Amazon’s Fire TV Soundbar Plus gets Dolby Atmos, but still no Fire TV

By Simon Cohen Published November 14, 2024

Amazon is getting serious about home theater sound with its first Dolby Atmos soundbar. Following the company’s release of the $100 2.0-channel Amazon Fire TV Soundbar in 2023, it has a new addition to the family: the Buy at Amazon , which supports a 3.1-channel layout with both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, for $250. You can also buy it Buy at Amazon for $375 or Buy at Amazon for a 5.1-channel setup for $490. However, you’ll need to think carefully before you buy. Unlike other soundbars that have optional wireless accessories, you can’t buy the subwoofer and surrounds separately.

Just like the first Amazon Fire TV Soundbar, the Fire TV Soundbar Plus doesn’t actually contain Fire TV streaming hardware. To watch Fire TV content, you’ll still need a Fire TV, like the Amazon Fire TV Omni Mini-LED Series that was announced at the same time, or one of Amazon’s other Fire TV streaming devices. It’s also not an Alexa device and isn’t compatible with Amazon Alexa.

So if it doesn’t work as a Fire TV device, why the Fire TV name? As far as we can tell, it’s because you can control theses soundbars with your Fire TV’s remote if you choose (or use the included remote instead).

At 37 inches wide, the new Soundbar Plus is considerably bigger than the original Fire TV Soundbar (24.5 inches) and contains more drivers. Behind the fabric grille are three full-range speakers, three tweeters, and two woofers (though Amazon likes to refer to these two drivers collectively as a built-in subwoofer).

What’s notably missing is any kind of upward-firing driver, which means that the Soundbar Plus relies on height channel virtualization to create the dome-of-sound effect that Dolby Atmos and DTS:X are known for. The same is true for the optional wireless surround speakers, which don’t have height drivers either.

Amazon says the Fire TV Soundbar Plus has “precise tuning,” and a customizable Dialogue Enhancer setting. There are also four preset listening modes — Movie, Music, Sports, and Night — that can be used to tweak the sound for different types of content.

Like the original Fire TV Soundbar, you can connect to the speaker via HDMI ARC/eARC or by using an optical cable, however you won’t get Dolby Atmos if you use optical. The speaker also has a Bluetooth connection for easy music streaming from just about any mobile device or computer.