Skip to main content

Samsung’s new multi-room speaker pods offer 360 degrees of sound

Samsung’s burgeoning line of multi-room wireless speakers is about to expand — in all directions. Following last year’s premiere of the futuristic M7 and M5 fin-shaped speakers, Samsung today unveiled to new pods of sound to add to the fold, the WAM7500, and the WAM6500, both of which will make their debut next week at CES in Las Vegas.

The WAM series is designed around a growing new trend in wireless audio in which speakers emit audio in all directions to fill the room with sound from any focal point. The new speakers follow other spherical sonic companions like the similarly designed Kickstarter darling, the Archt One speaker.  Samsung’s new speakers achieve their wafting 360-degree radius of sound thanks to a proprietary driver design called “Ring Radiator” technology.

Recommended Videos

Looking remarkably close to something you’d find on the bridge of a starship in a sci-fi flick, both of Samsung’s new speakers offer an attractive way to get your audio fix without rearranging the room, and are sure to draw attention even in silence. The WAM7500 Table Top speaker is meant to be the centerpiece of your listening room, while the smaller WAM6500 is designed for portability, with a handle and a rechargeable battery on board so you can take the sound with you.

The Ring Radiator driver configuration is promised to provide balanced audio across the bass and treble in all directions. Samsung developed the speakers as the first offering to come out of the company’s shiny new “state-of-the-art” audio lab in Valencia, CA.

The speakers will connect to Samsung’s Multi-room app, a Sonos-like system that allows the user to play audio from multiple sources including smartphones, computers, and Internet services, as well as working in tandem with select Samsung TVs, Blu-ray players, and sound bars.

In addition to its new pods of sound, Samsung has announced a few new curved sound bars designed to match its line of curved LED TVs. Joining Samsung’s curved 7500 model are three new models, including the 6000, the 6500, and the 8500 for an array of sizes from 45 to 78-inches to match up with just about any curved TV in the Samsung fleet.

We’ll have an in-depth look at all of Samsung’s new audio gear from the CES showroom floor in Vegas next week, so stay tuned.

Ryan Waniata
Former Home Theater & Entertainment Editor
Ryan Waniata is a multi-year veteran of the digital media industry, a lover of all things tech, audio, and TV, and a…
Nothing Headphone 1 Review: A surprisingly good first-gen product
The ears and unique design on the Nothing Headphone 1 in white.

If you like unique technology, there’s a strong chance you’ve seen products from London-based Nothing. The company, co-founded by OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, has built a cult-like following with striking designs that were designed to stand out from the crowd. 

Nothing has made earbuds before, but the Headphone 1 is the company’s first foray into the world of over-ear headphones that Apple, Sony, and Bose normally dominate. In typical Nothing fashion, the Headphone 1 aims to provide ample sound in a strikingly different design at a price that still offers value for money.

Read more
You Asked: Large OLED vs. Huge QLED? Biggest QD-OLED TVs?
Chris answers your questions on OLED, LG G5 vs G2, and whether 77 inches is enough
You Asked Ep 98

On today’s episode of You Asked: Is there ever a reason to not get the best OLED panel available? How much of an upgrade is the LG G5 over the G2? And is a 77-inch OLED enough, or do you need to go even bigger?

Always buy the best OLED panel tech?

Read more
The best Prime Day audio deal I found comes from an unexpected brand
It doesn't get better than this in the audio segment, and certainly not at this discounted price.
Apple AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C and MagSafe review

I test all kinds of audio gear around the year, and every time someone asks me about AirPods, I religiously suggest a few alternatives. It’s not because the AirPods are bad. Far from it, actually. It’s just that they are a little too pricey for what they offer, especially when it comes to the Pro model.

While they excel at noise cancellation and transparency, they can’t quite deliver the kind of rich audio when pitted against the likes of Sony’s WF-1000 and Sennheiser’s Momentum series earbuds. The margin, I'll add, is very small. Plus, terms like "price cut," "discounts," and "deals" don't often play well with Apple's premium reputation, so you rarely see them at a bargain point.

Read more