We’re only three months into 2026, and I’ve already spent most of my year listening to more soundbars than I can count from the likes of Sonos, LG, Samsung, JBL and Harman Kardon.
By that metric, I’ll be listening to hundreds of sound bars by the time 2027 rolls around. But after my recent outing with the LG Sound Suite H7, it doesn’t matter how the manufacturer puts their best performance if there is a lack of communication.
While the wireless connectivity options available on the Sound Suite H7 are plentiful, including Bluetooth 5.4, wi-fi, Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect, the wired connectivity options are a little underserved.
In fact, that sound bar has only one cable connection option, and that is HDMI eARC. This is an output socket only, and is not supported by any additional HDMI pass-through sockets.
In our full review of the new LG flagship soundbar, we noted that the lack of any other HDMI socket “feels like a missed opportunity considering LG has been proud to include four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports on its TVs for a long time”.
Now, this is not a problem that is only found in the LG Sound Suite H7, as its main and notable competitor What Hi-Fi? The prize winner also does not have this feature.
The Sonos Arc Ultra, which is the best Dolby Atmos soundbar by all our metrics, also lacks an HDMI pass-through socket. Now, this is easily the best soundbar we have, and I look forward to listening to it every time I review one of its many competitors, but I’m not sure I can live with it day to day.
HDMI sockets are a prized possession in my house. My Sony OLED TV is already limited in that it only has two HDMI 2.1 sockets, and the total of four I currently have are occupied by the PlayStation 5, Sony UBP-X700 4K Blu-ray player, Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Plus, and Sky Stream box.
That leaves my other AV devices (I admit I’m probably a regular Joe), like my Apple TV 4K and Nintendo Switch, without an HDMI socket to call home; therefore, I rely on the very handy HDMI pass-through sockets built into my Sennheiser sound bar to pick up the slack. It takes up a precious HDMI 2.1 port, so offering a few sockets in return is the best it could do.
There are some limitations, such as these sockets are HDMI 2.0 and do not support the latest playback functions; However, my aging Nintendo Switch doesn’t support VRR or ALLM, so I’m not too fussed.
We’ve seen many soundbars on the market that offer HDMI pass-through sockets. I have to give Samsung a dos here: the HW-Q990F offers two HDMI inputs, both rated to support signals up to 4K/120Hz and Dolby Vision and HDR10+. Now that’s like it.
While I really like the Sonos Arc Ultra a lot, I think Sonos should consider upping its game in this particular area.
We’ve seen comments and feedback from various online forums, with people expressing their frustration with Sonos and, more recently, LG regarding the lack of HDMI passthrough.
The really frustrating part is that the last LG soundbar we reviewed, the mid-range, four-star S70TY, featured an HDMI 2.1 pass-through that supports 4K/120Hz gaming. So it feels like LG has taken an unnecessary step backwards in this regard.
Arguably, I’m at the point where I probably wouldn’t even consider a sound bar without it having HDMI pass through.
That may sound extreme, since audio performance is and always will be important, but people (myself included) expect more from their sound bars these days.
So, performance is becoming as important as functionality, and I think a few soundbar manufacturers need to realize that.
MORE:
Read our full LG Sound Suite H7 update
And ours Sonos Arc Ultra review
Also check out our selection of The best soundbars for Dolby Atmos
