With so many powerful soundbars on the market, choosing the best soundbar for all your home entertainment audio needs can be a daunting task.

Major brands like Samsung and Yamaha offer exceptional quality, but usually at a premium price. And you may end up paying for features you neither want nor need.

While saving your budget is not always the soundest option when choosing a home entertainment audio solution, the OXS Thunder Lite ($149 on Amazon) is a very reasonably priced and most amazing living room soundscape for me.

And that's not the only reason I adore it. With its incredible range of I/O and one potentially game-changing feature, the OXS Thunder Lite stands out as my number one soundbar choice this year. But how can a soundbar that costs only $150 become such a staple in a vast array of choices?

Most common soundbars these days use Bluetooth connectivity, but it's nice to have the option to connect more when needed. While it may not always be necessary, USB-C, optical, and 3.5mm AUX are nice additions to have, especially if you are going for the cleanest audio possible.

The OXS Thunder Lite supports a wide range of devices with five main connectivity options, including HDMI eARC and Bluetooth 5.0, in addition to the three inputs mentioned above: optical (S/PDIF), USB-C, and 3.5mm AUX. This allows you to connect as many home devices as you need, including a PS3 (optical), Formovie projector (eARC), and mini-PC (USB-C).

Each input has its own colored identifier, so you won't get lost in the plethora of options when switching between devices; Thunder Lite automatically turns on when audio is played from a connected input, so every time you sit down to play a game or watch a movie There is no need to reach for the controller.

If the connectivity isn't enough, the OXS Thunder Lite has incredible internals for a device under $150. Its specs are two 2-inch full-range drivers, a frequency range of 60 Hz to 20 Hz, 90 dB of sound, and 80 W peak output. It has three EQ modes: news, movie, and music.

While a bass tube with a two-channel left/right speaker configuration may not be the most ideal for everyone, this soundbar's greatest appeal lies in its gaming-centric features: the OXS Thunder Lite takes video game audio (as well as other sources) to a new level of immersion, surpassing most other soundbars.

At only $150, the OXS Thunder Lite may not seem to pack a powerful punch in the sound department. However, special virtual surround sound features make this device an enthusiastic contender for the best inexpensive soundbar without sounding cheap.

This soundbar utilizes an interesting feature called Virtual Surround Sound. While this can be found in various alternative options on the market, such as the JBL Bar 5.1 or the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar, the OXS Thunder Lite iteration is primarily focused on improving sound quality in video games of various genres.

The best title to pair with Thunder Lite's VSS is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Most CoD games have very high audio levels by default, so you'll definitely have to turn the volume down a bit, but once that's resolved, you'll literally feel the punchy sound of guns firing and footsteps actually behind you.

That said, given the game's current lack of appeal, there are still numerous other options on the market, including "The Finals," "Final Fantasy XVI," and "Alan Wake 2."[25] OXS claims that the VSS mode is specifically for FPS or RTS games Although it claims to be, I have found that it works wonders with virtually any experience, even when watching movies or shows.

Virtual surround sound works in a way that tricks the ear into thinking that the audio being played fills the entire room. As such, it is not a substitute for real surround sound options, but it definitely gets the job done in this case.

There are few drawbacks to the OXS Thunder Lite that make one want to give it a negative score. As already mentioned, the Thunder Lite automatically turns on when sound reaches the speakers, but we wish it were more intuitive.

Instead of turning on like this, you miss the first few seconds of audio, but I wish Thunder Lite would turn on with the device in use, which is quite impossible with some inputs, such as 3.5mm and optical, but not HDMI eARC. It would be nice if it were possible.

Likewise, turning off the projector, PS3, and other devices does not turn off the soundbar. Thunderlight has a standby procedure that automatically turns off after a set amount of time when not in use.

Although I have not experienced this, others have expressed concerns about the Thunder Lite's USB-C connection, citing problems when using other devices in parallel with Windows 11 and the soundbar. As already mentioned, when inactive, the soundbar turns off after about 15 minutes, which is not ideal for those using it as their main PC audio setup.

Despite these many necessary adjustments, the OXS Thunder Lite has proven to be one of the absolute best soundbars I have ever used. While this soundbar may not make you a gamer, it definitely amplifies the immersion of gaming and movie watching to a whole new level.

The OXS Thunder Lite is my favorite soundbar of 2023 for just $99 with a $50 coupon on Amazon today.