The Samsung Wireless Audio 360 R7
The Samsung Wireless Audio 360 R7 is a big egg-shaped wireless speaker that is compatible with either Android or iOS smartphones and offers a 360-degree, omni-directional surround sound. The speaker can be controlled using Samsung’s Multiroom app (available on Apple too) to adjust volume from other devices connected to the same sound system such as a TV or Soundbar, and even listen from other various music sources online such as Spotify. It’s been in Malaysia for quite some time now and it cost RM2199 (with GST), but is it worth your jam? Read below to check it out.
Design, Tech Specs and Features - A futuristic egg speaker and a handy app
The top of R7
The first impression that I had when I opened up the box was that the Samsung R7 really reminded me of the alien egg from the movie franchise Alien, besides that it also look like a football (American version) and it's futuristic looking. The 181 x 422 x 181 mm speaker comes in either black or white colour, supported by a nice silver chrome stand, and it actually weighs 3.4kg. Carrying it around may seem like a hassle at first, but thanks to its egg-shaped design it’s fairly easy to move it around once you figured it out. It also has a plug at the bottom for power source.
The controls above the woofer
The 1-inch tweeter
The 5-inch woofer is located at the middle-bottom and the 1-inch tweeter on the very top, this was designed in such a way that it gives a 360-degree omni-directional surround sound no matter where you put it. The control are just above the woofer area, and only the volume control have the buttons whereas the rest (play/pause, TV sound connector and power on/off) are touch sensor. Besides that, if you’re willing to pay a bit more (prices vary in different regions), you can also choose the speaker to stand on a tripod or hang from the top with a ceiling mount.
Ceiling mount (left) and tripod stand (right)
Tech Specs of the Samsung Wireless Audio 360 R7:
- Compatible with Android (2.3.3 above) and iOS (6.1 above)
- Wireless LAN Built-in (2.4 / 5 GHz Dual Band), Bluetooth 4.0 and TV Sound Connect
- HD Audio Playback
- Supports AAC (DRM free only), MP3 (up to 320 kbps), WAV (Up to 192 kHz / 24 bit), OGG, WMA, FLAC (Up to 192 kHz / 24 bit), AIFF (Up to 192 kHz / 24 bit), ALAC (Up to 192 kHz / 24 bit)
The Multiroom menu
Now feature wise, Samsung really wants you to play with the Samsung Multiroom app for the R7. This app, according other reviewers it has been praised for its improvement from the previous version (which I never had before). So what do I think of the app being a new user? Well, setting it up was plain easy. The app was kind enough to show me a setup tutorial, it will teach you how to connect your device via Bluetooth or wirelessly (voice call on your smartphone doesn’t work, I tried). Overall, the purpose of the app is to access and play your songs from various sources, like your smartphone, radio channels, online music services (Spotify and others), and also allows you to edit your playlist.
Multiroom front page after connecting successfully
The rotating scroll around the song image is pretty cool to find songs
Most of the time, you would probably want to connect your smartphone and R7 wirelessly together because the connection is better (obviously), connecting them together with Bluetooth is good too but if you’re at a certain distance (estimated 10 meters) the signal starts dying out and the music will lag. Not to mention, the Bluetooth won’t connect all your songs into the R7 as well, I know because I have 1000 songs in my playlist and half of them weren’t even in there. However, that’s not to say wireless connection is perfect. If the line is too lagging, it will lose the connection too.
Song searching is good
Arranging the playlist
On the other hand, the Multiroom app is also capable of connecting and controlling multiple sound devices at the same time. You can edit the names according to the speaker’s location, and if you happen to have two R7’s, you’re in for a cinematic experience in your living room (which I couldn’t do).
The option to choose other speakers if available
Option to rename speakers
Performance - Powerful and crisp
Now this is where the fun begins, if you’re a "musicholic" like me then I’m pleased to say that the R7 really delivers the sound. If you’ve seen my hands-on video on the R7 (below), then you know what I’m saying. The R7 can play almost any type of genre effortlessly, not to mention you can tweak the audio setting to your liking too in the Multiroom app.
Frankly speaking, I think the R7 sounds best in the living room because of how it was designed to produce the omni-directional sound and it should be used to its full potential, even when turning on the volume doesn’t make the R7 feel like exploding. However, I must comment that there are times that there’s something missing in the bass. The feeling is like when you’re trying to do a 3 pointer shot in a basketball game but missed with an air-ball, you know, the so close yet so far kind of impression. But then again, the song quality also truly depends on the source you got it from.
You can set the audio setting to your preference
Conclusion - A pricey high quality egg beacon device
There is a downside of course, which is the RM2199 (with GST) price tag (and maybe the bass sound too if you’re like me) which is quite expensive. But this is the price to pay for a high quality speaker, and keep in mind that most high quality audio sound devices like the R7, headphones and even earphones are around the same price too (if not, higher). So if you have the budget I say go for it, but if you’re not into this kind of thing then you can forget about it.
Anyway, the Samsung Wireless Audio 360 R7 is a great speaker for entertainment purposes, you can have it in parties, or dance to the music home alone like Tom Cruise from Risky Business movie. I think putting it in the living room is really suitable because of its design and aesthetic value. Multiroom may seem like an unnecessary app too to some people but it comes in handy to control the R7 and other multiple sound devices from a distance wirelessly, not to mention it can play other music services too like radio stations and Spotify.
Oh yeah, you can even set an alarm on the app too lol
Hmm, having it on New Year’s Eve party tonight would be sweet. Thanks for reading, everyone. And Happy New Year!
*TechNave.com would like to thank Samsung Electronics Malaysia for providing us with the Samsung Wireless Audio 360 R7 for this review. It allowed us to do a more in-depth review and highlight more features.
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