Samsung HW-K850

Samsung’s clutter-busting Atmos soundbar lacks the refinement of high-end rivals, but makes up for it with a huge soundstage, bags of features and slick multiroom operation.

Deep bass ; Expansive sound ; Smooth tone ; Solid soundstage

Needs more midrange subtlety and precision ; Not dynamically powerful enough ; Bass could be more responsive

A big, bassy soundbar, but one that needs fine tuning before you let it into your living room

Great sound quality ; Multiroom support ; Atmos effect is convincing

Expensive ; DTS support only stretches to stereo ; A touch too tall

The Samsung HW-K850 is a cracking soundbar that sounds great with most sources, from music to movies. It has a delicate touch, and can produce audio with a dramatic sense of sense of scale and slam when it needs to. There are no rear speakers here, but...

Good audio performance ; Dolby Atmos support ; 4K/60p and HDCP 2.1 compliant ; HDMI connections ; Samsung Multiroom ; Attractive design ; Excellent construction ; Wireless subwoofer

Dolby Atmos very front heavy ; No DTS multi-channel support ; Bass can be a bit heavy

The appeal of the Samsung HW-K850 will very much depend on your requirements and your budget but there are certainly situations where it can provide a viable alternative to the more expensive HW-K950. If you don't want to go down the AV receiver route...

Powerful, great sound for both music and movies

No interface, no mic for autocalibration

Gorgeous looking piece of kit, can go extremely loud but also mayn't be that loud dependant on what is being played through it. Would I recommend it.... in a heart beat

Picky, but bass can be over powering sometimes so hope you get on well with your neighbours lol. Also its a lot heavier than I thought it would be, not a bad point just have someone to help set it up with you as I would have hated dropping it.

Gorgeous looking piece of kit, can go extremely loud but also mayn't be that loud dependant on what is being played through it. Would I recommend it.... in a heart beat

Picky, but bass can be over powering sometimes so hope you get on well with your neighbours lol. Also its a lot heavier than I thought it would be, not a bad point just have someone to help set it up with you as I would have hated dropping it.