Consumer Reports Calls This Premium Soundbar One Of The Best In Its Class

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With many modern TVs sporting middling built-in speakers, it's often recommended to invest in a soundbar if you care about your audio experience. While there is no dearth of soundbars on the market, with everyone from premium audio brands like Bose and Sonos to budget makers like Amazon and Onn offering various models, the audio quality and overall performance can vary quite a bit. Fortunately, if you're looking to invest in a premium soundbar, LG's Sound Suite H7 is worth considering, as it was one of the best performers in testing from Consumer Reports (CR). CR is a trusted and unbiased source, and routinely evaluates a wide range of products, including consumer electronics.

The LG Sound Suite H7 is a 9.1.6 channel all-in-one soundbar that costs $1,000. It's pretty expandable, allowing seamless connection of additional wireless speakers as well as subwoofers, and supports Dolby FlexConnect. Dolby's technology enables seamless connection between compatible wireless speakers and a soundbar regardless of their placement and provides automatic acoustic mapping. In other features, the LG soundbar has 12 drivers, 4 woofers, and 8 passive radiators to deliver solid audio performance. It also supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X for surround sound audio. Although you don't get a dedicated subwoofer with the soundbar, you can pair up to two LG W7 subs.

Experts at CR say that the LG Sound Suite H7 delivers very good overall sound; however, it doesn't have the same immersive sound field as some of the more well-rated options. That said, you can change that by adding more speakers to your setup. The publication also appreciates the presence of a dialog enhancement feature to improve voice clarity when needed, and a dynamic range compression feature for listening at night. Moreover, the soundbar ranked well in ease of use and versatility. Unfortunately, the soundbar has a limited port selection, and you only get HDMI out for an eARC connection with your TV and a USB port to play music via external storage. There is no HDMI input port, optical port, or 3.5mm audio jack. Although the soundbar lacked DTS:X support at launch, LG has since rectified that via an update.

CR experts aren't the only ones praising the LG soundbar's performance. Rtings.com, TechRadar, Trusted Reviews, and Wired also have good things to say about the soundbar. They say it's a good option for most use cases and delivers a spacious sound as well as good bass for an all-in-one soundbar. They also appreciate its competitive pricing, wireless streaming options, and the presence of an actual screen. That said, there are concerns about the subwoofer's inability to produce sub-bass and the not-so-subtle sound.

Besides the Sound Suite H7, CR lauds LG's S70TY soundbar and calls it the best in the budget segment. So if you don't have the budget for the H7, you can consider the S70TY.