First talked up at CES 2018 Polk Audio has now announced its Command Bar for the UK and you will be able to pick it up later in the Summer for £349 from Amazon as well as Argos and Richer Sounds. 

It's the first soundbar with Amazon Alexa built-in - essentially it's got an Echo Dot's functionality inside it with the light ring and the familiar buttons from the Echo or Echo Dot.

The ring is raised slightly from the surface of the soundbar so you can see it light up if you're sat on the sofa. And if you're standing by the bar, you can use the action, mute or volume buttons. 

A soundbar first and foremost, the Polk Command Bar features two 1.25 x 3.25-inch full-range drivers, two 1-inch tweeters and a ported wireless 6.5-inch subwoofer.

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Polk Audio

Around the back you'll find dual HDMI 2.0 inputs, with support for 4K as well as  HDR10 and Dolby Vision video. One is ARC-compatible, so you only need to connect a single cable to your TV and a digital optical input. Polk supplies optical and HDMI cables in the box.

One of the HDMI inputs is sited so you can attach a Fire TV dongle within the body of the soundbar as you can see here. It makes for a neat solution, especially if you're going to wallmount the bar. Polk admitted that the bar was designed before the advent of the Fire TV 4K, but there's no issue with hiding Amazon's newer TV dongle in the cavity. 

There's also a USB port so you can power the dongle from the soundbar without having to use up another mains socket. 

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Pocket-lint

The Command Bar's headline feature though, is the Alexa voice control. The bar features built-in far-field microphones, so you can use your voice to adjust the volume, change the source input, select different sound modes and control bass levels.

If you've got loud music on you're also able to use a button on the remote to suppress the sound so Alexa can hear you. 

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Pocket-lint

The usual selection of Amazon Alexa-supported services feature on the Command Bar, including Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora and Audible audio books. Polk Audio has said more music streaming services will be supported later in 2018.

Also check out: Polk Magnifi Max SR soundbar gives 5.1 sound in a compact package