Verizon announced it is selling two new Android TV-powered sound bars, made in partnership with Bang & Olufsen. While we have to assume B&O handled all of the audio and production side of this, Verizon did feel it necessary to smack their logos on these sound bars, but beyond that, these are good looking bars.
THere are two sound bars to choose from: the Stream TV Soundbar ($399) and the Stream TV Soundbar Pro ($999). That’s a huge jump in price, so what are the differences? The $399 Stream TV bar offers 4K UHD streaming (up to 60fps), Atmos virtual surround sound, 5 built-in speaker drivers (3 full range and 2 woofers), WiFi 6, HDMI 2.1 with HDCP 2.2 – (2 in and 1 out), Bluetooth 5.0, 2GB RAM, and 16GB of onboard storage.
The $999 Soundbar Pro includes wall mounting hardware, 9 built-in speaker drivers (4 full range, 3 tweeters, and 2 woofers), plus an additional HDMI input. It also includes the 4K streaming at 60fps, Atmos sound, and dynamic sound field selection.
One of the main selling points would be Android TV built in, so long as B&O and Verizon intend to offer good software support. I have no experience with B&O products, so I can’t speak from experience, but these go up to $999, so I expect nothing but premium support and quality for a sound bar.
Do these seem like a cool idea?
Buy: Stream TV Soundbar | Stream TV Soundbar Pro
// Verizon