Samsung S801B Ultra Slim All In One Soundbar Speaker (2022) - 3.1.2ch All In One Soundbar With 10 Speakers Alexa Built-In, Surround Sound Expansion, Wireless Bluetooth Connection And Dolby Atmos

Product Information

Whatever you end up paying, for your money you'll get a brilliantly-engineering superslim bar, not only useful for its size but sophisticated in having Wi-Fi to allow plenty of streaming options. Its excellent little subwoofer allows the combo to deliver a high quality sound which justifies even its full price, especially given the bar’s slender dimensions and style advantages. Better still, the orchestral score sailed on unaffected above the action in the best Indiana Jones fashion. It sounded just a little thinned of lower mids, and a frequency sweep revealed a significant dip in response centred on 170Hz, just above the crossover point; this is perhaps a gap between the ability of the sub to go high and the super-thin bar to go low.

It also works with Samsung's Q-Symphony feature, where the soundbar and TV speakers work in tandem to create an even larger sound field. Once on Wi-Fi, the bar can be connected to and controlled from Google or Alexa voice assistants, in addition to the little physical remote control, and most likely your TV remote too. The gentle rumble of Kingpin's machine in Into The Spider-verse really shows the subtle power of a subwoofer. Without being loud and without shaking the room, it makes clear the scale of the giant spinning machine as the sub gently thrums in the corner, in a way that a single-unit soundbar can't really match.The speakers inside the soundbar are understandably small, but they do an excellent job of reproducing clean mids and nicely detailed highs. The subwoofer is surprisingly powerful given its size, and thanks to SpaceFit Sound technology, it is also well integrated with other speakers. Samsung HW-s801b subwoofer There's a lot of speaker power in the Samsung HW-S800B's small body. (Image credit: Future) Samsung HW-S800B review: Price and release date Of the multiple sound modes, we were generally happiest with 'Standard' (the plain, no-fussin' mode) or 'Adaptive', which tweaks the output based on the type of content it detects. 'DTS Virtual:X' generally felt hollow and unnatural, and the 'Surround' mode for a "wider" sound field just felt unnecessary. The 'Game' mode also didn't generally feel necessary. The helicopter exits and flies overhead – an Atmos treat with genuine surround, but not possible here with 3.1.2. Nevertheless, the space generated was impressive; the soundstage stretched wide beyond the bounds of the bar despite there being no side-firing speakers, and yes, large in height too, as if a large semi-circle of sound was being created up and around the screen area.

But here's the best part about the Samsung HW-S800B: it sounds pretty damn incredible despite being so small. I was worried that the small size of the soundbar working with a subwoofer would mean the sound is top and bottom heavy, without much strength in the mid-range, but that's no problem at all. It’s certainly worth doing, because Samsung has delivered another dynamite soundbar performance for the price, and it’s a success of teamwork, with both the bar and the subwoofer being essential to the sound. that is, or may reasonably be considered to be, defamatory, libelous, hateful, racially or religiously biased or offensive, unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing to any person or entity; The subwoofer connects wirelessly to the main unit, and both units support wireless communication with compatible 2022 Samsung TVs, as long as both are on the same Wi-Fi network, so you wouldn't need an HDMI cable at all.

There's tons of width too, and great precision and movement of sound from left to right. I need to do more testing for our full review, but so far I can't believe how strong the sound is considering what a squeeze it must be in there. This soundbar offers 10 speakers in total which give out an impressive 310W of power. It also comes with a wireless subwoofer to add that little extra boost of bass to your favourite movies. It comes with many different sound modes to suit whatever it is you are watching, these include Surround Sound Expansion, Game Pro, Adaptive, DTS Virtual:X and Standard. There is also Night mode which is perfect for when the family are in bed and also Voice enhancement mode which ensures you never miss a bit of the dialogue in those important scenes. To do this, it includes eight separate speaker drivers in the soundbar unit, and another two in the subwoofer. That's a huge number for the amount of space it takes up, and it explains the quality of the directional audio.

Standard’ is also the only mode which doesn’t upscale stereo content to the full driver complement; everything else plays two-channel content in 3.1.2, even, surprisingly, the Game mode, which you might expect to switch off all non-essential processing. The Samsung HW-S800B's small volume maybe slightly restrains it in the mid-range, but the overall freedom of its sound feels impossible for the size. (Image credit: Future) There are a great many features included, such as Samsung’s SpaceFit Sound+ and Q-Symphony, which will work when used with a recent Samsung TV, but the key takeaway for all users is the inclusion of Dolby Atmos and DTS Virtual:X processing. (Why not actual DTS:X, given its upfiring drivers? Presumably because very few TVs will pass DTS:X to their HDMI ARC output from a connected device, while no streaming services use DTS:X sound.)

Converted to Test Bench 1.1. With this update, we've added a Mounting test and added information about Subwoofer Output, Spotify Connect, and Microphone Mute. The S800B is designed to deliver 3.1.2 channels of Dolby Atmos or DTS:X audio, which means front, center and right sound, the subwoofer bass channel, and two upfiring Dolby Atmos channels. Treble-led effects especially always lift right out of the mix – in some cases, this just serves to make it even clearer when the mid-range struggles to quite do the same. But the strong treble adds prominence and thrills in many cases – a brighter and sharper effect to gunshots, laser fire or the a door slam. Stream from your devices, easier than ever. This soundbar uses Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for easy wireless connection to other devices. Enjoy your music from the likes of Spotify, taking your mobile sound to fill your room in better audio quality on your Soundbar, no strings attached. When you cycle through modes, you get a voice announcement as to what each one is, which is nice and clear. But when you cycle through options that can be turned on an off, it feels much less clear – including what you press to turn it on or off. It's all understandable with the manual and some time, but it's not what we'd call intuitive. Of course, if you don't plan to mess with the modes much, you won't need to worry.

Setting up the Samsung HW-S800B just for working with your TV is as easy as it gets: plug it into the wall, plug it into your TV, and plug the subwoofer in separately. You're straight off, with the two units instantly syncing wirelessly, and TV sound coming straight over HDMI ARC. Other ways to get sound over to the S800B include Bluetooth, and if you fire up the Samsung SmartThings app, you can connect the soundbar to your Wi-Fi network, enabling Apple AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect streaming (but no Google Cast). It also has Alexa built-in, including a mic, so it functions fully as a smart speaker. You can add Samsung wireless rear speakers in the future, if you want to create a full surround sound system. Object-based Dolby Atmos connects wirelessly with Samsung Soundbar. Experience the ultimate 3D sound whether it be movie or music without the need for HDMI cables.The HW-S800B's remote control has a lot of options for something you ideally wouldn't really touch… (Image credit: Future)