Podcast #1010: Samsung TV Plus and Belkin's Soundform Connect AirPlay2 Adapter Review

This week we discuss free TV on your Samsung TVs and mobile devices via Samsung’s TV Plus service. We also have a review of Belkin’s Soundform Connect AirPlay2 Adapter. And as usual, we read your emails and talk about the week’s news.

Samsung TV Plus: the free TV streaming service explained

Curious about Samsung TV Plus? If you’ve just bought a new Samsung TV, are seriously considering it, or are just now exploring every inch of your smart TV interface, you might be wondering what this free (yes, free) content service is all about. Full Article here…

What is Samsung TV Plus? A free, ad-supported content service, available on Samsung TVs and (if you're in the US) your web browser. Despite similar naming conventions, it is not a paid subscription service in the vein of Disney Plus or Apple TV Plus When did it launch? Samsung TV Plus was created in 2015 How many Samsung TV Plus channels are there? Varies between regions (more on this below) Can I remove Samsung TV Plus? You can’t delete the entire app from your Samsung TV, though you can remove individual channels within the app for a cleaner interface Is Samsung TV Plus free? You betcha. Save those coins for a new soundbar or something Is Samsung TV Plus the same as Rakuten TV? No. The TV Plus app does include some Rakuten TV channels, though.

There are over 500 TV channels available worldwide through Samsung TV Plus, though you’ll only get a portion of that total in each region:

US: 120 Germany: 64 Austria: 64 Switzerland: 64 UK: 49 Canada: 35 Korea: 35 Thailand: 30 France: 26 Spain: 18 Italy: 18

Which TVs support Samsung TV Plus?

The exact Samsung TV models that support Samsung TV Plus will, again, vary between regions, but you can count on it featuring on new and recent models. 

We’re told by Samsung that all 2016-2020 smart TVs in the US, Europe and Thailand support the service, while those of you in Canada can access it on Samsung TVs made in 2017 onwards. In Samsung’s home nation of Korea, though, TVs as old as 2013 support the service.

New-for-2020 models like the Q950TS or Q80T QLED will come with dedicated Samsung TV Plus buttons on the TV remote, too – that is, in the US and Canada.

Belkin Soundform Connect

Belkin has released a $99 adapter called the Soundform Connect that turns any powered speaker, receiver/amplifier, or soundbar into an AirPlay2 compatible device.  The Soundform Connect is in limited supply. It took us about four weeks after we ordered it to receive ours. 

The first thing we noticed after opening the package was how small it is. It's about the size of two Tic Tac cases stacked on top of each other (43.4mm / 1.71in x 62mm / 2.44in x 19mm / 0.75in). Power comes from a typical mobile phone adapter with a USB-C cable. The size makes it a viable alternative to finding a used Airport Express on eBay. Although the Airport Express does have one advantage that we will talk about in a bit.

Features:

Stream from iOS and Mac devices on your existing stereo Play music in multiple rooms with other AirPlay 2-enabled speakers Easy AirPlay 2 pairing  Connect to any speaker or receiver with an optical or 3.5mm audio input (Cables not included) 2-year warranty

Setup

Setup took about five minutes. You power on the device and move your iPhone close to it.  Then you choose the “setup device” in the wifi settings. There is a step where you aim your camera at the code on the back of the unit. This was problematic for us because the printing was difficult for our camera to differentiate from the background. At this point we entered the code manually. Once connected we gave our device a meaningful name and connected an optical cable to our amplifier. You can also use a 3.5mm cable if desired. Once all the connections were made we were on our way.

Performance

There is not a whole bunch to say about performance here. It worked like all other AirPlay2 devices on our network. The music was clear with no dropouts during our testing. When playing with multiple AirPlay2 devices, there were no sync issues. The specs on the Soundform Connect state that it supports CD-quality sample rates of 16-bit, 44,100 Hz (44.1 kHz) resolution. Which is the highest resolution AirPlay will support. We did play Hi-Res Lossless content from our computer which was transcoded to CD quality. It sounded fantastic!

Conclusion

If you have a need to convert a powered speaker, soundbar, or receiver to AirPlay2, the Belkin Soundform Connect is a no brainer. It's small, easy to set up, and works flawlessly. But with that said, if you don’t mind a slightly bigger form factor, you may want to consider buying an Airport Express on ebay for about $50. It has the exact same functionality for $50 less.