SAMSUNG HW-T650 3.1Ch Soundbar with 3D Surround Sound (2020)

I am an amateur musician and also an audiophile, and care a lot about the quality of the sound that comes out of the devices I am using, be they musical instruments, earphones, hi-fi stereo systems, Bluetooth speakers, or soundbars. I can definitely recommend this soundbar on the basis of its performance: the sound is well-defined, clear, and the subwoofer offers deep and resonant bass without excessive rumble or distortion. From the five sound modes, I find myself preferring "Game" probably a bit better than the others because it adds additional clarity, while boosting slightly the overall volume. But, if you are listening to a very bass-heavy music track, you might wish to switch to the "Smart" sound mode.The soundbar offers three options to connect to the TV: 1) wirelessly; 2) through a HDMI cable, using the HDMI ARC port of the soundbar and the TV; 3) through an optical audio cable. The HDMI ARC connection is the best option in terms of sound quality and I recommend it (if your TV has a dedicated port for it). Keep in mind that if you accidentally plug out the charging adapter, etc., while the soundbar is working, it might lose the TV ARC (HDMI ARC) connection to the TV and may be unable automatically to re-detect it. The solution is to unplug all cables from the soundbar and the subwoofer (as well as the HDMI cable from the TV), plug out any charging adapters/cables from electrical outlets, and wait for about 8-10 minutes before reconnecting them. The soundbar will once again recognize the TV ARC (HDMI ARC) connection.The subwoofer and the soundbar pair automatically on their own, so no additional setup is necessary. Overall, the change in terms of TV sound is significant. Put a Dolby 5.1 movie/trailer to watch or stream and you will be feeling as if you were in a multiplex movie theater.Can the volume become loud? Yes - it can get pretty loud and easily fill a large room. When I stream music from apps like Tidal, I am keeping it around level 20 (out of 100) and it is loud enough to fill the whole living room.Overall - this is a quality product that is priced well. It is a budget-friendly, mid-range offering by Samsung with a sound quality that feels closer to the premium tier. I have various systems/speakers at home by Bose, Onkyo, and Harman Kardon, and this soundbar comes close to them in terms of the clarity and attractiveness of its sound profile(s).

I've listened to soundbar demos in stores for YEARS but this is my first to own. I'm no audio expert, though it seemed like the upgraded version of one of the best selling soundbars on Amazon. Overall, it sounds really great to me. Dialogue, movie sound effects, YouTube videos, and every genre of music I listen to (which is almost every genre). Sound isn't mind-blowing, but you have to pay wayyyyy more for mind-blowing.The design of it fits well with my apartment. Love that the subwoofer connects with Bluetooth so I don't have a wire running through my living room. Some people put the subwoofer behind their couch, but I read it should ideally be in front of you, too, so that's what I did.Remote looks sleek, though falls off things a little too easily because it's curved. Volume needle-thingy is pretty cool because you don't accidentally turn it down when you wanted to turn it up and vice versa in the dark, you can feel that the remote is in your hand correct and you just press the needle thingy forward/up.Also, note the separate volume needle thingy specifically for the subwoofer! I didn't see it for the first few days! You can turn the subwoofer down or up quite a bit. Turned down all the way, it sounds very tinny and empty (I think not because the soundbar sounds horrible without it, but because the soundbar is purposely leaving those frequencies to the soundbar because it's better equipped to handle it). Turned up all the way, the bass is too overpowering. I have the subwoofer turned up to +3, which seems to fit everything nicely (I'm a big fan of my Sony M3 headphones, which are a little on the bass heavy side, too)Love that I can easily connect my phone to the soundbar and play music - sounds much better than my conveniently portable UE Megaboom. It doesn't autoconnect to my phone when I turn it on like my portable speak, though that would probably be annoying anyway since it's more often used for TV.I use this soundbar for listening to music streamed through my phone while working from home, washing dishes, and cooking. I use it for streaming on my Chromecast with Google TV. And I use it for my 4k DVD player. I'm highly satisfied with it, and recommend people to not wait as long as I did to get a high quality soundbar! I hope it lasts me for years, it seems like it will.