Adding a soundbar to your TV can greatly improve your watching experience, providing fuller, louder, and more immersive sound to complement your shiny, new TV. However, adding rear speakers and a subwoofer can turn your soundbar and TV combo into an immersive home theater.
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Samsung’s flagship soundbar, the HW-Q990F, comes with two rear speakers and a subwoofer, and includes a stellar lineup of home entertainment’s most star-studded features. I gave up my beloved Sonos Arc Ultra system for two weeks to spend some time with Samsung’s newest soundbar, and here’s what you should know before making a purchase.
Coming from last year’s model, the Q990F soundbar’s exterior received a slight redesign, as the coloring is a softer black-grey color instead of pure black. The Q990F’s external subwoofer is also more compact, with Samsung opting for a cubed design instead of a taller rectangular shape.
The Q990F is a large and imposing soundbar; it’s recommended for TVs 60 inches or larger, and its large stature does equate to big, room-filling sound. Despite its larger size, the Q990F has a sleek and modern design, sure to fit in with your home decor.
, and the two make a wonderful pair. Although you don’t need one of Samsung’s latest TVs to get the most out of the Q990F, some features, like Q-Symphony, can be unlocked only with a compatible Samsung TV.
Even without a Samsung TV, the soundbar is still a powerhouse. With 23 total speakers and an 11.1.4-channel setup, the Q990F is as flagship as it gets. As long as your TV has an eARC port, you can access a list of high-quality audio formats, like Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD, DTS Digital Surround, Multichannel PCM, and more. The Q990F supports HDMI eARC 2.1, Optical, and Bluetooth connectivity.
The Q990F gets exceptionally loud, and my choice of Dolby Atmos content consisted of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” on Disney+ and “WeCrashed” on Apple TV+. The former was a mix of heavy action scenes and dialogue, while the former consisted of heavy dialogue.
Samsung HW-Q990F rear speaker.
Jada Jones/ZDNET
Even in content not mixed for Atmos and instead encoded in PCM Multichannel, the rear speakers add a layer of immersion in the absence of height channels.
The Q990F sounds just as great playing TV shows and movies as it does playing music. It has deep bass, clear mids, and present highs. The Q990F has slightly less shine and crispiness in the highs compared to the Sonos Arc Ultra, but it’s not a deal-breaker.
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You can stream music directly from your TV, but the Q990F offers connectivity for an array of streaming services, platforms, device ecosystems, and voice assistants. This soundbar is compatible with Google Home, Chromecast, Spotify Connect, Roon, AirPlay, Tidal Connect, Alexa, and Bixby.
ZDNET’s buying advice
Compared to Sonos’ sound systems, the Samsung HW-Q990F. It helps that the soundbar is currently discounted by 20% ($400 off) on Samsung’s website
Source : ZDNet