I tried Samsung's new 4K projector with built-in Dolby Atmos speakers, and it can replace a soundbar… with one big catch
Samsung finally unveiled its latest projectors, The Premiere 9 and The Premiere 7, in late August after first offering a sneak peek at CES 2024 and at IFA 2024 I got to see the Premiere 9 in action.
When it comes to the visuals, there's wasn't much surprising going on – it has a 'triple laser' projection design, the colors were rich and nuanced, and combined with the brightness of over 3,000 ANSI Lumens, it looked rich even with the lights on, and very impressive with them off.
But it wasn't the picture quality that I was most interested in (especially given it wasn't overall ideal viewing conditions – we'll review the Premiere 9 and get serious about that stuff later). Instead, the 2.2.2-channel Dolby Atmos sound system is the most fun part.
Samsung's demo footage was designed to show off what it can do with height and width, and you can really tell the system has the benefit of upfiring drivers, because even in a sub-optimal conference center room, elements of the sound steered across the 130-inch screen with precision, and burst up way higher than the low profile of the projector's body. The positioning had some specificity too, it didn't just run up or to the side – it felt like it had more of a clear point of height and width.
It was a pretty dynamic sound, and offered a solid grasp on detail and clarity, though not as strong as the best soundbars can go, if you spend a lot of month just on that, rather than having it bundled into your projector price.
But I was seriously impressed with the spatial sound and general home theater effect of the Atmos reproduction, and I don't think you'd need a soundbar in many cases, with one serious issue: bass.
Samsung has certainly tried to put bass into the Premiere 9 (it does claim two sub channels, after all!), but there's simply no physical way to put a really impactful subwoofer in a unit that large if you're also squeezing in a whole projector.