75 Hz and a strong midrange, but the drop off around 6500 Hz could cause some problems with treble.

Well, let’s be honest, the Streambar really didn’t stand a chance, but given its size and the fact that it has a Roku streaming stick built in, I can definitely see a use case for the Streambar if you need something small and portable with good enough sound.

Vizio SV200M

Round 10 will put the Saiyin SBP up against the $98 Vizio SV200M which is a single non-detachable bar without a subwoofer with only an HDMI eARC port, USB, and Bluetooth connectivity. Interestingly, the Vizio does not come with a remote. Also odd is that despite being 30” long and pretty heavy, the Vizio soundbar only has two speaker drivers mounted at either end of the bar.

Looking at the frequency response curve, this soundbar is kind of a mess, with bass response starting around 75 Hz, a huge peak in the low mid-range and four major spikes in the treble with significant troughs in between.

That was just as much of a mess as I was expecting, with almost no vocal presence and flat uninteresting treble. The Vizio SV200M is definitely not worth $98.

Amazon FireTV Soundbar

Next, in round 11, for $99 we’ve got the Amazon FireTV Soundbar. I have to admit, when I bought it, I thought it included a FireTV streaming device sort of like the Roku Streambar, but it doesn’t. This is just a $99 one piece soundbar with HDMI eARC, optical, USB, and Bluetooth. Like the Vizio, the FireTV Soundbar only has two speaker drivers, mounted near the edges of the bar.

Also, like the Vizio, the FireTV Soundbar’s frequency curve is rough, again with a big spike in the lower mid-range, a dip in the vocal range, and treble response that falls off rapidly after 4000 Hz but then spikes hard around 15,000 Hz.

I think the best way to describe the sound from the FireTV soundbar is unoffensive. It’s not good, but if you were comparing it to the sound quality of a TV it’s probably just good enough that you wouldn’t return it. It’s definitely not $99 good though.

Ultimea Poseidon M60

After that, also for $99, is the Ultimea Poseidon M60 which comes in two pieces, but from what I can tell is only meant to be used as a single soundbar and doesn’t come with stands or connectors to use them as tower speakers. The Ultimea has HDMI eARC, optical, USB, and Bluetooth. Unlike the last two bars, the Ultimea makes good use of its 32” length with four separate drivers near the edges of the bar and a dedicated center channel driver. The Ultimea also has a unique looking subwoofer that’s short but long with a 5” ported down firing woofer.

The Ultimea’s frequency response curve is pretty impressive for the price, with bass response as low as 35 Hz, and more importantly, an even response through the entire midrange and treble until it gets to 7000 Hz where there’s a dip until around 9000 Hz before it recovers.

I have no notes. Other than the fact that Ultimea advertises this as a surround sound system and I couldn’t detect any virtual surround, the rest of the performance was spot on. The Saiyin’s bass is fun, but loose and boomy, while the Ultimea was tight and accurate. The vocals were clear and separated thanks to that center driver, and the coins were bright and vibrant without being too harsh, and I’m extremely impressed that this kind of performance is attainable for less than $100.

Hisense A620

In round 13, the Ultimea will go up against the $99 Hisense A620 which is a one piece soundbar with HDMI ARC, optical, RCA coax, AUX, USB, and Bluetooth. The Hisense bar is just under 32” wide and has a single driver on either side of the bar and a center 5” wide driver that acts as an integrated subwoofer.

The frequency response graph for the Hisense shows that the center driver is effective at creating bass down to around 65 Hz, which is better than the other all-in-one bars, but quite a bit worse than the ones with dedicated subwoofers. There’s also a concerning dip in the middle of the midrange around 250 Hz, and three pretty significant peaks in treble.

While the Hisense was definitely the best all-in-one soundbar so far, it didn’t really stand a chance against the Ultimea. However, the Hisense did have the most convincing virtual surround effect, which I’m not sure how it pulled off with just two forward facing drivers, but it was definitely noticeable.

Samsung B400F

Next in round 14, I’ve got the $117 Samsung B400F that I got on prime day for $99. The B400F has HDMI ARC, optical, USB, and Bluetooth and has four total drivers with two full range and two smaller tweeters on the outside.

Looking at the Samsung’s frequency response curve, it’s pretty even and flat with no major concerning areas other than a lack of any bass response until above 70 Hz.

I think I’d describe the Samsung the same way that I did the Amazon FireTV soundbar from a few rounds ago. It’s definitely not good, but it’s not bad enough that you’d return it. So, if you bought it because you like Samsung products, I think you’d probably keep using it, but it’s not even close to the performance of the Ultimea. Comparing the all-in-one Samsung to the all-in-one Hisense, the Hisense wins by a mile.

Sony S100F

Last, the most expensive soundbar I was able to get for under $100 on Prime Day is the Sony S100F which is currently retailing for $118. The Sony has HDMI ARC, optical, USB, and Bluetooth connectivity, and looks almost identical to the Samsung under the grille, with two full range drivers and two smaller tweeters near the edges of the bar.

Of course, the most expensive soundbar has the worst frequency response curve yet, with no bass response at all until 75 Hz, a midrange full of peaks and troughs, and treble that slowly fades away as the frequency increases.

Yikes. So, definitely don’t buy the Sony, but there were a few clear winners in this test.

Sound Quality Rankings

Here are my rankings for each bar with the standouts for subwoofer-based systems being the $69 Saiyin SBP for a budget pick and the $99 Ultimea Poseidon was the top performer. 

For all-in-one systems, which are nowhere near as good as the systems with separate subwoofers, the $54 Puxinat BT103 was very good for a budget pick and the $99 Hisense was the top performer. 

Next, now that we’ve got it narrowed down to those four, I’ve got a few additional tests to do.

Bluetooth Performance

First, we’ll look at Bluetooth connectivity, which is most important if you are planning to use these soundbars with an inexpensive projector like my current budget recommendation, the Elephas W1K.

As for control, all these soundbars functioned in the same way concerning volume where you set a fixed volume on the soundbar itself and then use the remote for the projector to change the volume that the projector is sending to the bar. I had no issues with that setup.

But the biggest issue you’ll run into with Bluetooth is audio delay. So, I tested each of the top performing soundbars by connecting them to my Elephas W1K and then I ran this audio delay test that matches sound output to a visual stimulus. The worst performer was the Saiyin SBP which had approximately six frames of audio lag, corresponding to about 250 ms at 24 frames per second. The Hisense and Puxinat each had five frames of audio delay which is about 208 ms. The Ultimea started out with zero delay, which is basically unheard of for Bluetooth, but by the end of the test it had four frames of delay which is around 167 ms. Since the generally accepted limit for audio lag is around 125 ms, all are likely to be noticeable, but the Ultimea was by far the best.

Next, I watched some Netflix content using Bluetooth audio to listen for any glitching or resync issues. Only the Saiyin had problems, performing a re-sync approximately once a minute which results in a brief audio glitch. I did check the Bluetooth version and codec to try to get to the bottom of why the Saiyin was performing so much worse than the others, but they were all using current BT version 5.0 and higher with the SBC universal Bluetooth codec, so I’m still not sure why they don’t all perform the same.

Audio Tuning Options

I also spent some time messing with audio tuning and the various digital signal processing options for each soundbar and found that the Ultimea was again in a league of its own with options for controlling bass, treble, and midrange, built-in presets, virtual surround enhancements, and even up-mixing control. I also appreciate the ability to independently control the volume of the system tones and dim the front facing display.

The Hisense also has bass, treble, and dimmer functionality, as well as EQ presets and virtual surround on/off, but the controls aren’t as granular as the Ultimea.

The Puxinat has treble and bass control, a few EQ presets and a button that says “3D” that makes the speakers sound terrible.

Lastly, the Saiyin is limited to just three EQ presets and level control for the subwoofer.

Music Performance

Last, I listened to some music to get a feel for how each bar performed and my biggest takeaway is that there’s no replacement for a subwoofer since without it you can’t get into the bass frequencies that you can hear and feel at the same time. Between the Saiyin and Ultimea, the Saiyin is tuned more like Beats by Dre and sounds really punchy and exciting, which is especially good for rap and pop music, but the Ultimea’s bass is much tighter and more controlled which made it sound better for rock, country, and jazz. Here’s a quick example of what I mean using royalty free Crab Rave.

Conclusions

So which soundbar should you buy?

First, if your space allows for a separate subwoofer and you’re willing to stretch your budget all the way up to $100 or maybe slightly more depending on sales, the Ultimea Poseidon M60 is the clear winner in every category. It has tight clean bass, an even and flat frequency response curve, tons of tuning options, good connectivity, and the lowest Bluetooth latency. I’d say it’s the right pick for 90% of people watching this video.

However, if you like punchier bass that you can feel a little more or you’re looking to spend a little less money, the Saiyin SBP is also really good for the money though I’d probably avoid it if you plan on using Bluetooth as your primary connection method since it seems to have some sync issues.

If you’re going to mount your soundbar under your TV and don’t have room for a subwoofer, the Hisense A620 was the clear winner with decent bass response, bright high end, and decent virtual surround, but it’s not anywhere near the overall sound quality of the Ultimea for the same price.

Last, the Puxinat BT103 is an inexpensive all-in-one with no major flaws other than just sounding a little anemic compared to the other three options, but for $54, I’m still pretty impressed by the value.

As always there are no sponsored reviews on this channel, and I bought everything in this video with my own money, but I do have links below for my top recommendations and as always I appreciate when you use those links since as an Amazon Affiliate I do earn a small commission on the sale at no cost to you. 

I’d also like to thank all my awesome patrons over at Patreon for their continued support of my channel, and if you’re interested in supporting unbiased testing, please check out the links below. If you enjoyed this video, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel and as always, thanks for watching The Hook Up.