Samsung HW-F355 2.1 Channel 120 Watt Wired Audio Soundbar (2014 Model)

UPDATE: well it is now 2 days later after install and I am HAPPIER than ever.. Just in case you are wondering as I was.. I have a ROKU stick installed in the back of my tv. My TV is also a SMART tv w lots of apps.. with the OPTICAL cable install directly into the tv.. every thing WORKS>>>>>>>.. and works WELL...... I am so tickled than ever. SO HAPPY with this purchase !!! ................................................................................................................................. I have been wanting to get a sound bar to improve my Samsung TV viewing.. I tried another brand sound bar, Vizio .. and was very disappointed and returned it. So I was pretty certain I knew what I wanted in a sound bar from that bad experience.. One thing I found out was that you need a method to VIEW the increase or decrease in volume as well as a easy method to SEE how you have the unit set re. sound.. i.e Movie, Music, News, Games.. etc....... Well I found this HW-F355 , is a great unit that does that and MORE.. it even includes a Bluetooth connection so I can stream music from my tablet or phone. SET up right out of the box( which is usually the nightmare process most purchasers dread ) was SOOOOOOOOOO EASY even if you hardly read the direction you would get it right.. Now I did include the purchase of an Optical cable.. ( IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE BOX) so it is one simple connection between the bar and the TV........ plug in subwoofer to the unit ... turn on the power. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Viola.. SOUND, sweet sweet SOUND>>>>>>>> and all the volume you could want. Now I tried out the various options of music, news, cinema........... EASY to see on the sound bar.. and with simple push of the button.chg to what ever your personal preference for EACH show. This way you get to experience the sound you want for the game or chg it to the evening NEWS or chg again for the Movie. Can't be easier. There are adjustments you can make to the subwoofer which also is simple to do with clearly labeled buttons. Other adjustments are Smart Volume to regulate drastic sound changes when you go from station to station It even has a 3D SOUND EFFECT option...... to add more depth to the sounds.. If you have questions re this unit check out the User Manual to see how simple this whole set up will be for you. OR watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OX7KK4P8bQ Honestly at this price point there isn't a better option for a sound bar IN MY OPINION> Esp.if you have a Samsung TV .But this worked on my Sharp tv as well . I am REALLY REALLY IMPRESSED.. I was considering a higher priced model but am glad I went with this one..It does exactly what I wanted and NO HEADACHE INSTALL

I knew what I shouldn't have been expecting when I purchased this. Deep rich surround sound and amazing bass. With that in mind what I got in reality was slightly better than TV speaker quality. I feel the reviews here led me to be underwhelmed with this sound. First of all. Why in the hell do they provide you with every cable you might need, except for Digital Optical Audio, if ideally that's the best fidelity connection you should use to get signal from TV to speakers while silencing TV speakers? There are a couple different listening presets, of course tailored to a particular genre of broadcast Samsung thinks sounds best. For instance you can switch to Sports, Drama, Gaming, News. How they determine these I dunno. I will say that for the most part they all sound like garbage, even introducing something I can only describe as echo, or reverb, so I set it off. There's also two buttons that pretty much do the same thing: They equalize the lowest sounds and loudest sounds to, I guess, filter out unexpected audio drop offs or spikes. My concern is this also kind of flattens the diversity of the intended sound mix, no? I keep both of these set to low. Beyond those presets you really have very little ability to customize the sound on your exact terms besides a simple Bass adjustment. Bass by the way, even with the supplied subwoofer, is decent if not lacking in Dr. Dre style oomph. Then again, I haven't tried it as loud as I could get it. Size is perfect for a bar that can sit in front of a TV on the same stand. It's low enough to not block the IR receiver, too much. You can also fiddle with the sound delay if the picture and sound do not sync fully. My problem with this is you can only add or remove a delay my milliseconds. You cannot nudge the sound ahead of the picture, which I sometimes feel is needed in syncing speech. I paired this to a computer over bluetooth and tested out listening to iTunes on these speakers, and the computer was in the same room as the speakers, no more than 10 feet away, and the signal was having difficulty coming through. Finally, I'm really not thrilled about having a second controller to keep track of, but that's a universal problem. But enough complaining. Overall, when it comes to listening experience, I do enjoy having this. I can only judge based on this model, but listening to TV shows, Youtube, music, movies the sound is very good, not theater quality, but for the price, I'm happy.

This is a must for a TV.. I Have a 32 inch Samsung Smart TV and set this up on top of the TV using mounting brackets. Easy I'm 63 years old and female.. I plugged it in using the digital optical cord but could not get it to work with my Samsung Smart TV remote.. but I Have a medium sized bedroom I set this up in and its more than suitable for it .. Love the sound even though my Samsung TV came with excellent sound I wanted better sound like I get in my living room with my 55 in Samsung hooked up to a Bose surround sound system.. and I got it .. fills the room nicely I like bass so I Have it turned up to the max .. perfect for me I also love the 3D effect you can get out of it .. Have not hooked it up via Bluetooth to my iPhone yet but sure that will work . It does not come with the Optical cord so you should buy it when you go to check out but they are not to expensive it you get the one from Amazon it works great.. This is a steal for the price on it ..and the Samsung quality you get ... it's just a little longer than my 32 inch TV but not too long and not so heavy as one I bought and tried to mount on top of the TV it's the only way I can mount it in my bedroom .. its really easy to set up like I said I'm a 63 year old grandma and I did it in no time without hardly looking at the instruction's it's was very intuitive .. The remote is great it does everything but bring up the TV guide so you can search channels.. that's my only complaint.. I do not mind having to use the two remotes as for me I get the sound set up in my bedroom and it stays that way usually. The smart sound is great it keeps it from going from soft to a loud eardrum busting volume when you change the channel for something else comes on TV.. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone looking for better to excellent sound on their TV.. I plan on calling Samsung to figure out how to get the Volume to work on my Samsung remote without switching remotes.. I hear it's possible but have not been able to get it to do that yet.. But this still gets five stars in my book .. Love the Subwoffer it comes in the just the right size and the sound is great .. LOVE IT Pleased grandma

There doesn't seem to be many really great bargains these days but you just tripped over one. The Samsung HW-F355 2.1 Channel 120 Watt Soundbar is a quality piece of electronic gear for a measly $150. No, you won't be rattling loose the windows with this basic soundbar in Samsung's current line but for a great price your going to get plenty of everything else. Bluetooth ... check. Digital Optical ... check. Freestanding Subwoofer ... check. Plus the soundbar looks really cool with a useful digital readout and touch button operation and a remote. I bought a new Sony LED HDTV and the built in speakers were crap. With this soundbar hooked up and doing an AB test you really can hear all the background signals you are missing not to mention how much fuller anything musical sounds. There's ample enough volume to properly fill my 25 by 25 foot rec room but what's nice is I have an easy chair about eight feet away from the soundbar and I can still enjoy a great response from the unit at lower listening levels at night. The Samsung HW-F355 has a few neat features you would think would be only on higher priced versions such as a "sound-effect" button on the remote with six choices like "game", "music" and "sports" each with a slightly different characteristic. The "sports" has a very slight reverb as if listening to a stadiums loudspeakers. In the center of the soundbar is a neat digital display that welcomes you when powered up and announces any change in programming ... really cool. Just above that display is a touch sensitive set of buttons that also control all functions in lieu of the remote. You can also tell from the packaging the unit comes in, up to the easy to install (supplied) wall mounting bracket, that this is a well engineered and thought out piece of gear. For a bargain basement price Samsung's entry level soundbar will be a super nice upgrade over your current factory installed flatscreen speakers. If I were you I'd hit the order button right now before Samsung figures it out and bumps the price up. You'd have to spend twice as much to really get something that much better. P.S.- don't skimp on the digital optical cable (comes with RCA plugs)... get this one ... Cable Matters Gold Plated Toslink Digital Optical Audio Cable with Metal Connectors and Braided Jacket 6 Feet

This soundbar with subwoofer has an okay sound but lack bass punch. For a small room it would probably suffice but a larger room the bass is going to disappoint. Nice feature set though. Can play via bluetooth, has multiple sound settings (cinema, music, sports, game, etc), overall volume is decent but no room shaking, and it will automatically come on if using an optical cable between the soundbar and TV. I was midly impressed with the virtual surround from non-surround sources, such as a simply stereo feed from the cable company. You can adjust the subwoofer volume via the remote independently of the soundbar volume which is a nice feature.Takes up very little space and is super easy to setup. I don't have a Samsung TV so I cannot comment on the Airshare feature.

This works much better than might be expected from its moderate price point. Ours is connected to a 55" Samsung TV. The optical output from the TV is suspect, as it sometimes cuts in and out, but optical feeds from our DirecTV receiver work perfectly, so it's not the sound bar (or the cable; I've tried changing it.) Our Samsung TV is only a year old and has a great image and flexibility, but the speakers are marginal and fire toward the wall, not the room - dialogue is often hard to hear. This sound bar greatly improved the sound quality and audibility of programs. Playing with the sound options is worthwhile so see what you like. As might be expected, the sub in this system is not great at clean articulation, but it adds the required bottom and provides balanced sound that's pleasing to me. I'm a radio and TV guy with 30+ years of audio production experience, so I give this system credit for providing sound that's better than you might expect at this end of the price spectrum for sound bars. One question from other reviews I can answer: YES, you can control this sound bar from a universal remote if it's a good one. I use the Logitech Harmony One remotes which have been out for a few years. The remote must be programmed through your PC and to make the remote work well you need to program the model numbers, inputs and outputs selected correctly. If you set it up right, yes, the remote will control the sound bar. The Samsung remote or DirecTV remotes are not going to do this, but they'er not designed to. You will need to get a better one. Most universal remotes won't get into the sound bar menus, but you can keep the original remote handy for that, because once you have the system set up, you won't need to get into those options very often.

Purchased a Sony HTCT60 and was pleased with the sound and simulated surround, but it didn't have bluetooth and a display to show what settings were on. So, I switched my loyalty to a Samsung, which (at least) used to be a good brand from my knowledge. The Samsung not only had the display to which I can see my settings, but it had bluetooth connectivity, and it was more powerful than the Sony by double the wattage. But Samsung's entry level sound bar sounds VERY muddy. If you want to hear crisp dialogue, this is a good investment, but overall sound quality is horrid. Sound effects are hollow and the music has no range. The soundbar will also randomly lower levels then bring them back up. This is not during when commercials change and the volume from HD to SD blasts you, but say you're watching the "Price is Right" and Drew will suddenly become mute then you can hear him again. Not cool. I love the bluetooth, even if it lags behind all the time. It doesn't connect to my cable remote control, even when the Sony did. I think it has something to do with Samsung pairing this to Samsung TV's, and if you're a Samsung TV or Smart TV owner, you don't have to use both remotes, just one. Sucks for us (like myself) without Samsung TV's that want to purchase this soundbar and minimalize our TV lifestyle. But the kicker for the one-star rating is the subwoofer clip, attaching the subwoofer cable to the soundbar. It broke within two weeks after moving around the TV area, the clip is designed to come off with lots of applied force, something my previous Sony didn't have. And when pulling out the clip, the wires broke, and I have no subwoofer now, and no way of sending this back to Amazon. I'll give this product 3/5 if Samsung's customer service can redeem themselves with my dilemma, other than that, I'm avoiding Samsung...forever

This soundbar is awesome! You'll notice an immediate difference if you're upgrading from the built-in speakers on your TV. The sound and bass easily fill up the room. For the price, this is an amazing deal and very hard to beat, in my opinion. My tv is a Samsung tv, so I love that the remote controls the basic functions of the tv, so I find myself not needing the tv remote often, and just use the soundbar remote. While the soundbar does sound good, and I feel it is a great value, for those with trained ears, you might find this soundbar a little lacking. I consider myself an amateur audiophile, but unfortunately, I don't have deep enough pockets to always get the best of the best. That said, at this price point I wasn't expected superior sound. And let's face it, no true audiophile would buy a 2.1 soundbar over a sweet 10.1 surround sound setup. This soundbar can lack clarity and sound muddy at times, and could use a little more treble. Which leads me to the only gripe that I really have about the soundbar... I wish you could adjust the EQ yourself, instead of trying to choose for presets that, frankly, don't sound all the great to my ear. Sure, you can increase the bass by adjusting the subwoofer output, but that doesn't really help when I want to crank the treble. Overall, I think this is an amazing deal for good sound, and for the vast majority of consumers, it's all you'll ever really need. I knew it wasn't going to be perfect going in at this price range, but for the size of the unit, and the space it frees up now that I moved my floor speakers out of the living room, I feel that it was money well spent. I would recommend it to almost everyone.