You Asked: Beyond the Sony A95L, best soundbar for the buck

On today’s edition of You Asked: Will Sony replace the A95L next year? What’s the best soundbar for the buck? Plus, we’re coming up on the one-year anniversary of You Asked, and I’ve got some fun stuff planned that you’re going to want to hear about.

Before we get started with our first question, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has sent in questions in the previous weeks. I love hearing from all of you, and I appreciate the fact that you take time out of your day. And I know you understand that I can’t possibly answer every single question that comes in — but what you may not know is that out of 100 emails that I get coming in, only about 20 of them are good candidates for consideration. So, what separates the kind of question I can answer versus the kind that I can’t?

Well, the intro is a big clue: I like to help you and others who have similar tech questions. That means that I’m after questions that lots of folks might have. The more broad the question, the better. Conversely, the more specific or hyper-personal they are, the less likely I’ll be able to answer.

So, questions around getting good sound without upsetting the neighbors? That’s an issue a lot of folks struggle with. Figuring out whether to use a TV’s eARC port or go straight to a soundbar or receiver with a game console? Lots of folks are probably struggling with the same decision. Questions around whether premium cables are a sham? Those kinds of topics are great.

Should I buy Sony A95L now or wait?

You are not the only person wondering whether Sony will release a successor to the vaunted A95L QD-OLED. Before I answer, I want to be clear that what I’m about to say is educated guesswork. I do not have any secret info from Sony when making these guesses.

With that clearly understood: My guess is that, yes, Sony will replace the A95L in 2025. And, if it does, I do not expect to hear about it until maybe March 2025. This is not an announcement Sony is likely to make at CES — although that would certainly draw a lot of attention at the big trade show.

The reason I think Sony is likely to replace the A95L is twofold.

First: The only reasons Sony would not replace the A95L is if the Bravia 9 was so good that having a QD-OLED was irrelevant. And while the Bravia 9 is a great mini-LED TV, it does not make OLED irrelevant. The need for something like the A95L is still there. Second: It is virtually unheard of to have a product cycle that lasts more than two years. We’ve seen that happen with some outrageously expensive 8K OLED TVs. But for something like the A95L, it’s just going to look lazy on Sony’s part if it doesn’t replace it within two years. And that’s even if the existing A95L’s performance is so good it still beats the competitions’ newest TVs.

But remember that the Sony A95L — while teased much earlier — wasn’t available for preorder until August 21, 2023. Deliveries didn’t happen for some weeks after. So the A95L isn’t even a year old yet and will turn 2 in September 2025. So its replacement could be as far as 14 months out.

As for how much better this hypothetical new model may be? There are a couple of things to consider here. One is that the A95L uses Samsung’s first-generation QD-OLED panel, so the new Sony would have at least the second-gen panel, like the Samsung S95D does. Second is that Sony is always tweaking its processing, and it has an opportunity to pair that new panel to an optimized processor that works well with that panel and with the Pentonic system on a chip. That is assuming that Sony sticks with that SOC.

I know a lot of folks would love to see Sony TVs with four HDMI 2.1 ports, but MediaTek has to make one Sony can use with its XR processor. So perhaps that could be another featured improvement?

So, to wrap it up: Will there be an A95L replacement in 2025? I would bet money on yes. Will it be better than the A95L? Yes, I think it will be brighter and it might be optimized for the anticipated PS5 Pro console. It might even get four HDMI 2.1 ports, but that’s kind of a stretch. Is it worth waiting 14 or more months to get it — and probably paying significantly more for it? Only you can make that decision.

Best do-it-all soundbar for apartment?

Cast Iron Eric writes: What’s a great soundbar that doesn’t come with a sub or satellite speakers? I’m in an apartment and want to just get something that’s better than my LG G4 internal speakers.

This is a great example of a question whose answer will be helpful to a lot of folks. A lot of people want an all-in-one soundbar and need to get pointed in the right direction.

I reached out to my buddy Simon Cohen, and we batted this around a bit. His No. 1 pick for an all-in-one soundbar is the Sennheiser Ambeo Plus, and I have to agree with him. Nothing does phantom surround speaker placement better, and the low end is very good on that soundbar. It’s also the most expensive of the options I’ll recommend here at $1,200.

Down the price pole we have the Bose Soundbar Ultra at $900, or the Bose Smart Soundbar 900 at $700. Both of those are solid. And then there’s the Sonos Arc at $900, or the Sonos Beam at $500. The Beam is less punchy and less all-encompassing, but it is still very impressive and offers a better experience than the LG G4’s built-in speakers.

The Samsung S60B, at $300 and change, is a great way to go if you need to keep the budget tight. I’m not sure you can get better sound from a soundbar at that price point.

And … below $200? Well, Sony has the $100 HT-S100F. But I’d only get that if the speakers on your TV are just truly terrible. Otherwise you’re not looking at much of an upgrade.