l would like to share my experience after comparing and testing two soundbars – Sonos Playbar vs Samsung HW-K850. The Sonos Playbar was rated 5.5, while the Samsung HW-K850 has a rating 6. The soundbars are equipped with a different number of buttons, play/pause, volume up, volume down for the Playbar 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 Playbar 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. Rate 7 out of 10 received the Sonos Playbar for audio features and specs, but the Samsung HW-K850 received 6 out of 10. Each of the competitors can play content from Spotify.
Both models have a wireless Wi-Fi interface. Bluetooth support integrated in the HW-K850. The HDMI Audio Return Channel (ARC) is implemented only in the HW-K850. We rated the connectivity of the Playbar at 3 out of 10, while the HW-K850 was rated 7/10.
The manufacturer of the Playbar provides a device control application. 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.