Samsung announces two new Dolby Atmos sound bars

Samsung has announced its first Dolby Atmos-compatible sound bars, the HW-K950 and the HW-K850, which include features such as dedicated rear speakers.

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Ty Pendlebury is a journalism graduate of RMIT Melbourne, and has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about streaming and home audio.

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Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.

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Ty Pendlebury

Jan. 3, 2016 10:26 a.m. PT

Samsung has announced two new Dolby Atmos-compatible sound bars, the HW-K950 and the HW-850, will be available in the summer of 2016.

The HW-K90 ($1499) will be the first Dolby Atmos sound bar to include dedicated rear speakers. It will appear alongside a second Samsung Atmos sound bar, the HW-K850 ($899) which does not include rears.

The HW-K950 debuted at CES 2016 in Las Vegas includes a wireless subwoofer and wireless rear speakers in a 5.1.4 setup for overhead effects from Dolby Atmos. The Samsung HW-K950's main unit is 2.1 inches tall and features ceiling-facing drivers as well as three forward-firing drivers.

Samsung Soundbar 950 comes complete with a subwoofer and rear speakers for full 360 degree sound.
Sarah Tew/CNET

Meanwhile the new HW-K850 is a 3.1.2 setup with overhead fronts--it's essentially the same soundbar but without the wireless rears. Samsung informed us that users can add the company's Multiroom speakers as rears if they wish.

Unfortunately for movie fans neither sound bar will be able to decode the competitive DTS:X format.

Yamaha released the only other Atmos sound bar on the market, the YSP-5600, in December 2015 which comes without a sub or rear speakers and retails for $1,599 (£1,599, AU$2499).

Dolby Atmos and DTS:X are "object-based" surround formats, which include height information intended to provide more immersion than standard 5.1 or 7.1 soundtracks.

Australian and UK availability of the HW-K950 and the HW-850 is yet to be announced.

Updated April 12, 2016, 4:30 p.m. EST: Samsung has announced pricing and availability of both the HW-950 and the HW-850.