Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus review: an easy TV upgrade

Amazon’s new Fire TV Soundbar Plus isn’t just one product — it’s three. Depending on the version, you’ll spend $250 for just the soundbar, $375 if you add a wireless subwoofer or $490 for the version with the sub and two wireless surround speakers. However, the first two versions aren’t upgradeable. You can’t add a sub or surrounds to the soundbar-only model and you can’t add surrounds to the one that comes with a sub.

All three have the same capabilities (Dolby Atmos/DTS:X compatibility and Bluetooth streaming), but each will deliver a different listening experience. For this review, Amazon sent us the full $490 version. Since most of my testing time was spent using that configuration, our official score and pros/cons list pertain to that model. However, I also tried the system in its two other flavors and I’ll provide some thoughts on these options throughout the review so you can get a sense of the differences.

Is the Amazon Soundbar Plus a Fire TV device?

I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating: Despite its name, the Fire TV Soundbar Plus is just a sound system. It connects to your TV via HDMI-ARC/eARC (or optical), but there’s no built-in video streaming functionality. If your TV doesn’t have smart TV features, the Fire TV Soundbar Plus won’t make it any smarter.

As near as I can figure, Amazon gave it this name because if you own a compatible Amazon Fire TV, your existing remote can control the soundbar, and you can access certain sound settings from your TV’s menus.

Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus specs

Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus: what’s in the box?

In the box, you get the soundbar, the wireless surrounds and subwoofer, and everything you need to set up the system and connect it to your TV via HDMI. Power cables, an HDMI cable, a remote with batteries, and even wall-mounting hardware for the soundbar are all included.

You’ll also find an easy-to-follow quick-start guide. The only thing you may need to buy is an optical cable (or an optical to HDMI adapter) if your TV doesn’t have an available HDMI-ARC port.

Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus: design

When I reviewed Amazon’s first Fire TV Soundbar, I noted that the company had managed to create a budget-friendly speaker that didn’t look cheap. That approach has been maintained with the Soundbar Plus. It may not win any design awards, but its simple black chassis and tasteful charcoal fabric grille (also used on the surrounds) should look good in just about any room.

The one change that Amazon made with the Plus model is the addition of a small but noticeable Fire TV logo under the top-mounted controls (it also appears on the sub and surrounds). I’m averse to any visible branding on home theater products, but if it has to be there, at least it’s subtle — you’ll only notice it when standing directly above the speakers.

At 37-inches wide, the soundbar should be narrow enough to sit in front of a 40-inch TV. Just keep in mind that at 2.5 inches tall, there’s a chance it could block your TV’s infrared (IR) receiver. Since there’s no IR repeater on the back of the speaker, you may want to measure carefully before you buy. For instance, the legs on Amazon’s newest Fire TV Omni Mini-LED are 3.1 inches tall, which provides enough space for this soundbar. However, its 43-inch  Fire TV Omni has 2.2-inch legs, which might not create enough height for the bottom-mounted IR receiver.

I really like that Amazon installed standard threaded mounting holes on both the rear and the bottom of the surround speakers. This considerably increases placement flexibility, letting you use stands or wall-mount brackets if you don’t have flat surfaces (or wall outlets) near your ideal locations.

The remote is very compact. The buttons are clearly labeled and easy to use, though they’re not backlit (not that I expect them to be at this price). The top rubber membrane will eventually wear out, but until that happens it should provide good protection from accidental spills.

Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus: Setup and connections

Honestly, it doesn’t get much easier than this. Plug the soundbar into a power outlet, then plug it into your TV’s HDMI-ARC port with the provided cable or one of your own. The soundbar will automatically power up and (if your TV is already on) switch to the HDMI input. And … you’re done.

If you buy the model with a sub or sub+surrounds, you’ll also hear a voice prompt telling you these accessories aren’t connected. That’s quickly remedied by plugging them in. There are backup connection buttons on each unit, but mine connected to the soundbar automatically once they powered up.

There’s no app to download, and no Wi-Fi connection to configure. Just start watching TV.

The Soundbar Plus has three ports: HDMI ARC, optical, and USB. I doubt many folks will use the USB feature (for accessing music stored on a hard drive or thumb drive) when Bluetooth is going to be more convenient, but it’s a nice touch, especially since the remote is equipped with playback controls (you might be surprised at how many remotes don’t have them anymore).

Assuming your TV has HDMI-ARC, you can use the optical port for a second digital audio source. My vote would be to connect an affordable network music streamer like the Wiim Mini, but you could use a CD player or any other audio device instead.

Switching the soundbar to Bluetooth for the first time automatically activates the pairing mode. Once paired with your phone, it will reconnect automatically the next time you use Bluetooth.

Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus: settings

For a soundbar with no companion app, on-screen settings (on non-Fire TVs), or even an alphanumeric front display, Amazon has managed to pack the Soundbar Plus with a lot of tweaks.

Via the remote, you have access to bass, treble, EQ modes, dialogue enhancement, surround mode, and if you get the version with surround speakers, a set of dedicated buttons just for those units.

The downside of the design is that most of these settings are step-based, meaning you repeatedly press the relevant button to cycle through the available levels. Bass, for instance, goes from 1 to 9. You need to press the button each time you want to go up a level. Go too far and you’ll have to around again.

Although what’s more annoying is that the speaker announces each level change instead of just using the bar’s built-in row of LED indicators.

Speaking of those LEDs, they’re the only way to get a confirmation of whether your audio signal is recognized as Dolby Atmos. If it is, the middle three LEDs flash green — just once — when you begin playback.

You get used to all of this, but Amazon, if you’re listening, I think this is an area for improvement.

Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus: sound quality

Even if you opt for the soundbar-only version, the Fire TV Soundbar Plus has plenty of power and can deliver surprisingly good low-end bass. If you’ve been getting by on your TV’s built-in speakers, you’ll notice a massive difference the moment you turn this speaker on.

Dialogue clarity (a must-have for any soundbar) is especially good out of the box, and you get an additional five levels of optional dialogue enhancement. I ended up sticking with level 1 — by the time I got to 5, I found the effect too intense.

Adding the subwoofer, as you might expect, does wonders for the low end, taking it from something you can hear to something you can begin to really feel. In short, it does what a sub should do (at least in a home theater context) by making movies feel more dramatic and immersive. Just keep your expectations in check: it’s a good little subwoofer, but it doesn’t pack the power or precision you’ll find in pricier systems.

But in the end, it’s Amazon’s surrounds that surprised me the most. They don’t look like much on the outside, but using the remote’s discrete surround volume and balance buttons gives you a huge amount of control over these speakers. Placed at the ends of my couch (about 5 feet on either side of my listening position) I could make them almost as loud as the front right/left channels. This not only bodes well for getting the level of immersion you’re personally comfortable with, but it will also help with placement — I’m pretty sure I could have put them three times as far from me and still heard them clearly.

The one downside to the Soundbar Plus is that it shares the regular Fire TV Soundbar’s weak midrange. Despite having several EQ modes to choose from (movie, music, sports, and night) and separate controls for bass and treble (impressive when you consider that Sony’s flagship soundbars don’t have this), I still couldn’t get the system to sound the way I wanted.

The highs (even with dialogue enhancement off) felt too peaky. Pushing treble levels down helped with this, but the side effect was that things started to get muddy.

I’m probably overstating the issue. I tend to listen for these things, so I tend to hear them. You may not be bothered by it all.

Music listening can be thrilling on this system, but to hear it, you’ll have to sacrifice the convenience of Bluetooth. Streaming over Bluetooth is fine. Want some background music for a get-together? It’s perfect for that. On the other hand, listening to a music app from a streaming device (or your smart TV) over HDMI/optical, is way better.

On the soundbar-only version, stereo separation is good in normal mode and using the surround mode expands the soundstage without overly diluting the focus. The surround-equipped system is a lot more fun. It somehow manages to take the sounds from the outer edges of the left/right channels and pushes them — and just them — to the rear speakers, something I noticed when listening to Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams. I wasn’t expecting such a sophisticated effect from a sub-$500 set of speakers.

What I can say definitively, is that you shouldn’t buy this system if you’re looking for a true Dolby Atmos experience.

Yes, technically the Fire TV Soundbar Plus is a Dolby Atmos and DTS:X compatible speaker. However, the standalone soundbar model is limited to 3.1 channels (it processes the low-frequency effects channel using its own woofers) as is the subwoofer-equipped model. Only the model with the surrounds and sub can do more, but it’s still limited to 5.1 channels.

All this to say, each of these systems relies on virtualization for the height-channel effects that we tend to associate with 3D formats like Atmos and DTS:X. And though some virtualized sound systems have convinced me that there are phantom ceiling speakers above me, the Soundbar Plus isn’t one of them.

Don’t get me wrong, Atmos (I didn’t try any DTS:X) doesn’t sound bad. In fact, running through all of my usual test scenes from movies like Mad Max: Fury Road, No Time To Die, Unbroken, and Ford v Ferrari, proved plenty enjoyable. It’s just that I didn’t hear as many of the distinct spatial elements that I’ve heard from more capable systems.

Conclusion

Other than the small critiques I’ve mentioned throughout the review, I really like the Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus, in all of its flavors. The problem is that when you look at a competitor like Vizio, which sells a variety of 5.1 Dolby Atmos models — some for as little as $200 — it’s hard to come up with good reasons why you should spend more on Amazon’s version.

We haven’t checked out Vizio’s latest 2024/5 models, but we’ve reviewed and been mightily impressed by their predecessors and we have no reason to think the new ones will perform any worse.

I think you’ll enjoy the Fire TV Soundbar Plus, but you may find a better value elsewhere.