Philips unveils Fidelio FS1 speakers with Ambilight and Atmos support
Not enough Ambilight in your life? Philips’ FS1 wireless speakers have you covered
Not content with upgrading the Ambilight system for its 2022 premium TVs, Philips has also added the lighting system to its latest home theatre wireless Fidelio speaker system.
The Fidelio FS1 wireless satellites, which are designed to act as rear satellites in a Dolby Atmos setup, stereo units or as standalone speakers in a multiroom system, have eight LEDs adorning the rear panel.
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This means that, when they’re connected to a compatible Philips TV set, they act as extenders to the Ambilight system, filling your room with the same colours that appear on the TV set.
Ambilight isn’t the FS1’s only talent, however. The speakers also have upwards-facing, angled 2.5in mid-drivers, to facilitate rear Dolby Atmos height effects, 1in front-firing tweeters and downwards-firing 3.5in woofers, plus a pair of passive radiators mounted opposite each other on the left and the right sides of the speaker’s housing.
The FS1 join the recently announced Philips’ premium 7.1.2 Dolby Atmos-enabled Fidelio FB1 soundbar and Fidelio FW1 wireless subwoofer in Philips’ 2022 Fidelio home theatre range. All hooked up together, this setup offers an impressive 7.2.4 channels of surround sound. Philips also says setting all these speakers up is simple, with extra units being detected and optimised automatically.
I was given a demo of the complete system at the launch in Berlin and it sounded seriously impressive, the FW1 serving up huge amounts of deep, rich bass, plenty of detail and a broad, enveloping soundscape.
It’s difficult to gauge sound quality properly on the show floor but it’s clear the system is capable of delivering both music and film audio with plenty of gusto.
The downside of the FS1 is, perhaps inevitably, the price. At £598 for a pair they’re costly enough, but add in the FB1 soundbar and the FW1 subwoofer and the total cost rises to well over £1,500. That’s a fair amount to pay, but with some premium soundbars coming in at well over £2,000, it looks to be reasonably good value for what you’re getting.
