Last week I reviewed the Samsung S95D, and I gladly labelled it the best TV I’ve ever used. The picture quality, enhanced by a jaw-dropping OLED panel, was remarkable – but I’d be misleading you if I didn’t talk about the sound machine of the review, the Samsung HW-Q990D soundbar.
The sound of the Samsung S95D wasn’t bad at all, but as far as Samsung is concerned, the living room entertainment suite isn’t complete without an accompanying soundbar. And if we’re talking about the best-in-store TV, we’ll be talking about the best-in-store soundbar. This review isn’t an endorsement of ‘this is the best soundbar I’ve ever used’, because I simply haven’t used many – it’s more an endorsement of this tech, and to say: yep, it rocks (and rolls).
Sounds good to me
Let’s get the tough bit out of the way first – the Samsung HW-Q990D soundbar cost $2,099 when it arrived in Australia – though the Samsung website now lists it at $1,999. That’s a lot of money, no ifs or buts about it, but for the price you get a good assortment of gear. Included is a very capable soundbar that sits below your TV, two speakers to position around your couch for surround sound, and a very nice subwoofer.
The soundbar connects to your TV via a HDMI ‘eARC’ port – eARC being Samsung’s proprietary sound technology, that’s reserved for a single HDMI port, and through which the soundbar must be plugged, otherwise, you won’t get the best experience (compatible TVs will warn you if it’s plugged into the wrong port). The surround speakers are wireless, as is the subwoofer, so you won’t get tangled during setup and if you need to move things around (obviously they all require a power connection, so keep the power board handy behind the couch). If you don’t want to use the eARC port for a soundbar, the good news is the soundbar can be connected wirelessly to the TV too (provided it’s compatible, AKA, provided it’s Samsung).
To run through the specs, the setup contains 11 front-facing speakers (22 speakers total), a subwoofer, and four up-firing channels. It has four modes: Surround Sound Expansion, Game Pro, Standard, and Adaptive (we kept it at Adaptive, because we only had the soundbar for a single night, and wanted to see how it faired when automatically switching between modes).
It has two HDMI In ports, one HDMI Out, one Optical In, Bluetooth compatibility, Wi-Fi compatibility, and a separate remote, though when paired with a compatible Samsung TV, the TV can take over the sound so it can all be controlled with the single TV remote.
It’s also compatible with the SmartThings app and has Wireless Dolby ATMOS support, Spotify Connect capability, AirPlay, Chromecast, and Samsung’s Q-Symphony support. Q-Symphony is Samsung’s tech that allows speakers from the soundbar and TV to play in tandem, so you get more audio tech at your disposal.
It also has Google Voice Assistant and Amazon Alexa support, and in the box, you’ll get a wall-mount bracket in case you need it.
Was it music to my ears?
I ran the Samsung HW-Q990D (and the TV) through a few different movies, games, and TV shows. Oppenheimer, Invincible, Fallout, Shogun, Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023), and Forza Horizon 5 were among my tests.
Among these vastly different things, I never felt a need to adjust the sound all too much – sound levelling seemed fine across everything I watched and played, and I never felt a need to adjust for a new thing.
To state the obvious: the sound was brilliant. The rich sound all around me made it feel like I was in a cinema, paired with the brilliant panel I was watching shows on. The sound filled the gigantic living room I was watching content in, supported by Samsung’s sound software which no doubt played a big part. That includes stuff like:
- SpaceFit Sound Pro, which adjusts base levels depending on reverberations in the room
- Adaptive Sound with Active Voice Amplifier, which adjusts sound quality in real-time, based on ambient noise in the space
- Private Rear Sound, activates only the rear speakers, in case someone is sleeping in the house and you don’t want to wake them.
The only thing that maybe degraded the experience was the LED panel on the soundbar. It’s mostly inoffensive and fine, but from far away it’s extremely difficult to read. I don’t want to overcomplicate things, but I’d love it if this panel were on the remote, so I could see what it says up close.
The verdict: should you buy the Samsung HW-Q990D?
I recommend the Samsung HW-Q990D if you’re after the ultimate audio experience in your home, but at $1,999, it’s not aimed towards everyone. This is if you’ve achieved the best possible visual experience, and know that it needs to be paired with the best possible audio experience.
It does, however, need to be paired with a Samsung TV for the best possible experience, but that’s the nature of home cinema experiences these days. Not to say Samsung’s TVs are bad in any way, mind you.
The Samsung HW-Q990D is available from Samsung online, JB Hi-FI and Harvey Norman from $1,995.
Image: Zachariah Kelly/Gizmodo Australia