Samsung R5 360 Wireless Speaker Review

High tech, high quality, affordable price

by Steve Withers
MSRP: £364.99

What is the Samsung R5?

The R5 is Samsung's latest omni-directional wireless speaker and joins the recently released R1 and R3 in the cylindrical line-up, as well as the more egg-like R6 and R7 which were released in the summer of 2015. The idea behind Samsung's 360 range of wireless speakers emanates from market research that the company conducted into how we listen to music these days. The most common response was whilst doing something else, followed by in bed and then in the garden. So the 360 range was developed to deliver omni-directional audio that can sound good no matter where the speaker is positioned in the room and retain a balanced tone even as you move around. Along with being wireless, the R5 also supports Samsung's multiroom system and high definition audio, helping to justify its £365 price tag. So let's see if it measures up...

Design

As with all the speakers in the new 360 range, the R5 uses an identical cylindrical design, with a cloth grille around the entire outside. There is a dark grey finish and at the top you'll find a brushed metal effect with touch sensitive controls and an OLED display. The ultimate design is simple and minimalist but remains attractive; whilst the build quality is extremely good, although not as impressive as the more expensive R6 and R7.
Samsung R5
Samsung R5

As with the other speakers in the range there is a slot at the bottom of the speaker, which is finished in brushed metal and radiates the audio out in every direction thanks to acoustical lenses. The R5 is designed for table top placement and during testing it proved to be extremely stable. There are physical connections at the bottom and overall the R5 felt well made, measuring 313 x 166 x 166mm (HxWXD) and weighing in at 2.7kg.
The R5 is well made and the design makes it easy to position the speaker just about anywhere.

Connections & Control

As a wireless speaker, the R5 includes Bluetooth 4.0 and 2.4/5GHz dual band WiFi, allowing you to connect the speaker to your smart device or home network. It can also be connected to other Samsung speakers to create a multiroom system using Multiroom Link and it can be connected to any Samsung TV with TV SoundConnect. At the bottom there is a screw attachment for adding a compatible third-party stand, a USB port for service, a connector for the power cable and a speaker add/WiFi setup button.
Samsung R5
Samsung R5

The R5 has an OLED display, along with touch sensitive controls that include a Mode button that toggles through WiFi, Bluetooth and TV SoundConnect. When you select a mode the speaker tells you what you have selected using a voice audio user interface, as well as letting you know when it's connected and what surround setting is being used in a surround setup. On the right hand side is the volume up and down touch control and, if you tap the top, the speaker will pause and if you tap it again it will start playing. A long touch puts the speaker in to standby, whilst swiping left will play the previous track and swiping right will play the next one. You can also control the R5 using Samsung's Multiroom App 2.0 for iOS or Android.

Features & Specs

The R5 uses omni-directional technology to create a 360 degree sound field, thus eliminating the sweet spot, and delivering a spacious and more balanced room-filling sound. Samsung use ring radiator technology to create the omnidirectional soundstage, combined with a 1” tweeter at the top and a 5” woofer at the bottom. There are Acoustic lenses built into the speaker that radiate the audio out in a 360 degree sound field. You can setup the R5 as an individual speaker or it can be used as part of a multiroom system with speakers in different rooms.
Samsung R5
Samsung R5

As part of the multiroom system you can also group speakers together, using them as a stereo pair or even as part of a multi-channel setup. The R5 uses Samsung's Multiroom App 2.0, which allows you to directly connect your speaker to your wireless network via your smart device and then control it remotely. The app includes direct access, depthless playback and easy navigation via wheel dial. The app also provides access to music streaming services like Spotify, TuneIn and Deezer. In terms of files, the R5 supports MP3, FLAC, ALAC, WAV and AIFF and can handle audio up to 192kHz/24-bit.
Setup is easy, the remote app is effective and the multiroom capabilities are very flexible.

Setup & Operation

Setting up the R5 is straightforward enough, all you need to do is download the Multiroom app, plug the speaker in and pair it with your smart device using Bluetooth. You then launch the app on your smart device, type in your WiFi password and you're good to go. For the highest quality performance you should use the WiFi but you also have the option of using a Bluetooth connection. In addition if you own a recent Samsung TV you can wirelessly connect the R5 using TV SoundConnect.
Samsung R5
Samsung R5

Samsung's Multiroom App gives you direct access to your music as soon as you open it up and the home page has all the controls that you need to listen to your favourite tracks. It also allows you to navigate the speaker list and browser, as well as access the wheel dial to browse your music. There's depthless play to access music content without a screen change and background colour change by album art, along with universal search to find any music you want from diverse sources. Finally there's an improved queuing function that allows you to edit the queue and create your own music list.
Samsung R5
Samsung R5

The Multiroom app allows you to listen to music from your smart device, as well as Internet radio and music streaming services such as Spotify and Deezer. You can install additional speakers using the app, as well as control different speakers in different rooms or group them together, so you can listen to the same music all at once. Finally you can set the speakers up as surrounds in a multi-channel set up by using the Surround Mode which allows you to select the speaker and location.

Performance

Overall the sound quality of the R5 was generally very good and the speaker's main selling point - omnidirectional sound - proved to be quite effective. We found that the R5 delivered a tonally balanced and spacious soundstage that managed to fill the room, regardless of where we stood. The absence of a sweet spot fulfils the R5's main design objective of delivering music whilst doing other things and, as we moved around, we found the sound remained very listenable. In addition the tweeter handled the higher frequencies well, whilst the main driver delivered an excellent mid range that never sounded wooly.

The bass performance of the R5 was good, surprisingly so given its size, but at the same time it can't compete with the much larger and more expensive speakers. The R5 could also go quite loud without distorting, which meant that the speaker could fill even a reasonably sized room. Of course by eliminating the sweet spot, you also lose the sense of stereo separation but since the R5 is part of Samsung's multiroom system you also have the option to run two R5s as a stereo pair. We listened to our usual test music and the R5 handled it all very well, producing a sound with well defined high frequencies and a warm mid-range.

As we ran through our various test tracks we found that, when listening to female vocals the speaker never sounded harsh or thin and there was sufficient bass to give the rockier tracks plenty of impact. We listened to the first McAlmont & Butler album and the R5 handled the soaring vocals and complex guitar work very well; whilst Don Henley's vocals sounded suitably world weary on Cass County. The festive season gave us an excuse to listen to a number of Christmas songs on the Samsung, whilst the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens allowed us to test the speaker with a symphonic score and in all these cases it performed very well.
The R5 delivered a room-filling and balanced sound where the sweet spot has been effectively eliminated.

Conclusion

Pros

  • Excellent sound quality
  • No sweet spot
  • Effective multiroom app
  • Easy to setup and control

Cons

  • Loss of stereo separation

Samsung R5 360 Wireless Speaker Review

The Samsung R5 proved to be a great all-round wireless speaker that delivered a lovely sound for a decent price. It was large enough to produce an open room-filling sound and its omni-directional design eliminated the sweet spot, producing audio that was tonally balanced wherever you were in the room. Whilst the nature of its design means that the R5 does lose a sense of stereo separation, it also proves ideal for the way that many people listen to music these days. The speaker handled high and mid-range frequencies well and the bass performance was surprisingly good considering the R5's size. The speaker offers both WiFi and Bluetooth connection, along with remote app control, good file support and Samsung's multiroom system. It also manages to deliver a big sound that can compete with larger and more expensive speakers, including Samsung's own R6. It will largely depend on your priorities but if you're looking for a wireless speaker that combines quality and convenience, then the Samsung R5 is certainly worth a recommendation.

Scores

Sound Quality

.
.
8

Build Quality

.
.
8

Value For Money

.
9

Verdict

.
.
8
8
AVForumsSCORE
OUT OF
10

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