Multi-room Wi-Fi-enabled wireless speakers has become the mantra for many audio companies recently and Samsung certainly is a player in this arena. Presently, there at least eight different platforms and players in the wireless multi-room audio space with the market getting more and more crowded over time. The similarities are that the speakers are all wireless in one or more ways, either via a proprietary wireless network, regular Wi-Fi connections and/or Bluetooth capability. Furthermore, each of these different platforms has the ability to play different music in different rooms and at different volumes or synchronize the same music throughout a home or business. Most of these platforms have their control apps for iOS or Android, but after that the common ground starts to fade.
Samsung's Radiant-360 speakers are built on the assumption that placement of these multi-room speakers may not be ideal, and they're likely to be used most often one at a time (one in each room) so these ones feature an Omni-directional design that places the listener in the "sweet spot" regardless of where the speaker (or the listener) is located. Samsung believes this will free the listener from having to worry about where speakers are placed or where the listener is sitting or standing, without sacrificing sound quality. However, I should also mention that if you do have the space, budget and inclination, you can pair two of the Radiant-360 speakers together in a true stereo pair and get even more realistic true stereo sound.
The models R1, R3 and R5 are joining the existing R7 wireless Radiant-360 speakers that were announced at CES earlier this year. The company brought the new models to New York City for a press event last week and I had a chance to check them out. All these speakers feature Samsung's "Ring Radiator" technology which uses a circular down firing woofer radiating in a 360 degree pattern, as well as acoustic lens technology to radiate the high frequency sound from the tweeter in all directions. This design goal gives the new Radian 360 speakers a cylindrical shape while the R7 is more egg-shaped.
The new Radiant 360 speakers sport an integrated control panel on-top allowing users to adjust the volume, play, pause, advance or repeat manually on the speaker itself without having to go to the app. Another thoughtful function and added value is the ability to connect any of the Radiant 360 speakers to a compatible Samsung TV, to improve TV sound, or link them with a Samsung Sound Bar to provide wireless rear speakers. You can even use 5 of these speakers for a discrete 5-channel surround sound sound system: now that's flexibility.
The R7 is already on the market for $449 and the R1, R3 and R5 are expected to be available in mid-October for $199, $299 and $399 each respectively.
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