The one upgrade a flat television cannot argue with · review
A 2.0 soundbar at 120 W maximum with Dolby Digital Plus, DTS Virtual:X and app control.
The closing call The bargain of this shelf by a wide margin: seventy-eight dollars for double the power and both surround formats of the Philips that costs thirty-nine dollars more.
B5109 — $77.99 — 120 W max · Dolby Digital Plus · DTS Virtual:X · 4 EQ modes · Night Mode · app · ARC + optical + AUX + USB · Bluetooth 5.4
B4208 — $117.38 — 60 W max · no Dolby · no DTS · ARC + optical + AUX + USB · Bluetooth 5.3
Half the power, neither surround format, older Bluetooth — for $39.39 more.
The B4208’s one distinguishing claim is a slanted low-profile body with a metal grille and integrated wall brackets. If the shape is what you are buying, that is what the money is for.
And against Philips’s own cheapest, the B4000 at $75.10: this costs $2.89 more and doubles the power while adding both formats.
So on this shelf the cheapest sensible Philips is the one in the middle.
Not Atmos — something more immediately useful.
Dolby Digital Plus is channel-based: each sound is assigned to a fixed speaker position, and the bar renders those positions from the drivers it has. Dolby Atmos is object-based: sounds are placed at points in space, height included, and the system decides which drivers produce them.
Why the channel-based one matters more at this price: Dolby Digital Plus is what broadcast television, most streaming services and nearly every Blu-ray actually send. A bar that decodes it receives the real surround mix. A bar that cannot gets a stereo downmix — or, as the Assistrust KY2023 on this shelf admits in its own bullets, asks you to switch Dolby off at the source entirely.
You don’t need extra speakers.
True, and worth reading precisely. Virtual:X uses psychoacoustic processing so sound seems to extend above and beside the bar, with no driver pointed at the ceiling. The effect is a wider, taller-seeming stage rather than sound from overhead.
The channel count makes the limit plain: a count reads front.sub.height, and 2.0 has no third number. The Majority Sierra on this shelf is 2.0.2 — two real height drivers and genuine Dolby Atmos — at $139.95.
Ten of the twelve bars here publish a maximum, and this is one. Only the Majority Sierra publishes RMS — a continuous rating, and the only comparable number on the shelf.
So read “120 W max” as a class, not a measurement. And note that Sony, Amazon and Bose publish no wattage at all.
No driver count and no driver size — none of the four Philips bars publishes either. Suntrok gives diameters; Bose names two full-range drivers and a center tweeter.
No subwoofer. Hisense at $119.99 includes a wireless one and the B5306 at $117.94 does too — both for about forty dollars more than this.
No HDMI cable stated in the box, where Amazon, Hisense, Majority and Suntrok include one.
1,928 g and 91 × 766 × 67 mm are published.
At the check, the American Amazon store stood at roughly $78.
These numbers are what Keepa carried on the day this page was last built. Stock and prices move without notice.
Prices quoted in this text were read on 4 October 2026. The live price is at the top of the page.
| Power | 120 W maximum — double the maker’s two 60 W bars |
|---|---|
| Formats | Dolby Digital Plus AND DTS Virtual:X — the cheapest bar here with either |
| Equaliser | 4 modes: Movie, Music, Voice, Stadium |
| Night Mode | Stated, designed for nighttime viewing |
| App | Philips app, for EQ, virtual surround and voice enhancement |
| Bluetooth | 5.4 with LE Audio |
| Inputs | HDMI ARC, optical, AUX and USB |
| Roku TV Ready | Certified, compatible with any Roku TV remote |
| Tone control | Treble and bass adjustable from the remote |
| Weight | 1928 g (68 oz) |
| Dimensions | 91 × 766 × 67 mm (3.58 × 30.2 × 2.64 in) |
| Against the maker’s B4208 | $39.39 LESS, for double the power and both formats |
| Channels | 2.0 — no subwoofer and no height channel |
| Driver count or size | Not published |
| Amazon reference | B0D3RKW58X |
| EAN | 0840063203563 |
There is no technical explanation in the listings, only the figures — and they are unambiguous. This B5109 at $77.99: 2.0 channel, 120 W max, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS Virtual:X, four EQ modes, Night Mode, Philips app, HDMI ARC plus optical plus AUX plus USB, Bluetooth 5.4 with LE Audio. The B4208 at $117.38: 2.0 channel, 60 W max, no Dolby, no DTS, HDMI ARC plus AUX plus USB plus optical, Bluetooth 5.3. So the dearer bar has half the power, neither surround format and older Bluetooth, for $39.39 more. Its one distinguishing claim is a "unique slanted and low-profile" body with a metal grille and integrated wall brackets. If the design is what you want, that is what the money buys.
Processed height and width from two drivers, and Philips is reasonably plain about the mechanism. The bullet says: "With DTS Virtual, you can enjoy immersive 3D audio, and don’t need extra speakers!" — which is accurate. Virtual:X applies psychoacoustic processing so that sound seems to extend above and beside the speakers, without any driver pointed at the ceiling or the side walls. The result is a wider, taller-seeming stage; it is not sound arriving from overhead. Worth knowing where the limit is: on a 2.0 bar there is no third number in the channel count and so no height driver. The Majority Sierra on this shelf is 2.0.2 — two genuine height channels and real Dolby Atmos — for $139.95.
Yes, and the difference is how sound is placed. Dolby Digital Plus is channel-based: each sound is assigned to a fixed speaker position — left, center, right, surrounds — and the bar renders those positions as best it can from the drivers it has. Dolby Atmos is object-based: a mixer places a sound at a point in three-dimensional space, height included, and the system works out which drivers should produce it. Decoding Dolby Digital Plus matters practically, because it is what broadcast television, most streaming services and almost every Blu-ray actually send — so a bar that decodes it gets the full surround mix rather than a stereo downmix. On this shelf only the Majority Sierra claims Atmos, and only this Philips and the Hisense name a Dolby format at all under $140.
Between home cinema devices of the same category and nearby price. Shown: what they all state. A half-filled column says nothing.
| Model | Price | Power | Weight | Dimensions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philips B5109 (TAB5109/37) | $78 | 120 W maximum — double the maker’s two 60 W bars | 1928 g (68 oz) | 91 × 766 × 67 mm (3.58 × 30.2 × 2.64 in) |
| Philips B4000 (TAB4000/37) | $75 | 60 W maximum | 2200 g (77.6 oz) | 104 × 762 × 65 mm (4.09 × 30 × 2.56 in) |
| Suntrok S09 | $81 | 240 W peak — a momentary figure, not RMS | 2000 g (70.5 oz) | 76 × 810 × 76 mm (2.99 × 31.9 × 2.99 in) |
| Assistrust KY2023 | $60 | 90 W — a maximum, not an RMS figure | Not published | 787 × 51 × 102 mm (31 × 2.01 × 4.02 in) |
The best value on this shelf — more specification than bars at twice the price
Amazon reports what buyers took in the month before this page was last checked: at least 50.
The figure is a floor, rounded by Amazon, and read through Keepa — it says what buyers picked, not what a maker claims.
Specifications: the manufacturer sheet for home cinema gear and the matching Amazon product page. Prices and availability: Keepa. Every figure on this page names its source.
2.0 speaker soundbar with DTS Virtual:X and Dolby Audio, dual speakers, an included HDMI cable for an eARC or ARC port, Bluetooth streaming, Fire TV Ready certification, 24 inches long and 2.5 inches high, made from 18 percent recycled materials
A 2.0 soundbar with DTS Virtual:X and Dolby Audio, 24 inches long, with the HDMI cable included.
Best for: A Fire TV household wanting a tidy 24-inch bar that works out of the box
≈ $120
2 in 1 detachable soundbar with four drivers rated 80 W, automatic loudness boost, three equaliser modes for movie, music and news, Bluetooth 5.0 with ARC, optical and AUX inputs, and an 18-month warranty with a 60-day replacement policy
A detachable 80 W soundbar with four drivers and three equaliser modes, for under fifty dollars.
Best for: Two small speakers and a soundbar in one box, for fifty dollars
≈ $50
90 W soundbar with Bluetooth 5.3, ARC, optical and AUX connection, three one-touch equaliser presets for movie, music and news, volume stepping three levels per press, an 18-month warranty and published pre-purchase checks on television ports
A 90 W soundbar with three equaliser presets and published checks on your television’s ports.
Best for: A first soundbar bought carefully — it tells you what will go wrong before you order
≈ $60
