Here's Why I'd Buy the Last Samsung Soundbar First

Sometime successful the past 5 years, Samsung reached highest soundbar. After years of worldly updates to its flagship surround-sound HW-Q990, a multi-channel, multi-speaker whiz of a Dolby Atmos system, Samsung achieved what it looked to achieve. Once you enactment 22 speakers into an 11.1.4-channel masterclass of location theatre efficiency, it becomes hard to amended upon materially. Audio physics lone spell truthful far, and processing lone gets truthful overmuch better.

The past respective models of the Q990 person seen lone insignificant updates. We've gotten a somewhat smaller and much businesslike subwoofer, caller bundle features, and—in the lawsuit of our existent favorite, the Q990D—an upgrade to its HDMI ports for HDMI 2.1 support. These changes are nice, and the HDMI alteration is particularly notable if you’re connecting a mates of game consoles to the barroom directly, but different they're not precisely groundbreaking, and they surely don't impact the dependable much.

For years, A/V exertion Parker Hall and I person recommended high-end soundbar buyers conscionable snag the anterior year's Q990 bid for astir a 1000 bucks off. Looking for the champion Dolby Atmos soundbar for the money? Why bargain caller if the acquisition is truthful similar?

This wouldn’t look similar overmuch of a revelation—older models of thing are often lone somewhat worse than newer ones, and they're often cheaper—except for the existent terms discrepancy betwixt this twelvemonth and past year's Q990.

Herein lies the rub: Samsung’s 2025 exemplary HW-Q990F retails for around $1,800 (sometimes dropping to $1,700), portion astatine the clip of writing, the Q990D sells for astir fractional that price, at astir $998. We recovered the Q990F remarkably akin successful show to the Q990D (and adjacent erstwhile Q990 models). While the caller Q990H has yet to arrive, it appears to connection mostly insignificant bundle updates. I accidental there's a accidental it brings a notable leap successful performance, but see those of america who person heard the past respective models dubious.

That's a large crushed wherefore 2023's Q990C was our prime for the Best Dolby Atmos soundbar for 2 generations, and wherefore I’m assured the Q990D volition person akin staying power. At nether a expansive for 11.1.4 channels betwixt the bar, subwoofer, and wireless surrounds, you won’t find a much fluid, musical, and downright cinematic strategy for the money. For astir folks, it conscionable doesn’t marque fiscal consciousness to drawback the newer models (sorry, Samsung).

The Key to Great Atmos? Lots of Speakers

When Samsung revamped its 9.1.4-channel HW-Q950T to the curiously titled HW-Q950A (the prototype that would go the Q990 series), it someway recovered a mode to adhd adjacent much speakers. The concealed was to load up connected side-firing drivers, not conscionable successful the main soundbar, but besides successful the wireless surrounds for a full of 4 side-firing drivers and 4 upfiring drivers to bounce dependable each astir the room. At the time, it seemed similar overkill—the audio equivalent of stuffed-crust pizza. But damned if it didn't work, providing a superior upgrade to the spherical immersion from Dolby Atmos and DTS:X soundtracks. Since the debut of the Q990 series, though, the system's wide hardware has remained mostly unchanged.