The Samsung HW-Q600F is a 2025 soundbar situated in the mid-tier with a 3.1.2 setup, replacing the last-gen Samsung HW-Q600C. It features nine drivers enclosed in a sleek and angular design with support for popular formats like Dolby Atmos. Select features like 'SpaceFit Sound Pro,' what Samsung calls room correction, and Q-Symphony are exclusive to compatible TVs by the brand, and the soundbar doesn't have app support, leaving all the functionality to the remote. In all, it's an uncomplicated soundbar aimed at balancing performance with feature coverage.
Our Verdict
The Samsung HW-Q600F is good for mixed usage. The 3.1.2 configuration sounds very good out of the box. It retains the dynamics of your audio very well, with a balanced-sounding stereo and center tuning. Atmos yields a bit of height effect and exhibits good tracking across the horizontal field, too, though it's a little bright. Since the bar includes an HDMI In port, you can use it as an entertainment hub with a console, and Optical lends compatibility with older devices. Format support includes the common Dolby formats, but only DTS (not DTS:X). For surround sound, the bar plus sub kit lacks the necessary satellites to give surround sound audio its full due, so it's not particularly enveloping. Audio latency is a little elevated over HDMI connections, so you might need to compensate in the TV settings, and wireless connectivity is limited to Bluetooth.
Compatible with most audio formats.
Graphic EQ and EQ presets available.
Default tuning sounds very good.
Support for Dolby formats and DTS.
Room correction is only available with compatible Samsung TVs.
Downmixes surround audio.
Wireless audio limited to Bluetooth.
The Samsung HW-Q600F is very good for watching TV shows and dialogue-dominant media. Thanks to the discrete center channel and its balanced frequency response, voices cut through clearly and sound natural. You can also use the 'Voice Enhance' mode to boost speech, if needed. Plus, the audio format support (Dolby Atmos, for example) means that big-budget shows on streaming platforms can play back as intended. 'Night' mode and optional 'DRC' also mean that you don't need to end the watch party just because it's late. In all, it's a great-sounding bar for TV, but you might need to play with your TV's A/V settings to compensate for latency.
Compatible with most audio formats.
Graphic EQ and EQ presets available.
Default tuning sounds very good.
Room correction is only available with compatible Samsung TVs.
Downmixes surround audio.
The Samsung HW-Q600F is good for listening to music. Its stereo frequency response delivers your music with ample boom on the kick and clear leads and articulate vocals. To tune the bar further, you can use the 7-band EQ or experiment with presets. It retains dynamics very well and gets loud enough to fill the room with your tunes. That said, the soundstage isn't especially wide, and you're limited to Bluetooth for wireless audio.
Compatible with most audio formats.
Graphic EQ and EQ presets available.
Default tuning sounds very good.
Room correction is only available with compatible Samsung TVs.
Wireless audio limited to Bluetooth.
The Samsung HW-Q600F is decent for movies. The soundbar supports most audio formats, including Dolby Atmos and the rest of the Dolby suite, but it only supports standard DTS (and not the DTS:X, for example). It's well-tuned with a good amount of boom for tense action flicks. Atmos offers some height effects, but it's a little bright. It also necessarily downmixes surround sound formats, which limits how enveloping the sound can be without rear speakers or side-firing drivers. Audio latency over the HDMI ports is slightly higher, so you may need to use the TV's settings to offset that.
Compatible with most audio formats.
Graphic EQ and EQ presets available.
Room correction is only available with compatible Samsung TVs.
Downmixes surround audio.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Samsung HW-Q600F is also listed as the Samsung HW-Q600F/ZC in some regions. It only comes in 'Black,' and you can view the label for our unit. You can also purchase the Samsung Wireless Rear Speaker Kit (SWA-9250S) to add satellites, but the surround sound test in this review isn't applicable to that configuration.
If you encounter another variant of this soundbar, please let us know in the comments.
Popular Soundbar Comparisons
As with most mid-level soundbars, you don't get every feature on the Samsung HW-Q600F that the upper echelons of the Samsung Q-Series offer, like the Samsung HW-Q800F, which supplies greater connectivity, app support, and more audio channels than the Q600F, which downmixes surround audio. Unlike the 5.1 setup of the Samsung HW-B750F, the 3.1.2 Q600F uses two up-firing drivers to correctly handle object-based audio like Dolby Atmos, but downmixes surround formats. Further afield, the Vizio Elevate SE SL512X-0806 has five channels and satellites for a more encompassing surround sound. Like the Q600F, it has up-firing drivers to playback Atmos content, though it lacks an Optical port. However, the Q600F needs less out-of-the-box tuning than the Vizio to get an even sound, and it takes up less space.
For more recommendations, check out the best soundbars under $500, the best soundbars for music, and the best Dolby Atmos soundbars.
The biggest change between the Samsung HW-Q600F and the Samsung HW-Q600C is the Dolby Atmos tuning. The Q600F delivers a slightly more immersive height effect, but it's also tuned to sound far brighter than the boomier Q600C's Atmos sound, which doesn't quite offer the same degree of height. Still, the rest of the soundbar's channels are still present and fill out the sound, so it might be worth looking at the Q800F for the slightly better height effect. Besides that, the soundbars are very similar with similar specs and performance. You can play with the tuning of these bars to coax them to sound similar, too.
The Samsung HW-Q800D is a better soundbar than the Samsung HW-Q600F due to its greater audio format support, companion app, and extensive wireless audio playback options. It also doesn't downmix surround sound audio formats. However, if you don't consume much media in surround sound, have no use for anything besides Bluetooth wireless connections, and don't care about companion apps, the Q600F shares some similar brute performance and tuning of the Q800D with a narrow feature set and fewer channels.
The Samsung HW-Q600F is a better soundbar for most people than the Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 6. While both bars feature tunings that reproduce your audio clearly with a bit of a low-end weight, the Samsung offers better dynamics, a higher max output, a slightly wider stereo soundstage, and an HDMI In port. Plus, its sound enhancements are more robust. On the other hand, the Sony adds modern touches such as a companion app and eARC audio with a much tighter latency. Despite having fewer ports, the Sony supports DTS:X and DTS-HD MA, too, but whether this is an advantage depends on what media you mainly consume.
The defining difference between the Samsung HW-B750D and the Samsung HW-Q600F comes down to whether you watch a lot of media mixed in surround sound or if you watch more media using Dolby Atmos. The B750D can reproduce 5.1 surround sound without downmixing, and its side-firing drivers create a wider sound. Whereas the Q600F uses up-firing drivers to make object-based Atmos audio have some height depth, but it downmixes surround sound audio.
Test Results
