Review – Samsung HW-N650 Soundbar: Premium Features, Premium Price

Tech industry has been chasing the ultra-slim trend for all these while and there is no sign of them slowing down. That applies to the TV industry as well where audio quality is often sacrificed just to shave off those extra centimetres of thickness. That’s why home theatre sound systems especially low profile sound bars are on the rise.

Specifications – Samsung HW-N650

• Total power 360W RMS
• 5.1 channel
• 8 speakers
• 6.5″ subwoofer

In the Box

• 2 sets of power cable
• 1 power adapter brick for the soundbar
• HDMI cable
• micro USB (m) to USB-A (f) adapter
• Remote control
• 2x AA batteries

Design

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At first glance, the HW-N650 sound bar might seem pretty underwhelming with the boxy design. However, that’s exactly the reason why I’m loving the sound bar as it blends into any sort of TV setup without any issue.

The minimalist design extends to the LED display at the front where it shows the volume, sound mode and other settings. The display has 3 seconds timeout, so it won’t be an eyesore during movie or game sessions.

Measuring at 1100 x 59 x 100 mm, the low profile nature of the soundbar is a godsend for users who are not planning to mount the TV and soundbar on the wall, especially some tall soundbars tend to block the TV’s IR receiver at the front bottom of the TV bezel.

The build quality is rather impressive with an all-metal enclosure and metal grills. I’m genuinely surprised by its sheer 3.6KG weight during unboxing.

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The subwoofer on the other hand measures at 215 x 385 x 304 mm and connects to the soundbar wirelessly. It has a front-firing 6.5-inch driver which should provide deep bass for movies and games.

Controls

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The remote control has a contrasting design with a curvy profile for better ergonomics. The buttons have a shallow travel distance and each button press gives a satisfactory click feedback.

Physical controls can be found on the right side of the soundbar – power on/off, volume up, volume down and source select.

Connectivity

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In terms of connectivity, the HW-N650 supports:

• HDMI In
• HDMI Out (ARC)
• AUX In
• Optical In
• USB
• Bluetooth

The HDMI 2.0 input and output supports Audio Return Channel (ARC) which means you don’t need another cable to redirect the audio signal to the sound bar. A user can connect from the source to the soundbar through HDMI In then connect another HDMI cable from HDMI Out to the TV and everything will work normally. In this configuration, you won’t need to sacrifice one HDMI port just for audio. 

Source > HDMI In > HDMI Out (ARC) > TV

Despite that the HW-N650 is designed for users who looking to enjoy the best movie experience at home, interestingly the HDMI passthrough does not support HDR which is kinda weird. Nonetheless, It is a fairly easy solution as you can altogether skip the passthrough and connect the Source to the TV directly, then only supply the audio to the soundbar through the TV.

The Bluetooth connectivity is pretty standard where you can connect any other source device to it after a simple pairing process. If you’re using a compatible Samsung TV, the speaker can even pair with the TV through Bluetooth which saves you from another extra cable.

User Experience

Setup:

• LG 49UH610T (4K UHD)
• Sony PlayStation 4 Slim

After using the soundbar for a little over two weeks for various use cases such as music, movies and games, while I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the process but there are also a few caveats that I will point out.

Samsung Acoustic Beam Technology

The HW-N650 is the first Samsung soundbar that features the Acoustic Beam technology. This video should give you a better idea of how it works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJRRMs6XxQc

Instead of regular upward-firing tweeters, the HW-N650 has a rather unique implementation where the tweeter speaker fires into the tube which each side would have 28 holes that diverts the sound upwards and sideways. The tube works similarly as those pipe organs and the outwards sound wave would bounce off the walls which creates even wider soundstage.

In short, this feature is recommended if the speaker is placed right in the center of the room with walls on the left and right side for balanced sound profile. 

The Acoustic Beam technology is turned on when you enable either Surround mode or Game mode. Standard mode will just use the front facing speakers as usual, so they sound the closest to the original source even though it lacks the punch. Surround mode definitely kicks up a notch with the added surround effect with a wide soundstage. Despite so, the mids and vocals still sound rather muddy and dull.

Game mode, however, is not something I would prefer even while gaming due to the overly exaggerated trebles and bass. In other words, I kept the speaker in Surround mode 80% of the time because I personally feel it is the best sounding mode.

Great Sounding Bass

Thanks to the dedicated sub-woofer, I can definitely tell the difference when compared with Edifier CineSound B1 and Edifier R1580MB. The bass is deep while being subtle even if you turn the low-frequency way up. I mean, who cares about those bass-heads that only care about pointless boom-boom-pows.

Auto Power Off is Annoying

During my first few days of usage, I noticed a rather annoying “feature” – auto power off. The speaker would turn itself off after not receiving the audio signal for 5~15 minutes. There are times when I would pause the YouTube video and go away for a while then came back noticing the speaker has been turned off, which I have to manually turn on the speaker either through the remote or the power button on the speaker.

I appreciate Samsung’s effort in saving power and supporting the green earth movement, however, I am not particularly a fan for this feature especially when it wouldn’t turn on by itself even after the audio signal has been resumed.

If you go through Samsung’s forum, apparently, this “feature” has been around even on the previous models. Yes indeed you can turn off this feature but I personally think this is a halfbaked solution. Tell me the reason why the speaker is able to turn on together with your TV with the Auto Power Link function, however, it just can’t do it with resumed audio.

Final Words

The Samsung HW-N650 soundbar system has a solid build and it offers a great sound quality improvement over your TV’s built-in speakers. The soundbar system offers exceptionally nice sounding bass and clean trebles despite lacking in the mids. The Samsung Acoustic Beam technology is commendable in virtualising wide soundstage, still, it is heavily depending on your room setup.

Connectivity on the HW-N650 is sufficient at least with HDMI, AUX, SPDIF and Bluetooth. but we are still not quite sure the reason for lacking HDR HDMI passthrough even though it is meant for entertainment enthusiasts. Besides, Samsung should really look into the actual usability of the auto-off function and make adjustments to it accordingly.

Last but not least, the price. At RM 2,451 for the SRP, that is quite a lot to ask for those who are looking for their first soundbar set. Consider that soundbar often still lacking behind when compared to those 2.1 HiFi systems at the same price range. What you are buying into is a speaker system that is centre-channel-focused with a clean and premium minimalist design.