l would like to share my experience after comparing and testing two soundbars – Polk Audio Command Bar vs Samsung HW-S50A. The Polk Audio Command Bar was rated 6.6, while the Samsung HW-S50A has a rating 4.8. The soundbars are equipped with a different number of buttons, volume down, volume up, microphone, action for the Command Bar and power, source, demo, volume down, volume up for the HW-S50A.
Each of the models under consideration has active amplification type. A noticeable difference is the number of channels that Command Bar has 2.1 and HW-S50A has 3.0. These rivals can be compared in terms of power, 160 (overall) versus 40 (overall) according to devices. 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.
Soundbars do not have AirPlay support. The Command Bar can play audio from Spotify.
Both models do not have a wireless Wi-Fi interface. Soundbars from this comparison have Bluetooth support. There are 1/1 HDMI inputs/outputs in the Polk Audio Command Bar versus 0/1 HDMIs in the Samsung HW-S50A. As in the Command Bar, so in the HW-S50A there is the HDMI Audio Return Channel (ARC). We rated the connectivity of the Command Bar at 7 out of 10, while the HW-S50A was rated 8/10. None of these soundbars can be controlled using the app. The Polk Audio Command Bar equipped with a microphone. The Polk Audio Command Bar may become part of a multiroom system.
Dolby Atmos audio decoder support is not implemented in either the Command Bar or HW-S50A. Devices from this comparison cannot process surround sound due to lack of DTS:X. The Command Bar was rated 5/10, while the HW-S50A received a mark of 6/10 for multichannel surround.