We blinked, and suddenly it’s been more than a year since we got KEF’s premium XIO soundbar into our test room.
And, despite a very busy 12 months in soundbar land, the KEF XIO has clinched a What Hi-Fi? Award for the second year in a row.
One of its biggest direct competitors was the awesome Focal Mu-so Hekla, which has a much higher price tag (£3000 / $3600 / around AU$5695) than the XIO (£1999 / $2500 / AU£3600), but a 7.1.2-channel configuration compared to the XIO's 5.1.2 system.
As you would expect from a much more expensive sound system, the Hekla is more detailed, refined and dynamic than the XIO, which is why it very much deserves its five-star rating.
So why isn't the Hekla our Award-winner?
Primarily, it's because while the Hekla is excellent, the 'soundbar' label doesn't fit it entirely comfortably.
That's a lot to do with its design, which is less 'bar' and more 'slab' – albeit an extremely classy, attractive slab. Ultimately, It's not really suited for placement in front of a TV, and it can't be wall-mounted. Instead, it looks more at home on a side table, much like an all-in-one hi-fi system akin to a super-sized Naim Mu-so.
So, while on a performance-per-pound basis it's a relatively close call between the XIO and Hekla, KEF's entry makes more instinctive sense than the Hekla if you are looking for the premium soundbar experience.
The Samsung HW-Q990H also served as competition of sorts for the KEF XIO. Again, it's a slightly different proposition, as the Samsung model is a soundbar system with a wireless sub and surrounds, compared with the KEF's solo soundbar design.
These products are really designed for different people and use-cases, with the Samsung prioritising cinematic scale and immersion and the KEF taking a more hi-fi-quality approach to TV sound.
And because their markets are so different, they ultimately ended up in different sub-categories, with the Samsung taking the Best Soundbar System Award in the £500 to £2000 price bracket, and the KEF being assessed as a solo bar.
As well as the XIO's top-notch audio performance, its impressive hardware under the hood helps it stand out from the crowd.
It's deeper than many soundbars when standing on its feet, but it can be reoriented for wall-mounting so that it sticks out just 7cm. The smart chassis houses 12 drive units, each with a dedicated Class D power amplifier.
KEF’s Velocity Control Technology (VECO) is also built into the drive unit. Here, a flexible PCB with a sensing coil replaces a traditional former (the component the main coil wraps around) and measures movement speed. This allows the soundbar’s ‘brain’ to compensate for any errors detected.
In our review, we concluded that the KEF XIO “is one of the best soundbars we have heard”, and, another year on, it remains the best soundbar in its class.
Our only disappointment is that KEF hasn't yet launched a step-down model with a more compact design and lower price, but perhaps it will do just that before the 2027 What Hi-Fi? Awards. It would be fascinating to see a smaller XIO take on the excellent Sonos Arc Ultra.
MORE:
Check out the full list of What Hi-Fi? 2026 Award winners
Here's our review of the Focal Mu-so Hekla
And this is our review of the KEF XIO
