How Long Do Owners Say Soundbars Last?

Is your TV lacking punch in the audio department? Then a soundbar is a worthy investment. Sure, a soundbar can't match a surround sound audio system, but it's a simple upgrade that doesn't take up much space. Most importantly, these compact speakers are super inexpensive, so much so that you can get some of the best soundbars on the market for under $200.

Money is money, so even if you're going for one of the cheaper options, it's easy to assume they'll fail prematurely. So, how long do owners say soundbars last on average? Well, it's all over the place. The internal speakers rarely fail and can easily last decades, according to one Redditor. However, other internal components are a different story. A Redditor by the name of justathoughtfromme said that in their personal experience, a soundbar can go for over 10 years, but they heard of cases where the units died in a year and a half.

This would appear to be the case, as one Samsung soundbar owner reports theirs lasted for a little over two years. Another complained about their unspecified Samsung dying after six years. The latter timeframe seems to be more common. The bigger concern is the tech itself becoming obsolete, according to one Redditor, who says their 9.2.4 soundbar has enough HDMI ports for now and supports Atmos, DTS, and TrueHD. But, they expect their unit to become obsolete after five or six years as new audio standards emerge.

It's generally hard to find reports of exact failures online. For example, though a user shares how a subwoofer in their soundbar died in four hours, this isn't a general concern for most. In fact, the owner who reported this noted they likely received a defective product. Most failures have to do with connectivity issues.

One user owned a Vizio soundbar for six years before it started "losing its inputs." This wasn't a total breakdown, as they repurposed it for their garage since the Bluetooth connection worked fine. Samsung soundbars are generally considered a great deal (the Samsung HW-Q900F is even voted as the best soundbar by Consumer Reports), but there are plenty of complaints about them experiencing problems with connectivity.

In a Reddit thread about a Samsung bar failing after six years, one user says that theirs reached a similar lifespan before the subwoofer started struggling with the Bluetooth connection. One person managed to solve their subwoofer issue through a firmware update, while others weren't so lucky. Another user even warns that some models, like the Samsung Q990D, are notorious for their software problems. Nonetheless, you should always take these stories with a grain of salt, given that people hit by early failures (common with all sorts of gadgets) are more likely to voice their frustration online.

Though there isn't a clear consensus from owners on how long soundbars last, should you worry about them becoming obsolete overnight? Not necessarily. As long as you have something that supports current audio technologies (Dolby Atmos or DTS:X), you can squeeze a significant amount of use out of them. Similar thing with connections: according to a Reddit user, as long as you own a soundbar with a newer HDMI standard, you may not need to upgrade, provided the soundbar works.

The same user expressed a generally optimistic attitude, saying that the only legitimate reason to upgrade is if you want to take advantage of the newer technologies. Another echoed this sentiment, adding that upgrading is worth it if you're adding more power or need a particular feature.

Yet, since Dolby Atmos is the current standard, it's impossible to tell when something new will hit the scene. Even now, a soundbar that doesn't have Dolby Atmos, for instance, will simply reproduce the slightly older Dolby Digital signal. So, if you buy a modern soundbar, no need to stress out over it getting phased out soon.