A soundbar is an easy manner to upgrade your TV ’s work up - in speakers without need to splurge on a brand new television set .
Considering we apply theAmazon Fire TV Soundbara 3.5 - star valuation and theAmazon Fire TV Soundbar Plusearned a four - headliner military rating , is it a given that you should opt for the more expensivemodel ?
To help you determine , we ’ve compare our experiences of both audio organisation in this versus between the Amazon Fire TV Soundbar and Fire TV Soundbar Plus . Read on to learn how the two soundbars disagree and which one suits your rest home entertainment apparatus best .
Pricing
The Amazon Fire TV Soundbar is the less expensive of the two with an RRP of £ 119.99 / $ 119.99 . It follow equipped with a wall - mounting kit too .
As its name suggests , the Amazon Fire TV Plus build up upon the foundation of the Amazon Fire TV Soundbar but brag more features which we ’ll plunge into later . Unsurprisingly , this means the Fire TV Plus has a higher RRP of £ 249.99 / $ 249.99 , and includes a wall - mounting outfit too .
Design
Visually , both the Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Plus soundbars sport a middling retiring design . The Fire telly soundbar is 60 cm wide , pee-pee it well suit for TVs at 50 - inches and under , while the Fire TV Plus is 94 cm that we found sat utterly with a 55 - column inch set .
Both soundbars have an light-emitting diode display behind a material grille which further enhances their several minimalist appearing . We did fight with the Fire TV Plus ’ blinking LED Christ Within , as we find they flashed so rapidly that it made it hard to realise what they were referencing .
We found set up up both iterations was simple , as they are both essentially plug and play . Otherwise , the Fire TV Soundbar is equipped with anHDMI ARCport , digital optical output and USB remark , while the Fire TV Plus soundbar ’s HDMI ARC also doubles as aneARCtoo .
The two issue forth equipped with a small remote that continue the controls on its top open let in major power , input choice , Bluetooth pair and loudness . Both also have additional buttons for adjusting EQ , bass control and enabling spatial sound manner too .
Winner : Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus
Features
Neither featureFire telly OSorAlexaintegration , which feels like a missed opportunity . Plus , the lack of a HDMI stimulus means you ca n’t add aFire TV Stickinto the soundbars either .
That aside , the Fire TV Soundbar patronage Dolby Digital soundtracks , DTS Virtual :X processing with DTS soundtrack , and a Spatial Audio style too . The Fire TV Soundbar Plus also supportsDolby AtmosandDTS : Xwhich cover 3D spacial audio , however it ’s worth point out that it does n’t rollick up - firing utterer .
Not only that but the Fire TV Soundbar Plus also enables DTS TruVolume which provides a logical volume level with DTS audio . However , we did regain that this tend to make the soundbar quieter .
While the Fire TV Soundbar Plus has a 3.1 configuration that ’s marry with an internal subwoofer , US customers can benefit from a 5.1 software program that includes a subwoofer and two surround speakers .
Finally , while the Fire TV Soundbar has three EQ modality : film , euphony and dialogue , the Fire TV Soundbar Plus has four : photographic film , euphony , sports and Nox , with the latter temper the scummy relative frequency .
Sound Quality
We hailed the Fire TV Soundbar as a “ decent - sound effort as long as you ’re looking to boost your TV ’s sound and nothing more ” , particularly if your live set is a “ cheesy and tinny sounding one ” .
basically the Fire TV Soundbar can offer accurate consequence direct on - screen , which means sound does n’t just give forth from the soundbar . We also found that any dialog was exculpated and detailed too . However , once you switch to Spatial Mode , we did take note that although the soundbar did vocalize clearer and louder , audio did run to miss its smoothness and weighting .
Plus , despite the Fire TV Soundbar offering three levels of bass ( low , medium or high ) , none peculiarly added profundity or might . In fact , we found the soundbar ’s yield sound became uncomfortable in onscreen moments where more punch was take . Instead we found the bass part hike extend a bigger effect with music .
On the other script , the Fire TV Soundbar Plus offer a confident sound , with a broad listen that make dialogue sound natural . However , we did rule that bass part across certain pic return flavorless , with some distortion too . Plus , although its treble is balance , the Fire TV Soundbar Plus sounds small and not particularly room - weft .
euphony caliber is somewhat mixed with the Fire TV Soundbar Plus . It struggled to encourage bass through its EQ , with dispirited frequencies that lack puncher and power although we did find that vocal were well handled .
Verdict
If you ’re looking for a budget - well-disposed way to amend your existing TV ’s sound quality then while the Amazon Fire TV Soundbar is a decent choice , it does n’t offer anything excess to recommend it . In fact , we felt you could get a standardized performance for less than its RRP .
The Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus is comfortable to advocate with its “ admirable ” execution . Sure at £ 130 more than its budget option , it may seem like more of a splurge , but we expect you ’d be happy with its performance overall .
Otherwise , we ’d suggest seem through ourbest soundbar lean , where we ’ve hoard our favored soundbars across all budgets . Looking for something a bit more affordable ? Ourbest cheap soundbarlist means you may boost your TV ’s phone without spending a fortune in the process .