l would like to share my experience after comparing and testing two soundbars – Sonos Beam vs Samsung HW-R450. The Sonos Beam was rated 6, while the Samsung HW-R450 has a rating 4. The soundbars are equipped with a different number of buttons, volume down, volume up, microphone, play/pause for the Beam and volume down, volume up, power, source for the HW-R450.
Each of the models under consideration has active amplification type. A noticeable difference is the number of channels that Beam has 3.0 and HW-R450 has 2.1. The built-in subwoofer is not implemented in any of these models. An external subwoofer can be connected to any of the units in this comparison. Audio features and specs of considered models we rated 6 out of 10 in our ranking. The units in this comparison do not support Spotify.
Wireless Internet connection is realized only in the Beam. Soundbars from this comparison have Bluetooth support. Neither the Beam nor HW-R450 has the HDMI Audio Return Channel (ARC). We rated the connectivity of the Beam at 6 out of 10, while the HW-R450 was rated 5/10. The manufacturer of the Beam provides a device control application. The Sonos Beam equipped with a microphone. The models under consideration cannot become part of a multiroom system.
Dolby Atmos audio decoder support is not implemented in either the Beam or HW-R450. Devices from this comparison cannot process surround sound due to lack of DTS:X. The same score of 4/10 was put to the soundbars for multichannel surround support.