The Samsung HW-T450 is an entry-level 2.1 setup that replaces the Samsung HW-R450 from 2019, which we haven't reviewed. It has a build quality unlike other Samsung soundbars as it's made from thin plastic and it uses a fabric covering to protect the speakers, which doesn't feel very robust. It also lacks a variety of inputs as it only has an Optical Audio In port as well as a USB port, which is a little disappointing. That being said, it offers a fairly well-balanced sound while still delivering a punchy bass, and there are also EQ presets available if you prefer a different sound.
Our Verdict
The Samsung HW-T450 is adequate for mixed use. It has limited inputs and it doesn't support Atmos content, which is disappointing for movie fans. It has a bass-heavy sound profile that can also be tweaked using its bass or treble adjustment features or you can select an EQ preset for easy customization. It's also pretty okay for dialogue-centric content like audiobooks as voices sound fairly clear and accurate. You can also stream your favorite content to the bar using Bluetooth, which is nice.
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EQ presets plus bass and treble adjustment available.
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Bluetooth compatible.
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No Atmos support.
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No room correction feature.
The Samsung HW-T450 is decent for dialogue and TV shows. While it has a bright and bass-heavy sound, it can reproduce fairly accurate and clear dialogue, which is well-suited for podcasts or soap operas. It can also get loud enough to fill a large room or a crowded environment, and you can stream your favorite audiobooks to it via Bluetooth. It lacks a dialogue enhancement feature, though.
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Bluetooth compatible.
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No room correction feature.
The Samsung HW-T450 is decent for music. Thanks to its wireless subwoofer, it has a punchy bass that should please most. While some may still find it a little light on low-bass, there are bass and treble adjustments available, as well as EQ presets to help you find the right sound. It can get loud enough for a large room or crowded environment. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a room correction feature.
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EQ presets plus bass and treble adjustment available.
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No room correction feature.
The Samsung HW-T450 is disappointing for movies. It doesn't support Atmos as it only has an Optical Audio In and USB port, and all surround content gets downmixed into 2.1 to play it. Although it has a bass-heavy but bright sound profile, it also lacks a little bit of low bass. Luckily, you can adjust the bass or use one of its EQ presets to get a sound that better suits your audio.
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EQ presets plus bass and treble adjustment available.
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No Atmos support.
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No room correction feature.
- 6.8 Mixed Usage
- 7.1 Dialogue/TV Shows
- 7.7 Music
- 6.0 Movies
- Updated Feb 18, 2021: Converted to Test Bench 1.0.
- Updated Sep 22, 2020: The Dynamics tests have been reconducted due to a value input bug.
- Updated Jul 29, 2020: Review published.
- Updated Jul 24, 2020: Early access published.
- Updated Jul 22, 2020: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Jul 20, 2020: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Jul 14, 2020: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Samsung HW-T450 comes in one color variant: 'Black'. However, some retailers sell a variant of this soundbar known as the Samsung HW-T410 or the Samsung HW-T47M. We expect these to be the same product, but with a different name, though we haven't tested it.
If you come across another variant, let us know in the discussions.
Compared To Other Soundbars
The Samsung HW-T450 is the next generation of the Samsung HW-R450 and HW-N450. This model has a bit more bass and it sounds a bit brighter compared to HW-N450. However, it isn't as well-built and it doesn't have as many inputs as it's lacking both an HDMI ARC and a Full HDMI In port, which is disappointing.
For more options, check out our recommendations for the best soundbars with subwoofer, the best soundbars for music, and the best soundbars under $300.
The Sonos Arc is a better soundbar than the Samsung HW-T450. The Sonos is better built with a better soundstage, center, and surround performance. Unlike the Samsung soundbar, it supports Dolby Atmos content and has built-in voice assistant support. It also comes with a room correction feature and an HDMI ARC port. However, the Samsung comes with EQ presets, unlike the Sonos.
The Samsung HW-T450 is better than the Sony HT-S100F. The Samsung comes with a dedicated sub that helps reproduce a more extended low-bass. It has better soundstage and surround performances, and some users may prefer its more neutral sound profile out of the box. That said, the Sony is better built and comes with an ARC port. It also has a better center channel performance.
The Polk Audio Signa S2 is a slightly better performing 2.1 setup than the Samsung HW-T450. While both bars have a similarly bass-heavy sound profile, the Polk can get slightly louder but with more compression artifacts present. It also has an HDMI ARC input so it supports Dolby Digital, is center and surround performances are a bit better, and it has a dialogue enhancement feature. However, only the Samsung supports DTS via its Optical Audio In port.
The Samsung HW-A450 is the next generation of the Samsung HW-T450. While the HW-A450 performs similarly to its predecessor in most regards, it now comes with a graphic EQ in addition to its presets, which is nice if you like to customize your audio experience. Its latency performance is better too. However, the HW-T450 comes with a virtual surround feature.
The Samsung HW-T550 is a better overall 2.1 setup than the Samsung HW-T450. The HW-T550 is better built, and it has both an HDMI ARC input as well as a Full HDMI In input, which allows it to support Dolby Digital content. It has a slightly more neutral sound profile, and it also has a dialogue enhancement feature as well as a graphic EQ.
The Samsung HW-N450 is a previous generation of the Samsung HW-T450, but it performs slightly better in some regards. The HW-N450 is slightly better built, its center and surround performances are a bit better, and it has a graphic EQ available. It also supports Dolby Digital over both its HDMI ARC and Full HDMI In ports. However, the HW-T450 is slightly more neutral sounding.
The Yamaha YAS-209 is a better overall performing 2.1 setup than the Samsung HW-T450. The Yamaha is a bit better built, and it has more physical inputs, including a Full HDMI In, so it can support Dolby Digital. It has a more balanced and neutral sound profile, and its center and surround performances are better too. Besides Bluetooth, you can also stream to it using Wi-Fi, which is nice, and it supports 4k @ 60HZ passthrough. That said, the Samsung can get louder, so it's better-suited for use in large rooms and crowded environments.
The Samsung HW-T650 is better than the Samsung HW-T450. The HW-T650 is a 3.1 setup that's better-built. It has better center and soundstage performances, and it comes with a dialogue enhancement feature.
The Samsung HW-T450 is a better soundbar for mixed usage than the Sony HT-S350. The Samsung reproduces a more extended low-bass, so you feel more thump and rumble in your audio. It also has a more neutral sound profile out-of-the-box, which some listeners may prefer. That said, the Sony is better built and comes with an HDMI ARC port.
The Samsung HW-A650 is better than the Samsung HW-T450. The HW-A650 is a better-built 3.1 setup with more physical inputs, including HDMI ARC and HDMI In ports. It has better center and surround performances, and there are more sound enhancement features available, like a graphic EQ.
The Samsung HW-Q600A is better than the Samsung HW-T450. The HW-Q600A is better-built, and it has a better center channel performance. Unlike the HW-T450, it supports Dolby Atmos content and has a graphic EQ for sound customization. There are more physical inputs, too, so you can connect it to your devices via ARC and Full HDMI In.
The Samsung HW-A550 is better than the Samsung HW-T450. The HW-A550 is better-built, and it comes with more sound enhancement features like a graphic EQ and dialogue enhancement. Also, it has ARC and Full HDMI In ports, so you have more physical inputs to choose from.
The TCL Alto 6+ is a better 2.1 setup for most uses than the Samsung HW-T450. The TCL is smaller, better-built, and its center and surround performances are better. It also has an HDMI ARC port. However, the Samsung has a slightly more balanced sound profile and it offers more sound enhancement features.
The Vizio V Series V21-H8 is a somewhat better overall soundbar than the Samsung HW-T450. The Vizio is better-built, and it comes with more connectivity options, including an HDMI ARC port and two AUX ports. It also has more sound enhancement features, including dialogue enhancement. That said, the Samsung has less compression at max volume, so it may be better suited for use during loud parties.
The Samsung HW-Q70T is a better overall soundbar than the Samsung HW-T450. The 3.1.2 Q70T is a more premium-looking, better-built setup than the 2.1 entry-level T450. Both setups have a decently well-balanced default sound profile, but the Q70T has more customization options that let you tweak the sound to meet your unique needs. Unlike the Q70T, the T450 doesn't support Atmos content, which is disappointing for movie fans. If you want to connect multiple devices to your soundbar, you'll appreciate that the Q70T has more input options than the T450.
The Sony HT-S200F is a slightly better performing 2.1 setup than the Samsung HW-T450. The Sony is slightly better built, and it's smaller in size. It also has a dialogue enhancement feature as well as an HDMI ARC input so it supports Dolby Digital. However, the Samsung is slightly more neutral and balanced, it has both a subwoofer and treble level adjustment feature, and it supports DTS via its Audio Optical In.
The Samsung HW-Q60T is better than the 2.1 Samsung HW-T450. The HW-Q60T is a 5.1 setup that's better built. It has better center and surround performances, and it offers more sound enhancement features like a graphic EQ. Unlike the HW-T450, it also has ARC and Full HDMI In ports.
Test Results
The Samsung HW-T450 doesn't look a lot like other Samsung models. Its front and top are covered in a slightly shiny thin fabric that resembles the Vizio SB3220n-F6. It uses thin black plastic everywhere else.
The subwoofer is made from mostly wood. Its front face is covered in fabric, but it feels thin and gets easily dusty or dirty.
The Samsung HW-T450 is a long bar but it should fit between the legs of most 55" TVs. It shouldn't obscure your screen either unless your TV sits flush to the table.
The Samsung HW-T450's subwoofer is about the size of an average desktop computer. As it wirelessly connects to the bar, you can place it anywhere in the room, as long as you connect it to a power source.
The back of the bar is fairly plain. There are two openings: the left side is for the power cable while the right side is for the inputs. You can also wall-mount the bar using the universal holes found on its underside.
The back of the subwoofer is very simple. Its port is located at the top, and the power cable input as well as the wireless pairing button are located at the bottom.
The Samsung HW-T450 has an acceptable build quality but it's a step down from the Samsung HW-N450. The bar is made from thin plastic and it doesn't feel heavy duty or robust. There's a fabric covering too, which is a little unusual for a Samsung soundbar, and it's fairly loose on the bar and can easily rip or collect dust.
- Manual
- Optical cable
- Remote
- 2x Batteries for remote
- 2x AC power cables
- Wall-mounting brackets with screws
The Samsung HW-T450 soundbar has a decent stereo frequency response. It sounds brighter than the Samsung HW-N450 and it has a touch more bass too. However, it's still lacking low-bass, so it isn't ideal for bass-heavy content like EDM or action-packed movies. That being said, there are a few EQ presets available so that you can find the best sound for your audio.
The Samsung HW-T450 has a decent stereo soundstage. It sounds a bit wider than the bar, which is better than the Samsung HW-N450, but the bar doesn't do any tricks to widen the soundstage. It has okay focus, and objects seem to come from more accurate pinpoint locations rather than general areas.
Update 09/22/2020: We've discovered a value input bug that would cause the Dynamics box results to be slightly off. All soundbars reviewed since January 30th, 2020 have been updated.
The Samsung HW-T450 has great stereo dynamics. It can get loud enough for a large room or crowded environment, and there aren't a lot of compression artifacts when you play it at max volume.
This soundbar has a decent THD performance. At a normal volume, it produces a clear and pure sound. However, when pushed to its max volume, there's a big jump in THD, especially across the bass range. However, it may not be so audible with real-life content.
As the Samsung HW-T450 is a 2.1 setup, it doesn't have a dedicated center speaker. Instead, it uses its left and right speakers to create a sound in the center, which sounds more diffused and less clear than discrete center speakers. Although it has a bass-heavy sound profile, this shouldn't affect its performance too much as there's not a lot of bass on the center channel anyway, so voices sound fairly clear and accurate.
The Samsung HW-T450 is a 2.1 setup and it downmixes surround content into stereo. It uses its left and right speakers to simulate a more immersive experience, but it doesn't sound as accurate or clear. Surround objects are perceived as coming from the front instead of to your sides or behind you.
This soundbar doesn’t have height channels and doesn’t support Atmos.
The Samsung HW-T450 has disappointing sound enhancement features. Unlike the Vizio V Series V21-H8, it lacks a dialogue enhancement feature. However, it has a few EQ presets available: 'Standard', 'Surround Sound', 'Game', and 'Smart'. You can also adjust treble and bass, but that's about it. If you're looking for a similar Samsung soundbar with a graphic EQ, try the Samsung HW-A450.
This soundbar has very limited inputs. Unlike the Samsung HW-N450, there's only an Optical Audio in and USB input, which is pretty disappointing.
This soundbar doesn't have an HDMI ARC port. If you're looking for a 2.1 setup with an HDMI ARC port, consider the TCL Alto 6+.
The Samsung HW-T450 ZA doesn't have a Full HDMI In port.
The Samsung HW-T450 can support Dolby Digital and DTS content via Optical Audio In, but it's downmixed to 2.1.
The Samsung HW-T450 has mediocre wireless playback connectivity options. You can only use Bluetooth to wirelessly stream audio to the bar, which is somewhat limiting.
This soundbar doesn't have an HDMI In port, so it doesn't support passthrough.
The subwoofer connects wirelessly to the soundbar. You can pair it by using the small button found on its lower right back. The only wired connection it has is its power cable.
The Samsung HW-T450's interface is simple. It's located in the middle of the bar, behind the fabric covering. It can only display six characters at a time and it has to scroll to complete words, which can be a little annoying. That being said, the screen isn't visible if you're not adjusting the settings. Otherwise, it shows you the volume number and the sound mode when adjusting your settings.
The Samsung HW-T450 ZA has four buttons found on the top middle of the bar. You can turn the bar on/off, adjust volume, and switch inputs.
The remote is the same style and control setup as the Samsung HW-N450. You can control all of the soundbar's settings by using it.