l would like to share my experience after comparing and testing two soundbars – Bose TV Speaker vs Samsung HW-K850. The Bose TV Speaker was rated 5, while the Samsung HW-K850 has a rating 6.
Each of the models under consideration has active amplification type. A noticeable difference is the number of channels that TV Speaker 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 connects to the TV Speaker via wired, but HW-K850 has wireless connection type. Rate 5 out of 10 received the Bose TV Speaker for audio features and specs, but the Samsung HW-K850 received 6 out of 10.
Soundbars do not have AirPlay support. The HW-K850 can play audio from Spotify.
Wireless Internet connection is realized only in the HW-K850. Soundbars from this comparison have Bluetooth support. There are 1/0 HDMI inputs/outputs in the Bose TV Speaker versus 2/1 HDMIs in the Samsung HW-K850. As in the TV Speaker, so in the HW-K850 there is the HDMI Audio Return Channel (ARC). Connecting devices via USB is possible in both models. The connectivity of each of the models was estimated at 7/10.
None of these soundbars can be controlled using the app. Soundbars in this review are not equipped with a microphone. The models under consideration cannot become part of a multiroom system.
Dolby Atmos audio decoder is onboard the HW-K850. 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.