Product Reviews

Let me start the review by saying that I have very low expectations for a soundbar. I don't expect to be impressive and playing music, or need a home theater experience to wow me. I was just looking for good compatibility with my new Sony television and improved dialogue sound which is allegedly one of the selling points of this sound bar. Frankly, if this $900 sound bar was compatible with the new Sony TV, boosted dialogue somewhat, and sounded as good as a $100 soundbar, I would have been fine. Instead, I got a soundbar that sounds weaker and thinner than a $20 Bluetooth speaker, or a ten year old $250 television. I know this because I compared both side by side. Also music streamed from any source sounds dramatically worse than the $20 Bluetooth speaker. As mentioned in other reviews, the subwoofer (which is 5 ft from the soundbar) constantly becomes disconnected. The soundbar also frequently becomes disconnected, no matter which method you use to hook it up. Resets don't help either. How can It be so completely incompatible with my new Sony TV? Unfortunately, I had gotten Covid shortly after buying it, so I didn't get to hook it up and check it out before the return period ran out at Best Buy. Now it now sits unplugged on my mantle, just so that we can watch TV with sound. It is literally a $900 piece of junk that will end up in a landfill, which is an environmental nightmare. I wish I could at least recycle it. I don't now what has happened to Sony. They used to make quality products that worked. Instead

Value for money and love the design, easy to clean.

Had this soundbar for around a week now and am so far am extremely hasty with it. The build quality is great, as you'd expect from Sony, set up it fairly straight forward, I'd advise that you use good quality Interconnects, it comes with 1 x Optical cable but I'd recommend using quality HDMI cables where possible. There are 3 x HDMI ports, as follows: - 1 x HDMI ARC / EARC - Connect this to HDMI port on TV ( marked Arc / Earc) in / Out 2 x HDMI ports, connect 1 to Sky / Virgin box etc. and 1 to Blu Ray player / Games console 1 x Optical port 1 x 3.5mm Aux Port 1 x Wired ethernet port Once all connections have been made, following the instructions, set up is fairely easy. Connect to WIFI network etc. (Wireless Sub connects automatically.when switched for the first time). Sound quality is great, although I think it will take a while to tweak the settings and find which suit your own taste. The Sound from the sound bar is easy on the ear for film and music and had more than enough power to fill a large room, I do think the optional wireless speakers will be well worth adding attached later date though. All in all I am very happy with this soundbar. Once connected set up i

Very happy with the purchase, great buy, great entertaiment, very satisfied with the music quality produce.. :)

This product has the following technical problems: Does not stay connected to the subwoofer (the sound drops out for no reason). Looses connection to the Subwoofer permanently requiring a factory reset). Losses connection the Rear Speakers. When connected to a Sony TV over eARC and using the TV apps (eg Netflix) the sound drops out completely and require a power cycle to resume. There are people complaining about these issues from 2 years ago on AB forums, but these have not been addressed by Sony. For a £1000 soundbar and rear speaker this is totally unacceptable. My previous Sony Soundbar (SA-NT3) had a wireless subwoofer and in 4 years never Lost connection once. I cannot recommend this product at all. I have contacted technical support but the just asked my to connect to another TV and give it a factory reset. Also the manual states to connect the Subwoofer by cable if you have connection issues, but does not explain were to plug this (there is a hidden 3mm jack in the subwoofer, but nothing on the soundbar?) It needs a serious firmware update Sony! lost connection once.

I love the sound from this, it's got great bass and really clear dialogue. My only negative is the user setting screen that comes up on my Sony TV, it is really small and the navigation keys really don't work very well, with the screen going blank intermittently. I need to speak with Sony to understand if this is a fault or not.

I brought this to go with my new Sony TV and to replace an existing Sony home theatre to save on space. Works very well and easy to set up.

Great sound bar fill in so many sounds that you miss when watching normal TV. Quality product from Sony.

Heard this on a demo instore and just had to buy it. Amazing clarity and sound quality. Also well made. Remote could be a bit more upmarket if I’m going to be picky. Overall really happy with it.

Bought this to go with Sony Bravia TV. Size length wise is a good fit for the TV. Setting up was not straight forward but contact with Sony solved the problem. (Info bar kept popping up randomly. A factory reset on the TV was needed. There is plenty of power. I don't have the rear speakers so can't comment on their effectiveness.

sound bar always disconnect from the TV and force me to restart the TV

A massive improvement in sound quality over my previous system

Purchased this to go along with my Sony TV since I'm OCD and felt it would be wrong to mix with another brand. This unit gives great immersive sound that fills in our open concept living room so good I wanted to get another one for our bedroom. I was so happy until it started acting up... so this unit will run like a charm and then just cut out for lapses of 1-4 minutes while it reconnects to both the wireless subwoofer and the television. So imagine watching a movie or a series and then loosing sound as if someone hit the mute button. The best thing I have found to work around this is disconnecting the home theater system threw the tv settings and then switching back from tv to home theater, but having to do this 2-4 times threw a 2 hr movie is unacceptable for a unit of this price point. No fixes for this have been found on Reddit or other forums as of yet.

This sound bar lasted three weeks and Sony will not replace with a new sound bar. I am completely underwhelmed.

We purchase this unit approximately two months ago, and are more than happy with the sound quality and features it provides. We have it connected to a Sony XBR55X950G smart television, and a Tivo Bolt. Installation / connection instructions were vague and confusing for this set up and not what we were expecting for a Sony-to-Sony connection. We eventually stumbled upon a set-up that works, kind of. Switching inputs to the Tivo requires multiple menu selections as well as setting changes EVERY TIME! There is a momentary delay between each menu selection, while (I suppose) the devices recognize each other, so if you press buttons too fast the changes don't work. Nothing's more fun than looking like a tech moron in front of family and friends. Once you make the connection, everything is great. Switching back to TV mode requires but one press of a button, and is instantaneous. I expect that the elaborate ritual involved in switching to Tivo will eventually become second nature. Until then, this unit must be rated as extremely frustrating to use, while producing excellent audio. We are very happy with the quality of the video and audio from all of Sony devices, but they have all suffered from vague,confusing and quirky set-up and use issues. They remind me of the bad old days with computer peripherals, before Plug-n-Play.

I was persuaded by a Best Buy sales rep to take this soundbar with the purchase of my XBR65X950H television. He said to try it out, you have 15 days and if you don't like it return it. I own a Bose cinemate system that was installed with the previous TV that I was very happy with and I would use that on the next TV that I purchase. I hung my new 950H TV on the wall and installed my Cinemate system and was Very satisfied with an awesome picture and great sound, No need to really try out HTZ9F. The next day I decided to take it for a test drive, I installed the Soundbar and subwoofer got everything working and I have to say I was not impressed, I tried all the speaker modes, and to me, it was your average soundbar. It was when I pushed the button on the remote that read Vertical S, this is what separates it from being just your average soundbar, "Game Changing Technology". How you are able to get surround sound out of the front-firing speakers is very impressive! I will continue to move forward with the HTZ9F and also add the Z9R wireless speakers for that room-filling experience. Thank You Sony for your continued efforts to be the "One & Only!

Coming from a sony and q acoustic separates which are going in a dedicated room and remodelling the living room I must say I am really impressed with the sound quality and scale this bar produces.Also bought the wireless rears to go with it.Had no issues with the wireless connection of speakers.Over all really happy.

For something small it's really impactful. Bluetooth connectivity is great. Would recommend this for movies and music. The only thing i'd prefer is if I can tweak the eq more and voice clarity can be better.

As soon as I hooked this up, which was very easy, I thought I needed to adjust the EQ. Tried all the remote 'settings' (cinema, voice, etc.) but there is ZERO midrange response from this system and at full volume, the sub is woefully inadequate for a 10x10' basement. Better for a coat closet. My 20-year-old Yamaha/Polk Audio 3.1 runs circles around the Z9F, save for the sound reflecting tech. Even our first gen Bose Soundock sounds better. Only registered the product so I could write this out of sheer frustration. Back to Amazon... Very disappointed.

Have connected with an optic cable and eArc hdmi to a 950G 65" Sony TV, wired internet connection at 300 mbps, and still cuts out sometimes. The sounds great, but it cutting out randomly is very frustrating and would not recommend unless this is fixed.

I received the sound system as a gift and love it.

The system set up was so easy. The system settings give a wide variety of configurations for cinema, music, gaming, etc. Once I had it all set up, I tested with Demos for Atmos on YouTube! WOW! The system packs a punch! Now all we need is more content supporting Atmos!

No much to add to other reviewers mentioning this unacceptable issue, the sound bar sound will cut out randomly, sometimes very frequently others every 5-20 minutes, it seems to me that it gets worse with Dolby Atmos content? Not sure, but whatever the cause it's unacceptable that Sony pretends to charge a high price for a flawed product. By the way I bought it, like many others, thinking that it would work better with my Sony TV (9000H) and what a fool I feel now.

I bought this few weeks ago and already enjoying the theatre like sound....watching movies with surround sound amplified/multipied many times than simply listening the sound of TV...worth every penny and does not have to spend thousands to get that experience...

I have been a loyal Sony customer for years. Although this sounbar is listed as compatible with by Bravia XBR65850F, it will not sync properly. Sony telephone support had me reconnect and said they would call back; the connection was not maintained and the tech never called back. Email support was worthless, and the telephone support is not available on the weekends - which, for someone working Monday - Friday is not a viable option. If this was my first experience with a Sony product it would also be my last.

Dialogue is too soft when watching movie. How to improve this ? Bluetooth sound also not good as what I expected.

A great upgrade from the built in TV speakers. A whole new experience and getting the surround speakers will complete the whole experience. Can’t compare with a full fledge Dolby Atmos system but the Vertical S does the job somehow. Love the simplistic & manageable design and form factor - does not occupy too much space on my console. Love it and no regrets.

Three months after I bough the HTZ9F sound bar the subwoofer cuts in and out. According to reviews I have read, I am not the only person who has issues with the subwoofer. I have try everything I have come across online to try to fix this issue but nothing works. It is terrible that this unit was SO EXPENSIVE and it broke on me right away. I expected better reliability from a brand such as Sony. Even more when they are selling a sound bar for $700 that broke right away.

Tried this in a local store and it was noticeably better than anything else at the same price, sound is rich and balanced with good punchy bass and the virtual surround is very convincing

I bought this (Sony's top end) sound bar to go with Sony's 55XH9505 Hi end TV. It is connected via the ARC HDMI sockets on both devices and TV speaker are set to OFF (Audio system speakers enabled) The sound bar can certainly pump out a lot of volume with depth, but speech from regular TV channels, in particular like the News or Game shows, is very rough, jagged and prickly. Using the Voice option makes it worse. In TV costume dramas the speech is marginally better, but this impediment detracts heavily from getting engrossed in a program. If there were a EQ available, perhaps some of the speech high frequencies could be reduced, but that may have a detrimental effect on other sounds All of the many sound modes, effects and compatibilities, on this device, fade into irrelevance when trying to just improve the speech. This isn't a cheap sound bar, and it's very disappointing

The sound was cut off 1 second every 5 minutes. Try to fix but it does not work

I purchased this soundbar and rear speakers and when it works it is amazing! The Atmos leaves something to be desired but the sound is in general is just fantastic. Powerful sub, voices are clear and, setup was extremely simple. However, for whatever reason when I cast media to my A9G everything will be fine and then the sound just disappears. Reboots of the TV and soundbar don't fix the issue. Fiddling with the eARC, PCM, everything just don't fix the problem. I thought perhaps it was the app (Disney+) because when I played a different movie sound was heard. When I switched apps and even going to the cable box there was sound output. We watched WW84 and every 20 mins or so the sound would cut out for about 2-3 seconds. This soundbar costs too much dang money to be having these problems. I will be returning this unit very soon.

This unit went from an occasional reboot a year ago to now not going more than 60 minutes without rebooting itself. Followed Sony recommended procedures plus some internet ones and getting worse. Sony told me to contact their authorized repair facility for a repair for what looks like an engineering problem that many are seeing. Very disappointed in Sony!

I love this brand when it comes to electronics (tv, camera, amplifier... ) love the sound quality. hope i get the surround speakers today. can't wait for the tv tomorrow....

I bought this at the same as a Sony TV and the total package is excellent quality and we are very pleased with the purchase.

This product suits my need in listening to good music and having good sound while watching a movie.

I bought this on Cyber Monday, I had a demo a couple of weeks earlier and I am very pleased with my purchase

I've had this system for about two months. The sound quality is great. There is an issue where the subwoofer cuts in and out. It is not consistent and I can't pin down a reason. Maybe interference, but I've moved the subwoofer around and it hasn't helped.

This item seemed OK at first, and for the first few months, it worked as promised and delivered solid sound. I purchased this item with a SONY Bravia TV thinking that they would work well with each other. Then, after a few months, the sound started going out for a few seconds. No matter what I tried (unplugging, updating software, factory resetting both TV and soundbar, replacing the cables), nothing worked. I cannot get this to resolve to the point where I had to buy another company soundbar and magically it works. Buyer beware!

This soundbar is awesome! Awesime surround sound, great voice clarity and the subwoofer rumbles like thunder. Great experience all around....literally.

Overall I enjoyed the sound experience of this sound bar. It improves my movies sound quality although I can't detect any vertical sound effect.

This is the second one of these I have bought, the first being two years ago, it is already displaying the same problem of sound to the rear surround speakers cutting out, as the first one which is really annoying as this is a quality unit and sounds superb when it works properly.

The software is defective as Sony will not fix it. The sub and rear speakers cut out and disconnect CONSTANTLY! As in 5-10 times every 10 seconds. If you do a factory reset they'll work fine for a few hours then stop again. This tells me that a firmware update could fix the issue. Sony knows but doesn't care. Would rather just discontinue the model and push out a new one.

It’s really good, but a adding back speakers make it sound so much better!

Good value for the price, Make sure you have it professionally installed

I bought this soundbar 3 weeks ago. I am pleased with the sound quality for music and movies

We just got this sound bar along with a Sony 65" A8H OLED a little over a week ago. The sound is amazing whether we're listing to music, movie or TV. The bass is room shacking. By far the best sound bar w/sub we're ever had. Super easy set up with the TV. If you follow the prompts, it's foolproof. Only issue we've had is with Hulu Live. From time to time the sound cuts out and won't come back until we go to settings, speakers and cycle between TV speakers and back to Audio System, then the sound comes back. Not sure if that's a sound bar issue, TV issue or Hulu live issue. Other than that, this sound bar is well worth money. Amazing sound.

I've had multiple sound bars with Sony. This is the latest one we bought just about a year ago. Evetime the one year manufactures warranty expires the sound bars die on us. Spending 900 dollars on a sound bar, I expect to last for several years. This is not the case with the sound bars we have purchased. I would not recommend this sound bar to any. Save you money and spend the extra on a hard wired system.

GREAT SOUNDS SET UP IS EASY CONNECTS TO MY X900H PERFECTLY

I bought this at Best Buy to go along with my new Sony tv. The sound is not warm at all, sounds like tin and the subwoofer is the worst. I have it as high as it will go and you barely hear any base. I had a friend over who asked if it was even working. As well,, I have the 2 rear speakers. You cannot make any adjustments to the tone at all. For as much money as this costs I would expect a lot better. Don't waste your money, buy something nicer. Btw- sounds great in the store which is how they got me.

I am extremely pleased with the quality of the Soundbar, the sound is amazing. I can hear very clearly the speech on movies now, using the cinema setting, which in the past have been drowned by background music. T.v. is good in standard, the depth of sound is superb in all features. would definitely recommend.

I bought this six weeks ago with a 65" Sony Bravia TV and it's awful. The music floods out the voice, I've tried adjusting every aspect of this system, followed all the directions and it's just terrible. Don't waste your money. The picture on the TV is excellent but the sound is just awful.

I am loving recent Sony products with Android TV and casting built into the Sound Bars. All my devices integrate easily with my Google Assistant.

I feel like I am in the movie theater in my living room!! Love this system........Sony never disappoints.

Bought this recently and found it works very well with my new Sony Bravia TV. Easy to set up and provides clear dialogue and good sound effects on movies. Bass module provides deep bass. The vertical effect /pseudo Dolby Atmos could be more realistic but works ok for the price. The rear surrounds that need to be purchases separately well match the set and is a must buy for the full surround effects to be realised.

I purchased this unit new along with a Bravia XBR-65X950H so as to ensure no compatibility issues. Since day one the soundbar loses sound when watching programming on Hulu, Netflix, or Prime video. Sound will lost two or three times during a movie. You have to go to TV setting and select TV speakers and then go back to those settings and select external speakers to get sound to return to the soundbar. Very frustrating having soundbar with no sound! Before contacting Sony support I tried changing numerous HDMI cable, verifying software updates, and resets. Performed these again with Sony Support. Now I find out that I need to send this unit in for repair. Looking on the forums, it appears that I am not alone with this issue. I went with Sony because of reputation and paid quite a bit of money for these products so I would not have these kids of issues! I will definitely rethink my next purchase.

Great product. Accompanies Sony tv. Surround sound good.

Overall it sounds and looks great although I seem to have a slight sync problem with my Sky Q programmes which I cannot rectify. The remote speakers keep dropping out at start up and I can’t get any sound when starting my tv until I reboot the soundbar.

I've had this soundbar along with the wireless speakers that work with this soundbar and I absolutely love this system. The fact that it has vertical sound included, which does not require speakers in the ceiling, and bounces all over the room, makes this a great system for movies,music and other things. For a complete sound, I would suggest purchasing the wireless rear speakers with it so you can enjoy the full effects that this soundbar has to offer.

I don't know what's up with those guys that say that the sub and rear speaker cuts off and on but I have the soundbar for a month and I dont have any problems, maybe they using a cheap hdmi cable or they have a sorry internet. No matter what 4k or blueray I play it works perfectly. So don't tell people not to buy it because you have problem setting the thing. I will recommend this soundbar to anybody is a winner.