CES season is usually a soundtrack of wild gadgets; this year Samsung tried to change the tune. Instead of another flashy tower or neon-studded demo, the company dropped a quieter kind of showpiece: a full audio ecosystem that leans on design, modularity and a blunt insistence on low-end power.
At the center of that effort are two new wireless speakers — Music Studio 5 and Music Studio 7 — and an expanded line of soundbars that promise cinema-grade heft without forcing a living room to resemble a hi‑fi store. Samsung unveiled the range at CES 2026 and framed it as a system meant to move with everyday life: podcast mornings, focused afternoons, relaxed evenings.
Design that wants to be seen even when silent
For the Music Studio series Samsung tapped French designer Erwan Bouroullec, who gave the smaller model a flattened, arched silhouette that’s almost as thin as a picture frame. Bouroullec’s brief was deliberately aesthetic: make something you won’t forget the moment the music stops. The Studio 5 carries that sculptural ambition in black or white, and — unlike most bookshelf speakers — it reads as an object more than a box.
The Studio 7 adopts the same ‘dot’ motif but in a larger, more traditional column that hides a 3.1.1 channel layout. Both speakers echo Samsung’s recent effort to make tech fit interiors rather than dominate them; the company framed the launch as part of a broader home-entertainment strategy that also includes new soundbars and immersive formats. For Samsung’s own take on the announcement, see their newsroom post Samsung’s 2026 Audio Ecosystem.
What’s under the skin: features that matter
The small Studio 5 packs a 4-inch woofer and dual tweeters into that wafer-thin body, plus a waveguide and AI-powered Dynamic Bass Control to tighten low frequencies without blowing out the rest of the mix. It’s meant to offer a surprising amount of punch from a modest footprint, and Samsung has added one‑touch Spotify access and a palette of playful colors for people who want a pop on the shelf.
The Studio 7 is the premium option: left/center/right and up-firing drivers for spatial effects, Hi‑Res playback at up to 24‑bit/96kHz, and the ability to serve as rear channels for compatible Samsung TVs. Samsung says you can combine up to five Music Studio products into a Q‑Symphony configuration for TV sound and connect up to ten units for music-only setups — a modular path from single-room music to a surround-capable home cinema without a separate receiver.
Hands-on demos at CES and a small preview space reported crisp imaging and impressive bass depth when multiple Studio 7s were paired. Reviewers heard directional cues sweep cleanly across the soundstage; even without Dolby Atmos metadata the system produced convincing movement, especially when four units were used as a makeshift surround array.
Soundbars pushing down — and up
Samsung didn’t stop at speakers. The company previewed new soundbars including the HW-Q990H for cinema-grade setups and the HW-QS90H, a convertible, all-in-one bar that stuffs multiple woofers and up-firing drivers into a single chassis. Early listens described the QS90H as ‘punchy’: lots of integrated bass from four dedicated woofers, and a gyroscope that flips driver roles depending on whether you wall-mount the bar or place it flat.
That integrated-bass playbook is clearly aimed at competitors such as the Sonos Arc Ultra. It’s a crowded space: compact systems that avoid external subwoofers are convenient, but they also invite hard comparisons on dynamics and scale. Samsung seems prepared to trade a little furniture real estate for cleaner, fuller low end.
Context and competition
Samsung’s audio move fits into a wider company push to own more of the living-room experience — from display tech to immersive formats — and follows other initiatives around HDR and content formats. Those display and format efforts have their own momentum; Samsung’s recent HDR10+ Advanced announcement is part of that evolution Samsung Unveils HDR10+ Advanced to Rival Dolby Vision 2. At the same time, the brand is positioning hardware for next-gen content layers and XR experiences as it expands device playbooks Samsung Prepares Global Push for Galaxy XR.
Practically speaking, the Music Studio family looks like a direct shot at Sonos and other multiroom players: distinctive design, modular configurations and a mix of Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. Pricing and ship dates are still TBD — a key question for whether these will undercut or sit alongside established rivals.
For who and where
If you prize design that doubles as décor and want the option to grow a system piece by piece, the Studio speakers are compelling. If you want brute cinematic bass without dragging a subwoofer into your living room, Samsung’s QS-line bars will be worth auditioning. For apartment dwellers, a slender Studio 5 might be the nicest speaker you never knew you wanted; for people building a surround setup, a cluster of Studio 7s showed surprising spatial coherence in demos.
Samsung has threaded design, AI tuning and modular connectivity into an ecosystem that’s as much about how audio sits in a room as how it sounds. It’s a reminder that, this year, the smartest thing a speaker can do may be to disappear visually — and then hit you with a serious low end when you press play.