Samsung HW-B550 Review (2024)

The Samsung B550 has a similar design to last year's Samsung HW-A550. It's mostly made of plastic, and there's a metal grille covering the front and sides. It's very lightweight, too. However, compared to last year's model, the sides have an angled design that makes it stand out.

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Sub Wireless

Enclosure

The sub is quite simple. It's mostly made of wood, and a thin fabric covers the front.

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Satellite Wireless

While no satellites are included, you can add a Wireless Rear Speaker Kit from the manufacturer separately.

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Width 33.9" (86.0 cm)

Height 2.2" (5.6 cm)

Depth 3.0" (7.6 cm)

The Samsung B550 isn't very wide, so it fits between the legs of a 55" TV stand. Since it isn't very tall, it doesn't obscure your TV screen, which is nice.

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Width 7.2" (18.4 cm)

Height 13.5" (34.2 cm)

Depth 11.7" (29.7 cm)

The sub is roughly the same size as what you get with the Samsung HW-A550. It's equivalent to an average desktop computer, and it connects to the bar wirelessly for more flexibility when you add it to your living room.

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Width N/A

Height N/A

Depth N/A

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Mountable Bar

Bar Brackets Included

Mountable Satellites

Satellite Brackets Included

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The Samsung B550 has a great build quality. The bar itself is mostly made of solid, lightweight plastic, and the metal grille on the front and sides helps protect the drivers inside better than the fabric sides of the Samsung HW-B450. The sub is the weaker part of the design, though, as the fabric feels thin. It collects dust easily, too.

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Tested Preset

Slope

Std. Err.

Channels

Low-Frequency Extension

High-Frequency Extension

The Samsung B550 has a great stereo frequency response. It performs similarly to the Samsung HW-B450, as it sounds neutral right out-of-the-box, especially in the mids, where more voices and lead instruments reproduce. It's suitable for most music genres as a result, and dialogue in TV shows is clear and crisp. The subwoofer is controlled, but you notice the absence of low-bass with certain tracks, especially bass-heavy genres like EDM and hip-hop.

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Suggested Preset

Suggested Bass Setting

Suggested Treble Setting

Slope

Std. Err.

Low-Frequency Extension

High-Frequency Extension

The Samsung B550 comes with lots of sound enhancement features to help you get the best sound for your needs. If you prefer a more neutral response, it's best to use its default settings.

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Crosstalk Error

The Samsung B550 has a decent stereo soundstage. The soundstage is perceived to be about as wide as the bar itself, but it doesn't have any tricks to make it seem larger than that. It has good focus, though, especially compared to other 2.1 bars we've tested. As a result, sounds like instruments in an orchestral recording seem to come from accurate locations in the soundstage.

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SPL @ Max Volume

DRC @ Max Volume

The Samsung B550 has great stereo dynamics. It gets loud enough to fill most living rooms with sound. There's a little compression when you push it to max volume, especially in the bass range, but it's not too noticeable, so audio quality isn't degraded at loud volumes.

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Weighted THD @ 80dB

Weighted THD @ Max Volume

The Samsung B550 has a fair stereo THD performance. At a normal listening volume, distortion falls within good limits, so audio reproduction is clean and pure. There's quite a jump in distortion when you push it to max volume, though. Still, distortion is hard to hear, so casual listeners aren't as likely to notice it as serious audiophiles.

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Localization

Slope

Std. Err.

SPL @ Max Volume

Weighted THD @ 80dB

Weighted THD @ Max Volume

The Samsung B550 has an okay center channel performance. Since it's a 2.1 bar, it uses its left and right stereo speakers to simulate a phantom center channel. As a result, voices aren't quite as accurately localized as they are in bars with a discrete center channel. While its frequency response is a little bass-heavy, voices are still pretty clearly reproduced, and you don't have any issues understanding dialogue. If you want a similar bar with a discrete center, check out the Samsung HW-B650.

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Localization

Slope

Std. Err.

SPL @ Max Volume

Weighted THD @ 80dB

Weighted THD @ Max Volume

7.1 Rears

The Samsung B550 has a poor surrounds performance, typical of 2.1 bars. It has to downmix 5.1 surround sound formats like Dolby Digital and DTS into stereo to play them, which doesn't sound quite as immersive. Sound effects don't seem as clear and real in the soundstage—instead, it seems like they're just coming from a speaker placed in front of you.

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Localization

Slope

Std. Err.

SPL @ Max Volume

Weighted THD @ 80dB

Weighted THD @ Max Volume

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Room Correction

Dialogue Enhancement

Auto-Volume/Night Mode

Subwoofer Level Adjustment

Bass Adjustment

Treble Adjustment

EQ

Surround Level Adjustment

Rear Level Adjustment

Height Level Adjustment

Virtual Surround

The Samsung B550 has a decent selection of sound enhancement features. You don't have room correction like with more premium bars in the manufacturer's lineup, so it sounds a little different depending on your room's acoustics. Fortunately, you have lots of ability to customize its sound using its bass and treble adjustments and its graphic EQ. If you don't want to play around with the sound too much, there are also some preset modes: 'Standard', 'Surround Sound', 'Bass Boost', 'Game', and 'Adaptive Sound Lite'. The settings button on the remote gives you access to other tools like Night Mode, Voice Enhance, and the Audio Sync feature to reduce latency. If you choose to add on a Wireless Rear Speaker Kit, you can adjust its levels.

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Optical Audio In

HDMI Out

HDMI 2.1 Class Bandwidth

Full HDMI In

Analog Audio In 3.5mm (Aux)

RCA In

USB for Files

Ethernet

Subwoofer Output

The Samsung B550 has more inputs than the Samsung HW-B450. You can connect it to your TV using Optical or HDMI, and both cables are included with the bar, which is handy.

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Dolby Atmos

Dolby Digital

Dolby Digital Plus

Dolby TrueHD

DTS

DTS:X

DTS-HD MA

PCM Channels

Via HDMI ARC, the Samsung B550 supports Dolby Digital, which is the most commonly-used surround sound format that's often found on streaming platforms. There's DTS support, too, which is great if you watch a lot of Blu-rays. It doesn't support lossless or object-based formats like Dolby Atmos, though.

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Dolby Atmos

Dolby Digital

Dolby Digital Plus

Dolby TrueHD

DTS

DTS:X

DTS-HD MA

PCM Channels

The Samsung B550 supports Dolby Digital and DTS via Full HDMI In. It's helpful since Dolby Digital is the most common surround sound format, and you're likely to come across it on different streaming platforms. Often, DTS is a fallback for higher-quality DTS-HD MA formats found on many Blu-rays.

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Dolby Digital

DTS

PCM Channels

The Samsung B550 supports both DTS and Dolby Digital content via Optical. Since it's a 2.1 bar, it has to downmix it into stereo to play it.

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ARC

Optical

Full HDMI In

The Samsung B550 has a decent latency performance. It has fairly low latency, though its ARC input doesn't perform quite as well. You may notice a delay between the audio you hear and the video you see as a result. However, certain TVs and apps compensate for the delay differently, so your experience can vary. During our testing process, we didn't notice any lip-synching issues with videos or movies.

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1080p Max Refresh Rate

1080p @ 4:4:4 Max Refresh Rate

4k Max Refresh Rate

4k @ 120Hz @ 10-Bit

4k @ 4:4:4 Max Refresh Rate

8k Max Refresh Rate

HDR10 Passthrough

HDR10+ Passthrough

Dolby Vision Passthrough

HDMI Forum VRR Passthrough

FreeSync Passthrough

G-SYNC Passthrough

ALLM Passthrough

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Bluetooth

Wi-Fi Playback

Chromecast built-in

Apple AirPlay

Spotify Connect

The Samsung B550 lets you wirelessly stream audio from your mobile devices to the bar over Bluetooth.

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Display

There's a small screen on the side of the Samsung B550 that displays a maximum of four characters. It shows the volume number as you adjust it and the sound modes as you change them. It scrolls to complete longer messages and fades away when you aren't changing the settings.

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The buttons on top of the bar let you power it on/off, adjust the volume, and change the input.

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The remote is quite simple. You can use it to access to bar's features, including the sound modes. If you press the settings button, you can access other features like dialogue enhancement and night mode.

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Amazon Alexa

Google Assistant

Apple Siri

Microphone Mute

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