Samsung Music Studio 7 review: A great speaker on its own, and even better in a pair
The Music Studio 7 is one of two speaker collaborations between Samsung and French artist Erwan Bouroullec. The other is the Music Studio 5. The
The Music Studio 7 is one of two speaker collaborations between Samsung and French artist Erwan Bouroullec. The other is the Music Studio 5. The team-up resulted in a minimalist aesthetic, with both speakers looking more like sculptures than audio gear. Samsung explains that the refined designs are meant to blend in with home decor, but I'd argue the Studio 7's rectangular shape keeps it from doing so. It's obviously a speaker, even with the elevated overall look. Bouroullec and Samsung opted for solid panels on all sides, adorned with a dot pattern to allow sound to pass through. There are no mesh speaker grilles here. On the front, a concave circle sits at the top, centered on the Studio 7's front-facing driver. There's an LED indicator at the edge of the circle that lights up for various modes and statuses — like volume adjustments, for example.
On the top of the speaker, a row of buttons gives you access to the audio inputs, volume, playback controls and muting the microphone. Around back, there are optical and HDMI (eARC) ports (both rare finds) alongside a USB-A socket for service purposes. Inside, five drivers power the 3.1.1-channel setup. That's three main channels — left, right and center — along with a built-in woofer and one up-firing channel. That last one means that the Studio 7 can deliver real Dolby Atmos audio without the need for any virtualization tricks. The driver arrangement here allows the speaker to beam sound in four directions, blasting audio from every panel except the rear and bottom. Billy Steele for Engadget Samsung managed to cram a full suite of audio features into the Music Studio 7. There's SpaceFit Sound Pro room calibration, content-based Adaptive Sound, AI Dynamic Bass Control, Active Voice Amplifier dialogue boost, Group Play and high-resolution audio support (up to 24-bit/96kHz).
If you have a compatible Samsung TV, you can use a pair of Studio 7s in the living room with the company's Q-Symphony feature to use the television's speakers for more robust sound. Q-Symphony works with up to five Samsung speakers (including a soundbar), just in case you want to put the Studio 7 elsewhere in your home theater setup. That list of bonus features is long, and most of them are thankfully self-explanatory, with the exception of Group Play. This feature allows you to connect up 10 Wi-Fi-enabled Samsung speakers to play synchronized sound. The company doesn't say exactly which models support Group Play, only that you can use it with the new Music Studio 5 and 7, along with the Music Frame. The Studio 7 also supports wireless Dolby Atmos, if you have a compatible TV, and Google Cast and AirPlay 2 are onboard as well.
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