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Livingetc
Livingetc
Britta O'Boyle

Is Buying a Soundbar Actually Worth It in 2026? How Today's Tech Compares to TV Speakers, According to an Audio Reviewer

A living room with a grey sofa and a media wall with a tv and soundbar.

The latest TVs are a far cry from what they were. They might still be large black rectangles for the most part, but they are now wafer-thin, capable of hanging flush against the wall, and some display digital art with such fidelity that they practically vanish into gallery walls. And that’s before considering the influx of lifestyle TVs like Samsung’s Frame Pro with their picture frame surrounds.

But the relentless pursuit of ultra-thin designs has created a paradox for the senses. While our eyes are treated to slender frames and superb picture quality thanks to technologies like Micro RGB and OLED, our ears are often left to suffer thin, hollow audio.

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