The Samsung HW-Q800C is a 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos soundbar released in 2023 as the next generation of the Samsung HW-Q800B. It's a more affordable alternative than the manufacturer's flagship models, including the Samsung HW-Q990C. While it has many of the same features, it lacks satellites, which is ideal if you're low on space in your living room. If you own a compatible Samsung TV, you can hook up the bar to enjoy Q-Symphony, which the manufacturer advertises to create a more immersive sound. Built-in Alexa offers hands-free control, too.
Our Verdict
The Samsung Q800C is great for mixed usage. This 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos soundbar offers a versatile performance overall, so it's suitable for everything from music to movies to TV shows. Dialogue in your favorite shows is clearly and accurately reproduced, as are voices and other instruments in music. The sub brings the rumble in action-packed scenes and bass-heavy music genres. There's support for many different audio formats, too. However, more immersive surround sound formats like Dolby Digital aren't quite as clear and real as that produced by bars with discrete satellite speakers.
- Extended low-bass.
- Lots of sound customization tools.
- Dolby Atmos support.
- No satellite speakers.
This soundbar is excellent for dialogue-centric content like sitcoms and podcasts. It's a 5.1.2 setup with a discrete center channel that's designed to improve vocal quality in the mix overall. As a result, it's easy to follow along with conversations taking place on screen. The bar comes with two dialogue enhancement tools: a more traditional Voice Enhance mode and an Active Voice Amplifier designed to analyze the sounds of your room to adjust the voices in the mix accordingly.
- Lots of sound customization tools.
- Lots of wireless playback options.
- Compression at max volume.
The Samsung Q800C is great for music. This soundbar offers many premium sound enhancement features, including a room correction tool called SpaceFit Sound that optimizes its output to your room's unique acoustics. The resulting sound is very even and balanced, with clear and accurate reproduction of voices and lead instruments in the mix. The sub also brings all the rumble in bass-heavy genres like EDM and hip-hop. Customization is easy with the bar's 7-band graphic EQ, too, available in Standard sound mode.
- Extended low-bass.
- Lots of sound customization tools.
- Gets loud.
- Compression at max volume.
The Samsung Q800C is great for movies. This soundbar supports many audio formats commonly found on streaming platforms and Blu-rays, including Dolby Digital and Dolby Atmos. It reproduces clear dialogue, and the sub brings excitement to action-heavy scenes. Without satellite speakers, though, the bar can't stretch sound effects all around you for a clearer and more real feel to your audio content. You can always add compatible satellites separately, which is a nice touch.
- Extended low-bass.
- Lots of sound customization tools.
- Dolby Atmos support.
- No satellite speakers.
Changelog
- Updated Jul 26, 2024: We've added a comparison between this soundbar and the Samsung HW-Q800D in Wireless Playback.
- Updated Apr 30, 2024: We've added a comparison between this soundbar and the Samsung HW-Q700C with SWA-9500S in Sound Enhancement Features.
- Updated Jan 29, 2024: Added information to the Wireless Playback and Voice Assistant Support boxes as Chromecast and Google Assistant support is region-specific.
- Updated Jan 29, 2024: Updated Stereo Dynamics results with new methodology from TBU 1.3. Added text to Audio Latency: ARC, Audio Latency: HDMI In, and Audio Latency: Optical boxes.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
This soundbar is available in Black; you can see our model's label here.
If you come across another version of this soundbar, let us know in the forums so we can update our review accordingly.
Popular Soundbar Comparisons
The Samsung Q800C is a mid-range 5.1.2 soundbar with a versatile overall performance. It lacks satellites, so it doesn't bring the same immersive feel to surround sound compared to premium models like the Samsung HW-Q990C, but this can be a positive if you're low on space in your living room. It still has good sound quality and offers many of the same premium features as other models in the manufacturer's lineup, like Q-Symphony and SpaceFit Sound room correction.
You can also see our recommendations for the best soundbars, the best Dolby Atmos soundbars, and the best Samsung soundbars.
The Samsung HW-Q800C and the Samsung HW-Q800D have extremely similar performance and feature sets, with only minor tweaks made to the 2024 model. They have an almost identical design, using sleek plastic and mesh. They're both 5.1.2 bars compatible with Dolby Atmos and come with some proprietary Samsung features, like Q-symphony—which works with compatible Samsung TVs to produce a more immersive sound. While both bars can passthrough 4k signals at 60Hz, they lack HDMI 2.1 compatibility, which those with current-gen gaming consoles may miss. Otherwise, the only notable differences are that the Q800D now features built-in Chromecast support that's not region-locked and Bluetooth version 5.2. If these extra features aren't important to you, it's worth picking up the previous generation when it goes on sale.
The Samsung HW-Q800C is the next generation of the Samsung HW-Q800B, and it's a bit better overall. These two setups have no major differences, though the Q800C has a slightly more balanced overall sound. It gets louder too, though there's a bit more compression at max volume. The newer version also offers a lower latency performance across all connection types.
The Samsung HW-Q990C is the manufacturer's flagship model and offers better performance than the Samsung HW-Q800C overall. The main difference between these models is that the Q990C includes satellite speakers, so it has a better performance with surround sound. Up-firing drivers on the satellites bring a more immersive feel to Atmos content as well. Plus, the bar gets louder and has less compression at max volume.
The Samsung HW-Q800C is a more premium alternative to the Samsung HW-Q600C. The Q800C is a 5.1.2 setup that's better for surround sound than the 3.1.2 Q600C. It also has a better build quality and a better stereo soundstage performance. Plus, it comes with more sound enhancement features, like room correction.
Test Results
