Sony has put the HT-B500 soundbar on sale in China, aiming at buyers who want a cleaner TV-audio upgrade without jumping to a full home-theater stack. The 3.1-channel soundbar costs 2,341 yuan ($342) on JD.com and pairs Dolby Atmos and DTS:X with a dedicated center speaker, a wireless subwoofer, and Sony’s virtual surround tricks.
That combination puts it squarely in the mainstream premium bracket: not cheap, not absurd, and very much in the sweet spot where brands fight hardest. Samsung and boAt have been pushing larger, louder multi-speaker systems, but Sony’s pitch here is simpler – better dialogue, stronger bass, and a slimmer box that fits living rooms that were never designed like an acoustics lab.
3.1-channel soundbar with Atmos and DTS:X
The HT-B500 uses a front-facing three-channel layout with a dedicated center channel to keep speech from getting swallowed by effects and music. Sony also includes Vertical Surround Engine and S-Force Pro Front Surround, both aimed at creating a wider, more enveloping soundstage without extra speakers cluttering the room.
There is also one-touch 3D upmixing, which takes standard stereo or 2-channel sources and pushes them into a more immersive output. That matters because most people still watch plenty of content that is not mixed for fancy speaker layouts, no matter what the spec sheet dreams about.
Bluetooth 5.3, HDMI eARC, and DSEE support
On the connectivity side, Sony keeps things practical: Bluetooth 5.3 for wireless playback, HDMI eARC for cleaner TV integration, and optical input for older setups. DSEE is along for the ride too, promising to restore some detail from compressed files, which is Sony’s polite way of saying your heavily squashed streams can still sound less sad.
AI Voice Enhancement 3.0 is another useful addition, separating dialogue from background noise in real time. In a market where soundbars increasingly sell on software rather than just drivers, that kind of feature is becoming table stakes – especially for buyers who are tired of subtitles doing all the heavy lifting.
Slim design for wall mounting or tabletop use
Sony has kept the HT-B500 visually restrained, with a metal grille, rounded edges, and a compact body that should not dominate a TV stand. The design supports both wall mounting and tabletop placement, which is a small detail that matters more than glossy launch copy admits – because the best-sounding soundbar is still the one people can actually fit into their room.
The unanswered question is how aggressively Sony will push this model beyond China. If it does, the HT-B500 lands in a crowded category where buyers compare it not just with bigger-sounding rivals, but with cheaper bars that look almost as good on paper. That is where the real fight starts.