l would like to share my experience after comparing and testing two soundbars – Bose Soundbar 500 vs Samsung HW-K850. The Bose Soundbar 500 was rated 7.4, while the Samsung HW-K850 has a rating 6. The soundbars are equipped with a different number of buttons, microphone for the Soundbar 500 and power, volume down, volume up, source for the HW-K850.
Each of the models under consideration has active amplification type. A noticeable difference is the number of channels that Soundbar 500 has 3.0 and HW-K850 has 3.1.2. 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. Each of the competitors can play content from Spotify.
Both models have a wireless Wi-Fi interface. Soundbars from this comparison have Bluetooth support. There are 1/0 HDMI inputs/outputs in the Bose Soundbar 500 versus 2/1 HDMIs in the Samsung HW-K850. As in the Soundbar 500, so in the HW-K850 there is the HDMI Audio Return Channel (ARC). Connecting devices via USB is possible in both models. We rated the connectivity of the Soundbar 500 at 8 out of 10, while the HW-K850 was rated 7/10. The manufacturer of the Soundbar 500 provides a device control application. The Bose Soundbar 500 equipped with a microphone. The models under consideration cannot become part of a multiroom system.
Manufacturers equipped both units with Dolby Atmos audio decoder. 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.