Samsung SHAPE M3 review

Unsurprisingly, with just a 25mm tweeter and 85mm woofer, the M3 didn’t have a massively expansive soundstage. Sound was quite claustrophobic but was detailed in the mids and trebles. We found the bass punchy with a lot of presence but it was at times overbearing. Noticeable on hip-hop and electronic tracks especially, the bass layer sometimes sounded artificially magnified over the other layers in a way we weren’t used to hearing. A single M3 was certainly loud enough to fill a room.

In order to unlock the multiroom potential of the Shape M3, you’ll need to purchase the separate WAM 250 Wireless Audio Hub (£50, www.currys.co.uk). This is a small box that you connect directly to your wireless router through an Ethernet cable that creates its own wireless network for the speakers. You then pair the hub with each speaker by pressing a pairing button first on the hub and then on each speaker.

It’s a quick and painless process but we would recommend plugging in the speakers you want to pair close to the hub while setting up to save walking through the house. The speakers will remember the pairing after you unplug them and move them to your desired location.

Once you’re set up, you’re free to send music to the speakers in multiple ways. You’re able to play tunes simultaneously on all speakers or different music to each speaker from different sources. You can also group speakers together to either play simultaneously or to create a stereo pair. Two M3 speakers in stereo certainly made up for the shortcomings of a single speaker when it came to stereo separation.

The WAM 250 hub will connect speakers across the entire Shape range and also works with a wide range of Samsung’s home theatre systems and soundbars, so it’s a useful way to expand your home audio system. In terms of music streaming service integration, however, Sonos comes out on top with far greater compatibility, and a much wider range of products. We also much preferred its app for audio control so it just beats the Shape M3 for our vote.