Sonos Playbar vs Samsung HW-N950

Playbar vs HW-N950 comparison chart

Overall
Sonos Playbar
5.5
Samsung HW-N950
8.6
5
10

Sonos Playbar vs Samsung HW-N950 review

Sonos Playbar vs Samsung HW-N950

Sonos Playbar review

Sonos Playbar allows you to forget about control panels and old Hi-Fi systems. After completing the setup, you can control both the TV and the audio system from the phone. It has the output power of 200W and 3.0 built-in channels. To admit, Sonos Playbar’s obvious advantage in the Sonos Playbar vs Samsung HW-N950 rivalry is the fact that it perfectly reproduces any sound. Except for the most dynamic and rich soundtracks, providing excellent sound purity and a wide sound picture. Alas, the minimalism and convenience of Sonos will not cost cheaply, and will hit the wallet even more if you want to create a full-fledged 5.1 system from Sonos products.

Sonos Playbar

Samsung HW-N950 review

What can I notice when comparing Samsung HW-N950 vs Sonos Playbar is that this product supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. On top of this this model has the power of 512W and 7.1.4 built-in channels. A whole series of sound movements above your head (the main advantage of 3D surround sound systems), flowing effects from the sides and back and powerful bass are simply stunning when you first listen. Going over to non-Dolby Atmos content that’s common will lower the bar of immersion by several steps.

Samsung HW-N950

Sonos Playbar pros & cons

Pros

  • I paired it with a Sonos subwoofer which I highly recommend and now there are nights where I never turn the TV on
  • After a no brainer install, I downloaded the Sonos app, which is intuitive, holds all my Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music songs, etc. which are easily accessed

Cons

  • Spoken dialogue is too quiet while action scenes are window-shaking loud

Samsung HW-N950 pros & cons

Pros

  • Setup was easy and I didn’t run into issues syncing the rear surround speakers to the soundbar
  • Dialogue/speech are crystal clear

Cons

  • I wish some type of demo mode or sound setup was included to highlight the features

Votes 3 3
Rating 5 5
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Common

Product

Sonos Playbar
Samsung HW-N950

Model

Playbar
HW-N950

Brand

Sonos
Samsung

Reviews

1767
106

General

Placement type

table-top, wall-mountable
table-top, wall-mountable

Connection to source

wired, wireless
wired, wireless

Soundbar buttons

play/pause, volume up, volume down
power, input, volume down, volume up

Audio features

Built-in channels

3.0
7.1.4

Amplification type

active
active

Output power, W

512 (overall)

Separate speaker (in package)

0
2

Separate speaker connections

wireless
wireless

Subwoofer

Built-in subwoofer

Separate subwoofer (in package)

Separate subwoofer connections

wireless
wireless

Streaming services

Apple Music (AirPlay)

AirPlay 2
AirPlay

Amazon Music

Spotify

Other streaming services

Pandora, Tuneln, SoundCloud
Pandora, Tuneln, Deezer, Chromecast

Connectivity

WI-FI

Bluetooth

Ethernet (RJ45)

2
0

NFC

HDMI input/output

0/0
2/0

HDMI ARC

HDMI eARC

HDMI CEC

Optical digital input/output

1/0
1/0

USB

1 (USB 2.0)

Coaxial digital input/output

0/0
0/0

Analog audio input/output (RCA)

0/0
0/0

Headphone output

0
0

Subwoofer output

0
0

Features

Voice control

Amazon Alexa

App control

Microphone

Remote control

Multi-room

Multichannel surround

Dolby Atmos

Dolby (other)

Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital

DTS:X

DTS (other)

has not
has not

User manual

Manual

Dimensions

Size (Wx H x D), cm/in

90 x 14 x 8.5/35.4 x 5.5 x 3.3
122.4 x 8.1 x 13.4/48.2 x 3.2 x 5.3

Weight, kg/pounds

5.4/11.9
8.8/19.4

Other

Release year

2013
2018
Sonos Playbar
Samsung HW-N950
Sonos Playbar
Samsung HW-N950

Soundbars CHooseratoR comparison rating

  • better
  • worse
  • 5.5
  • 8.6
  • 5.5Sonos Playbar
  • 8.6Samsung HW-N950