Latest news with #SamsungHW-B650
Tom's Guide
05-07-2025
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Samsung's best entry-level soundbar is at its lowest price in a year right now — don't wait till Prime Day
Here at Tom's Guide, we're scouring the net for the best early Prime Day deals. As a reviews writer, I get my hands on a lot of tech — some good, some bad. Fortunately, that means I know which products are worth your money and which aren't. Which is why I need to put you on to this Samsung soundbar deal: the awesome Samsung HW-B650 is just $229 at Amazon. (If you're in the U.K, you can get its counterpart the Samsung B650D for just £159 at Amazon UK). I awarded the Samsung HW-B650 soundbar a near-perfect 4.5 stars in my review. So you know this is an awesome soundbar. I'm going to be completely honest with you: in March, when I published my review of the Samsung HW-B650, its MSRP was $249. For one reason or another, the MSRP skyrocketed to $397 in April. I'm not 100% sure why this happened, but it did. As a result, this $229 sale price is only $20 off the original MSRP of $249, but this is still the lowest price since February 2024. In the U.K., the B650D's RRP is a lot lower, so this doesn't look like as much of an epic saving. However, £159 for a soundbar + subwoofer with DTS Virtual: X is still amazing. This means the soundbar can create a virtual surround sound experience without needing rear speakers (which are an extra purchase). While it's just 3.1 channels, I swear it's the closest you can get to 360-degree audio without rear speakers. The provided subwoofer is floor-shaking. It's even better if you have a Samsung TV, of course, but I tested with a Panasonic and it was still beyond impressive. I awarded the Samsung HW-B650 soundbar + subwoofer an impressive 4.5-star rating because of a plethora of reasons. It's affordable, it's easy to use, it has immersive DTS Virtual:X (which is basically like Dolby Atmos but uses a different DSP to create the 360° audio experience), and most of all, it sounds really impressive. As the HW-B650 has a wireless subwoofer, it's capable of floor-shaking, bone-quaking bass. This is excellent while watching blockbuster movies like 'Top Gun: Maverick' and 'No Time To Die'. In my review, I wrote that "the bass shook the floor of our testing room, and the clinking of coins was still audible over the bassy music". I often find that cheaper soundbars are incapable of separating high-frequency sound effects (some made-up examples could be the clinking of glasses in a loud party scene, or the sound of a relaxing fire crackling in the background of an argument scene). However, this was never an issue on the Samsung HW-B650 soundbar. In my 4.5-star review, I pointed out that "sound effects like bottle caps being unscrewed, zips being unzipped, and lapping waves were audible and clear, and I never had to change the volume between quiet, pensive scenes, and loud action scenes". The Samsung HW-B650 comes with a wireless subwoofer, which is one of my favorite aspects of the setup itself. Usually, listening to music on a soundbar is inadvisable, but not on the HW-B650 thanks to the subwoofer. In my review, I wrote that my music sounded much better than expected. "The synth bass notes reverberated through the colleagues who work underneath the TV testing room asked me if I was bringing the nightclub to the office". While most soundbars sound meh for music, I loved listening to bassy tracks with the 'Bass' playback mode activated. Like any soundbar, I had to play with the settings to find the optimal performance, but that's all part of the fun. The HW-B650 is also compatible with Samsung's rear speakers, so you could get this soundbar as the first of many home theater accessories. I would definitely grab this deal before it's over.
Tom's Guide
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
I'm a soundbar reviewer — avoid these are 3 common budget soundbar traps
I've tested loads of soundbars by now. Sometimes I spend whole weeks locked away in Tom's Guide's testing room, emerging only to make cups of coffee and take snacks from the office kitchen. So surely I know how to separate the best soundbars from the chaff, right? Yeah, in a way. Unfortunately, though, a lot of the best budget soundbars often fall into the "chaff" category. Budget soundbars aren't intended to be cinematic, immersive setups like the 11.1.4 channel JBL Bar 1300X (the best soundbar I've ever tested). Budget soundbars know what they are: TV speaker upgrades. For the most part, that's it. These are the budget soundbar mistakes you've been making, so hopefully you'll be able to squeeze the most out of your cheap soundbar. This soundbar used to be $99, but it's recently increased to $159. Even so, it's one of the best value soundbars you can get. I love how this soundbar performs like a much pricier model, and makes my TV speakers sound cringe-inducingly bad. Let's take the Sony HT-S100F for example. This is the best budget soundbar on the market, no questions asked. I love this soundbar. But right out of the box? You might think I'm a crazy person. This is by far the easiest fix. Soundbars will all come with a remote or a companion app, so you can adjust the default settings. On this remote, you'll want to cycle through the playback modes (EQs) until you find the one that suits your movie or TV show. Sony's options are: 'Auto sound', 'Cinema', 'Night', 'Voice', and 'Standard'. When I tested this soundbar, I mostly used 'Voice' with TV shows and movies with less bass in the soundtrack. For blockbusters, I watched with 'Cinema' which upped the bass. You should also go into your TV settings and have a play around. I can't recommend one setting, because different TV brands have different settings. Just keep clicking through until you find something that suits your eardrums. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Seeing as most Dolby Atmos soundbars (with 5.1.2 channel, or minimum 3.1.2) start from around $500, getting a budget soundbar and expecting 360° audio is just setting yourself up for failure. There's nothing inherently wrong with lacking Dolby Atmos, so don't be disheartened. While, yes, it definitely provides some of the best audio experiences, not everyone needs Dolby Atmos. I recently tested the $67 Majority Naga 60 soundbar, and while, no, a $67 soundbar is never going to rival Sonos, it was actually really impressive for the money. When I was watching Stranger Things, I could feel the radioed dialogue all around me. Another budget option with quasi-immersive audio is the $249 Samsung HW-B650. I thought this was one of the cheapest ways to get (imitation) surround sound, thanks to the powerful DTS Virtual:X DSP and high-quality channel speakers. These are great budget options that don't have Dolby Atmos, but won't let you down. Now, this is a funny one. Firstly, you have to make sure your budget soundbar has a subwoofer out in the first place. The Majority Naga 60 soundbar I mentioned earlier actually does have a subwoofer line-out. You'll need to get a wired, powered subwoofer to go with it. I asked Majority for recommendations, but it just said any wired and powered subwoofer would do the trick. You can see the "SW out" on the top right of the soundbar. While, yes, this will increase the price of your setup, it will provide a much stronger sound system. Ideally, you'd get a soundbar setup with a wireless subwoofer, but those go for at least $400 on a good day. If you follow my tips, you should be well on your way to making the most of your soundbar, even though it's cheap! Let me know if you try any of these tips in the comments. Also, if you have any budget soundbar recommendations I haven't mentioned here, do tell me about them.
