If you take a look around our office, you’ll notice a lot of earbud action. Unless we’re in a meeting or discussion, many of us will have headphones on, or an earbud hanging haphazardly off one ear.
You’ll usually find me doing the same while I work, with a range of classical music, showtunes, lo-fi beats, or even K-pop playing in my earbuds at any one time.
When we’re not listening to our own music, we’d be chattering away, and in pockets of silence, the clatter of keyboards fills the office.
That changed when the Samsung Ultra Slim S801B Lifestyle Soundbar graced our console that sits beneath our Samsung 75-inch QLED 4K Q60B TV, livening up the office even more.
Sound specificities
One of the main features of this Samsung soundbar, which comes only in a sleek white, is that it supports Dolby Atmos/DTS Virtual:X, which recreates sound to be more 3D and immersive.
What’s more, it’s able to connect wirelessly—the first time a Samsung Soundbar with Dolby Atmos has been able to do so.
Without the usual tangle of wires (beyond its main charging cable), you have more flexibility when choosing where to place the soundbar, and don’t have to worry about compromising sound quality.
The soundbar also features true 3.1.2 sound, which refers to a setup that includes three channels, one subwoofer channel, and two up-facing or up-firing speakers.
This allows for immersive acoustics, with those two up-firing channels producing overhead sounds for a complete audio environment.
Meanwhile, the subwoofer, a loudspeaker component, reproduces low-pitch frequencies such as bass and sub-bass for added depth.
For something that packs such a huge punch, this soundbar is impressively thin with its 39.9mm-thick profile.
It certainly lives up to its Ultra Slim name. Even the subwoofer that comes with it has a rather small footprint.
The S801B Lifestyle Soundbar can either be wall mounted for the ultimate minimalistic setup or placed on a console, which is what we did.
Either way, its wireless and slim nature makes it unobtrusive, leaving plenty of space for our other devices and decor pieces.
However, do note the Q-Symphony function requires an HDMI, optical, or Wi-Fi connection to the TV (meaning Bluetooth won’t cut it).
Speaking of which, let’s talk a bit more about Q-Symphony.
Creating a symphony with our TV
Q-Symphony works by syncing the TV’s speakers with the soundbar so they can both play sounds at the same time.
The two speakers of our TV pair well with the soundbar, giving an improved surround sound experience, which is ideal for films (and actual symphonies, if that’s what you’re into).
While the Q-Symphony is fantastic, just the soundbar alone can do a lot of heavy lifting to provide great sound quality.
The Standard setting for the soundbar is much more amplified compared to the TV’s speakers. The Adaptive setting, which analyses the sound signal to automatically deliver optimised sounds, further improves on that.
But the Dolby Atmos stands out especially. As one of my colleagues put it, it’s got more “substance” to it. He also said that the Dolby Atmos setting “gives the bass an extra boost and a sharper quality”.
Spreading the sound of music through our office easily
Since our TV and soundbar is set up in the common area of our office, some of our colleagues have opted to forgo their headphones and earbuds in favour of putting on some tunes to liven up the space.
So far, we’ve had soft piano and jazz filling the space for a cafe atmosphere (fitting our booth seating space opposite the TV), and lo-fi beats for more work focus.
Our office layout is pretty long, but with the central placement of the setup, even those sitting at either ends can hear the music playing, boosted by the adaptive capabilities of the soundbar.
Of course, we’ve also made use of the soundbar regularly when watching shows over lunch or tuning in to webinars.
The soundbar impressed me especially with the latter use case. This may be due to its Active Voice Amplifier, which makes dialogue sound clearer. Compared to my laptop speakers, the host sounded much clearer through the soundbar.
Music with Dolby Atmos also sounds a lot better. With the surround sound feature, all of us get to hear the same quality audio no matter which direction we’re sitting in regards to the TV.
In short, the soundbar is versatile, working perfectly for both dialogue and music.
The ability to quickly switch between the sound settings (be it from the TV speaker to the soundbar, or from the Standard mode to the Adaptive mode) is also helpful, depending on how loudly you want to project a specific audio.
Even for those of us who aren’t audiophiles, the improved audio quality provided by the RM2,999 Samsung Ultra Slim S801B Lifestyle Soundbar was clear.
On its own, the soundbar already gives significant value to your audio setup. If you have a Samsung TV that supports Q-Symphony though, I believe the soundbar makes for an even more fantastic add-on.
- Learn more about the Samsung Ultra Slim S801B Lifestyle Soundbar here.
- Read other articles we’ve written about Samsung here.
Featured Image Credit: Vulcan Post
