Having bought Harman Kardon back in 2017, Samsung's use of the audio brand's expertise has been so far limited to AKG headphones bundled with its mobile phones, and some sonic tuning for its tablets. The partnership goes into full swing today however with the release of a new premium soundbar line.
The HW-950 and HW-N850 are both Dolby Atmos speakers and DTS:X enabled home cinema kits – the first first to feature co-branding between Harman Kardon and Samsung.
Both feature wireless subwoofers and wireless rear channels, with the HW-950 being the more feature-rich of the line-up.
Adding height
The HW-950 is a 7.1.4 channel affair (five front firing speakers in the soundbar, a front firing speaker in each of the rear channels, plus two height channels in the soundbar and one each in the rears, as well as a wireless subwoofer), giving the full Dolby Atmos experience. That's as many channels as is currently available in in a soundbar package.
If you're after something a little more modest, the HW-850 is a 5.1.2 offering, dropping two front channels and the two rear height elements.
No word yet on pricing, but there's an August 20 release date pencilled in for the pair. We'll keep you posted on the cost, and expect to see more from the Harman Kardon and Samsung team up at this year's IFA 2018 conference in Berlin.
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