T450

Overview

The HW-T450 is the entry model of Samsung's 2020 soundbar range. The bar is 860 mm wide, 54 mm high and 74 mm deep, comes in black, and can be wall-mounted with the wall mount kit in the box.

It is a 2.1 system: the bar plus a wireless subwoofer, which is included. Samsung lists three speakers, a 6.5-inch subwoofer driver and a total power of 200 W.

The listed inputs are optical, Bluetooth and USB, and an optical cable is in the box. Samsung lists USB music playback. The box also contains the remote control with batteries, a wall mount template, the power cable and the manuals.

Samsung lists four sound modes (Surround Sound Expansion, Game, Standard and Smart) and Auto AV Sync. The bar is controlled with the included remote or the touch buttons on the bar.

What the specs mean

• 2.1 speaker setup: two main channels plus a subwoofer channel. The ".1" is the wireless subwoofer in the box, so no cable runs between the bar and the subwoofer.
• Optical input: the TV sends its sound over a digital optical cable. Samsung notes that a Samsung TV set to "Simultaneous Optical Output" sends the audio in PCM or Dolby Digital format.
• Audio formats: Dolby Digital, DTS and LPCM. Samsung lists the decoding as Dolby Digital 2ch and DTS 2.0ch.
• No HDMI passthrough: a streaming box or console connects to the TV, not to the soundbar.
• Wireless surrounds: the HW-T450 is ready for the Samsung SWA-8500S wireless rear speaker kit, which adds two rear speakers.