The Samsung HW-N650 soundbar is one of the latest additions for their home theatrical equipment. If you’re still aren’t sure what it is, it’s basically an elongated speaker – but a really good one. The soundbar is specifically aimed for movie fans and even gamers. Thanks to their new technology, “Acoustic Beam”, it is able to create a larger and more immersive front soundstage that your ears could ever dreamed of hearing – an ear-haven perhaps. But is it good enough to satisfy your delicate ears? Read on for our review!

The Long Black Bod

Before we go further into its capability of putting out sounds, we take a look at its curves. There are not many curves on its body, except for the corners – which gives it a smooth touch that will never hurt your soft pudgy hands. It gives it a bold and premium feel with its largely metal construction and black finish.

Though it’s not really a “new” design, but it still does look cool. Why change your looks when you’re already looking good? Apart from that, the sleek design matches with current TV’s designs which makes it easy to match with your home theatrical system. As it’s a pretty thin elongated block of sound emitting device, it will never block your TV screen – unless you do it on purpose… You can even mount it on the wall with the optional bracket they provide in the box!

The soundbar measuring at 110 x 5.9 x 10 cm, also comes with a pal it calls the subwoofer. The subwoofer is composed of MDF and it’s black in color, matching its partner. Measuring at 21.5 x 38.5 x 30.4 cm in its box-shaped, it has a forward-firing 6.5 inch driver which can project down to 42Hz – because it’s all about that bass!

Though it may look solid and buff, there’s a cheeky little LED display that lights up whenever you press on its sensitive buttons. Whether it’s changing the volume or pick a sound mode based on your current mood like Standard, Surround or Game, it will not light up like a Christmas tree but will at least let you know what you’re navigating through. Selecting the Sound Control button will also display the Treble, Bass and Audio Sync.

If you caress it gently on its right side, you’ll find some basic controls for Power, Volume and Source Select. They’re all already on the controller but if you want to get a little more personal, the buttons are there for you. It’s also important to note that, the remote is ergonomically designed for your everyday use which feels good to the touch. You can even pair it with your devices via Bluetooth which is really handy.

The Sound of Music

If you’re listening to music, be sure to have your ears waxed because you don’t want to miss out on what you’re hearing. Though I don’t think that’s possible because the sound is amazing. Wherever you stand, the sound never escapes you. That’s thanks to Samsung’s Acoustic Beam technology that uses two tweeters at the top of the soundbar located on the left and right side that fires into pipes with 28 holes in them. Pretty much like an organ pipe where the sounds fired through the pipes are let out into different directions, creating an immersive field of sound. You can connect it with your TV via HDMI that’s located at the back of the soundbar.

As mentioned earlier, you can switch over to three different sound modes with the Standard mode aimed for music and TV shows which uses the front-firing drivers located on the left, right and centre, turning off the Acoustic Beam feature. Whereas the Surround mode is aimed for Movie junkies who’d like to get the full experience of “Netflix and chill” the immersive surround sound while watching some intense shows. And lastly, the Game mode of course, emphasizes on the sound effects that gives players the “oomph” experience while playing their favorite games.

Check out our hands-on video review below:

Especially when you’re playing FPS games, you’ll actually get to identify where the sound is coming from and nail the enemy before they could. That is of course you’re playing it casually. Who plays FPS competitively with surround sound speakers? Pro gamers probably. Nonetheless, if you’re playing games like God of War or Marvel’s Spider-Man, it’s a great experience to be in when the sounds just come bursting out to you in waves from every corner of your room like you’re actually there in the game.