Samsung HW-Q930B Soundbar Review

The Samsung HW-Q930B is a sleek, premium-looking bar with a similar design to the next-generation Samsung HW-Q930C. It's made of high-quality plastic, with metal grilles covering the front, sides, and top of the bar. The edges are angled to accommodate the side-firing speakers.

The sub is mostly made of wood with a plastic plate on the back. On the side, there's fabric covering the speaker. If you have a larger living space and want a bar with two subwoofers, consider the 9.2.4 Nakamichi Shockwafe Ultra 9.2 eARC.

The Samsung HW-Q930B's satellites have a new design compared to previous bars from the manufacturer, with a more angled look on the top and the bottom. Like the bar, they're made of plastic with metal grilles on the sides. They connect to the bar wirelessly, but you still have to plug them into a power outlet to use them. If you want a premium bar with truly wireless satellites, check out the JBL Bar 1000 or the Samsung HW-Q900C.

The Samsung HW-Q930B is rather wide, so it doesn't fit between the legs of most 55" TVs. Still, it's a smaller alternative to the Samsung HW-Q990B. Also, it isn't very tall, so it doesn't block your TV screen.

The sub is roughly the same size as an average desktop computer, making it a smaller alternative to the sub that comes with the Samsung HW-Q990B.

The satellites are sizeable, like most that come with premium setups. You can set them on a pedestal or mount them to your wall.

The Samsung HW-Q930B has an excellent build quality. The bar and the satellites have a similar build, with good-quality plastic as well as metal grilles to protect the drivers inside. It's a noticeable upgrade over the fabric build on last year's Samsung HW-Q950A. The sub, meanwhile, is mostly made of wood. The fabric on the side is a potential weak point, as it's thin and likely to collect dust over time.

• User manual
• 4x rubber foot
• Wall-mount template with bar brackets and screws
• Remote with batteries (2x AA)
• 4x power cord
• HDMI cable (4.9 ft / 1.5m)

The Samsung HW-Q930B has a great stereo frequency response. Its 'Standard' mode offers a pretty neutral sound, especially in the mids where most voices and instruments are reproduced. There's a little extra punch in the bass, too, making it suitable for bass-heavy music genres like EDM and hip-hop. It provides an enjoyable listening experience that's suitable for lots of different types of audio content. You can customize it with its graphic EQ as well as its EQ presets. For stereo content, which includes most music and TV shows, 'Standard' sounds better— 'Adaptive Sound' sounds boxy and filtered, so it's not ideal.

If you prefer a more neutral sound, you can set the bass to '-3'. The resulting frequency response is more balanced than with its standard settings, and voices and instruments are clear, with tight, accurate bass. As with other Samsung soundbars, the treble adjustment tool doesn't work when on Standard mode, but you can still adjust these frequencies using the graphic EQ in the SmartThings app.

The Samsung HW-Q930B has a good stereo soundstage. It has good focus, so sound effects are localized to pinpoint locations in the soundstage. For example, instruments in an orchestra seem like they're coming from where the musicians sit on the stage. On its 'Standard' mode, the soundstage is perceived to be a little wider than the bar itself. 'Adaptive Sound' widens it a little, but it sounds diffused, and sound is forced towards the back of the wall. For stereo content, it's usually best to stick with 'Standard' mode, though your subjective impressions may vary.

The Samsung HW-Q930B has a great stereo dynamics performance. The bar gets loud, so it fills your room with sound. There's not too much compression at max volume, so audio reproduction is clear and pure even at loud volumes.

The Samsung HW-Q930B has a good stereo THD performance. At a normal listening volume, distortion falls within good limits, so audio reproduction is clean and pure. While there's a small jump in THD at max volume, overall, distortion is hard to hear, so you aren't likely to notice it unless you're an astute audiophile.

The Samsung HW-Q930B has a great center channel performance. This 9.1.4 soundbar has a discrete center channel, which helps reproduce dialogue with greater clarity and accuracy. Voices are localized to pinpoint locations in the soundstage, and thanks to its balanced frequency response, they're clear and detailed in the mix.

The Samsung HW-Q930B has a great surrounds performance. Its two discrete satellites provide a clear and accurate representation of sound effects in the soundstage. Sound seems like it's coming from all around you, rather than just from a speaker placed in front of you. There's a little extra bass mixed into these channels to provide thump and rumble to action-packed scenes like car crashes and explosions.

The Samsung HW-Q930B has up-firing drivers built into the bar and the satellites, which ricochet sound off the ceiling to create the illusion of height. With its neutral sound, sound effects are clear and present in the mix.

Subjectively, the bar provides a good listening experience with Atmos content. It immerses you in the sound, with a wide and tall soundstage that makes it seem like sound effects are taking place all around you, each matching the action you see on the screen. The bass provides good rumble, too, so you feel the rumble in explosions and other action-packed scenes like you would at a movie theater. Its performance is comparable to the more premium Samsung HW-Q990B, and it offers more detail than the more affordable Samsung HW-Q910B.

The Samsung HW-Q930B has an incredible selection of sound enhancement features. This premium bar gives you access to most of Samsung's customization tools, including a 7-band graphic EQ and EQ presets like 'Standard', 'Surround Sound', 'Game', and 'Adaptive Sound'. Using the Settings button on the remote, you have a dialogue enhancement tool called Voice Enhance as well as a night mode feature to balance the volume level between different programs and commercials. Like most premium bars, it has a room correction feature to optimize the soundbar's output based on your room's acoustics— it's called SpaceFit Sound. Compared to the Samsung HW-Q990B, there's no Auto EQ; however, this feature only adjusts the subwoofer's output, so you may not find it's worth the extra cost.

If you have a compatible Samsung TV, you can use the Q-Symphony feature, too. It syncs the bar without your TV to create a more immersive sound using the TV's speakers in tandem with the bar. In practice, it doesn't make a noticeable difference with the sound, so it's not worth it to get a Samsung TV specifically to use this feature.

The Samsung HW-Q930B has lots of connectivity options. You can connect it to your TV via Optical or HDMI, and there's even an HDMI cable included in the box. You can use it as a hub between different devices, too, using its Full HDMI In port.

The Samsung HW-Q930B supports lots of different audio formats. If you watch a lot of content on streaming platforms, you're likely to come across a lot of Dolby Digital and Dolby Atmos content, both of which are supported by the bar.

The Samsung HW-Q930B supports lots of audio formats via HDMI In. It can playback common surround sound formats like Dolby Digital, as well as lossless and object-based formats like Dolby Atmos.

Via Optical, the Samsung HW-Q930B can playback both common surround sound formats, Dolby Digital and DTS. Dolby Digital is commonly found on streaming platforms, and you're likely to come across DTS with most Blu-rays.

The Samsung HW-Q930B has an excellent latency performance. With relatively low latency, you don't notice a delay between the audio you hear and the video you see, even with lip-synching content. You can also connect the bar with compatible Samsung TVs via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, and there aren't any noticeable issues with latency over those connections, either. Of course, different apps and TVs compensate for latency differently, so your real-world experience can vary. If you have any issues, you can use the AV Sync feature to adjust the latency manually.

The Samsung HW-Q930B can passthrough some of the highest-quality bandwidth signals, meaning you can connect it between different devices like your PC and your TV for clear and crisp text on the screen. There's Dolby Vision Passthrough support, too, though it can't passthrough 4k @ 120Hz.

The Samsung HW-Q930B lets you wirelessly playback audio from your mobile devices over a Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or Apple AirPlay 2 connection. Chromecast is available in some regions, too, so if you want to use this feature, check out your country's product page to see if it's available.

Samsung's Tap Sound feature is another way to play audio from your phone on the bar. It works through Bluetooth, so you tap your compatible phone against the bar to get it to play audio from your phone. It's handy, but if your phone isn't compatible, you can still just stream audio wirelessly via Bluetooth.

The Samsung HW-Q930B has a small four-character display on the right side of the bar. It shows the volume level and the current input as you change them, scrolling through longer words so you can read them. If you press the 'i' button on the remote, it also shows the format being played.

There are some physical buttons on the top of the bar. You can use them to change the input, adjust the volume, and turn the microphone on and off.

The Samsung HW-Q930B's remote gives you access to some additional features, meaning you can change the sound mode and the input, for example, from the comfort of your couch. The Samsung SmartThings app also acts as a remote if you prefer to control your bar from your phone.

You can control the Samsung HW-Q930B with your voice using Amazon Alexa. In some regions, Google Assistant support is available, too. If you don't want it to listen to you, there's a mic mute button on top of the bar.