Samsung HW-Q990D  Soundbar Review

This high-end soundbar looks identical to last year's model, the Samsung HW-Q990C. It has angled sides and a metal grille to protect the drivers. Also, the right side of the bar has an LED display.

The included subwoofer is large and has a plastic plate to cover the woofer.

The included satellites look and feel similar to the bar, with metal grilles to protect the drivers. They also have a slightly angled top.

The Samsung Q990D is roughly the same size as its predecessor and is pretty large, so you may have trouble putting it between the legs of a 55-inch TV. It's not very tall, so it doesn't block your TV screen unless it's flush to the table. If you're tight on space, though, the Samsung HW-Q930D is a bit smaller.

The sub is about the same size as a desktop computer. It connects to the bar wirelessly, so you can place it anywhere in your room. The successor, Samsung HW-Q990F, has a different, sealed subwoofer in a smaller casing, though they both have eight-inch drivers.

You can place the satellites on pedestals or mount them to your wall. They connect to the bar wirelessly, allowing you to place them as you please.

You can mount this bar to your wall. Brackets and screws are included, too.

The Samsung Q990D has an excellent build quality. Thanks to their durable plastic and metal construction, this bar, its satellites, and its sub feel premium. There are sleek metal grilles to protect the drivers, while the buttons on the top of the bar have a nice click to them. Since there isn't any fabric in their build, you don't have to worry about something tearing in the frame.

• User Manual
• Remote with batteries (2x AAA)
• 4x rubber foot
• Wall mount guide
• 2x wall mounting brackets for the soundbar
• Holder screw (x2) and screw (x2)
• HDMI cable (2 m / 6.6 ft)
• 2x power cable (2.25 m / 7.3 ft)
• 2x power cable (1.5m / 5 ft)

The Samsung Q990D has an excellent stereo frequency response, making it a versatile choice for whatever content you're into. This setup delivers satisfying thump and rumble to help emphasize sound effects like explosions in movies or basslines in your favorite songs. At the same time, the rest of the response is well-suited for vocal-centric content. Dialogue sounds crisp and clear, while instruments are present and detailed. While there's an Active Voice Amplifier (AVA) to make dialogue even easier to hear, we didn't notice much of an improvement when we used it.

If you're not into this sound, the bar has a wide array of sound customization features to help you make the most of it. There's even a room correction feature, which optimizes the bar's sound to your room's unique acoustics.

If you prefer a more balanced and neutral sound, you'll want to stick with the bar's default settings.

The Samsung Q990D has a good stereo soundstage. In Standard mode, the soundstage is perceived as about the size of the bar. However, if you switch to Adaptive Sound, it feels a bit wider, although also more hollow, which can seem less realistic. You may prefer one setting over another, depending on your preferences. The bar also has very good focus, so it's easy to pinpoint sound effects like voices in the space around you.

This bar has outstanding stereo dynamics. Like its predecessor, the Samsung HW-Q990C, it can get loud enough to fill large and open spaces. There are very low amounts of compression at high and max volumes, so your audio sounds clean and clear.

This setup has a discrete center channel, which helps improve vocal quality. Its frequency response is balanced, so dialogue sounds clear, detailed, and accurate.

This bar has two discrete satellite speakers, which help reproduce 5.1 surround sound formats like Dolby Digital and DTS. Thanks to their balanced frequency response, sound effects like a car chase scene are clearly and accurately reproduced in the space around you. Sound also stretches all around you, so cars sound like they're racing from one direction to another, giving you a more dimensional sound, especially when compared to soundbars with phantom speakers like the Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 9.

The Samsung Q990D has four up-firing drivers: there are two on the bar and an additional two on the satellites, which bounce sound off of your ceiling to create the impression of height with content like Dolby Atmos. The frequency response is also quite balanced, so sound effects are clear and detailed. Using Standard mode gives a bit more oomph to the bass range, but Adaptive Sound brings a touch more brightness to mixes, although it can sound more hollow overall.

We also evaluated this bar's subjective Atmos experience. It can create an immersive sound with clear sound effects that feel like they come from all around you. For example, a toppling tower in an action movie retains fine details like electrical wires snapping and plenty of rumble from collapsing concrete to your left and right. The bass doesn't muddy the rest of the sound, either. In another example, a helicopter traveling overhead really feels like it's there above you. Overall, the effect is better and more immersive than other top-of-the-line models with satellites like the LG S95TR.

This bar has a wide array of sound customization features that will please most people. For adjusting its sound, there's a 7-band graphic EQ (available when you're on Standard mode) and bass and treble adjustments if you're on any of the other preset modes like Surround, Adaptive Sound, or Game Pro. There's also a room correction feature called SpaceFit Sound, an active feature that automatically and dynamically adjusts the bar's sound based on your room's unique acoustics. You'll need to keep the microphone on since muting it will disable the feature.

Like the previous year's model, the bar supports Q-Symphony, which allows you to sync the bar with compatible Samsung TVs and its speakers to create a more immersive sound. However, a couple of features were added this time around. Private Listening is a feature that sends audio only to the satellite speakers, which creates a sound localized around the listener and can reduce the overall sound level in your room if you're looking to avoid disturbing others. Another feature is Sound Grouping, which lets the satellites play left and right-channel content to create a more stereo sound.

In addition to all of these features, there's Active Voice Amplifier (AVA), which, as the manufacturer advertises, makes dialogue clearer, depending on the noise levels in your room. In Standard mode, it didn't seem to have a noticeable impact on the quality of dialogue or vocals in music. That said, there was a little bit more of a difference when using Adaptive Sound, as the dialogue's level changed slightly in some scenes. It also pushed dialogue forward in the soundstage while helping to alleviate some of the hollowness created by the preset. Still, this feature isn't very impactful on your listening experience.

Unlike the previous year's model, the Samsung HW-Q990D supports HDMI 2.1 Class Bandwidth, which is great if you're using the bar as a hub between a source like a newer Xbox or PlayStation console and your TV, as you can passthrough higher bandwidth signals (like 4k 120Hz). In addition to this port, there are two HDMI In ports and Optical. There's a USB port, but it's only for servicing the bar.

The soundbar's HDMI In capabilities can be pushed to 48 gigabytes/second (Gbps) using the Custom Resolution Utility (CRU) tool. Generally, we advise against deviating from factory settings because it can lead to unstable performance. Out of the box, though, the maximum transfer speed is set at 40 Gbps.

It's important to note that firmware 1020.7 bricked this soundbar, but only if the bar was updated over the network (not via USB). Samsung has now pulled the firmware update, so you won't be affected if you haven't updated. However, if you did update and subsequently bricked your soundbar, please contact Samsung, who will repair your soundbar free of charge, regardless of your warranty status.

This soundbar can playback all common audio formats via ARC. It can also playback surround sound formats like Dolby Digital and Dolby Atmos, the latter of which is a lossless and object-based format.

Via HDMI In, the Samsung HW-Q990D supports many audio formats, like Dolby Digital and Dolby Atmos, that you'd commonly find on streaming platforms and Blu-rays.

Likewise, over Optical, this soundbar can playback common surround sound formats like Dolby Digital and DTS. Dolby Digital is more common, and many streaming platforms and Blu-rays use it. Conversely, DTS is often used as a fallback for the higher-quality DTS HD-MA format on some Blu-rays.

Audio latency is fantastic via ARC. Your audio and visual are synched up well, so you won't notice lip-sync errors. It's worth mentioning that some apps and TVs compensate for latency, but if you run into issues, you can use the AudioSync feature in the SmartThings app to manually compensate for the delay.

Like via ARC, this bar maintains outstanding audio latency levels, ensuring that your audio and visuals are in sync. Some apps and TVs compensate for latency, though.

This soundbar has a fantastic audio latency performance over Optical, too. While AV synchronization error is higher when listening to Dolby Digital content, you can manually compensate for this by using the Audio Sync feature in the companion app.

Unlike last year's model, the Samsung Q990D supports 4k @ 120Hz, which is great if you use the bar as a hub between your Xbox or PlayStation console and your TV. There's also Dolby Vision and HDR10+ passthrough, both of which enhance the picture quality on your TV and are becoming more common on streaming services like Apple TV and Blu-rays. This bar supports Game Mode VRR, too, which is a variable refresh rate, ensuring a tear-free gaming experience. We were able to verify that the HDMI 2.1 fixed rate link speed is set to 40 Gbps. While we could get 8k @ 60Hz to work, we could only get an image with 4:2:0 chroma subsampling, but it worked at 8- and 10-bit.

This bar supports a wide array of wireless options, so it's easy to connect to your mobile devices and stream audio. It also supports Tap to Play, so you can tap your phone to the bar to play audio if you're connected via Bluetooth. That said, depending on your region, your model may not support Chromecast, so you'll want to check your country's product page to see if it's supported.

There's a small display on the front right of the bar. It only shows four characters at a time and requires scrolling through longer messages. That said, it'll show your volume and current input. If you press the 'i' button on the remote, you'll also see your current content stream (whether you're in Atmos, DTS, etc.) and format.

There are physical buttons on the top of the bar. You can change the input, control the volume, and mute/unmute the microphone.

This bar has a remote, making it easy to access features and adjust performance without leaving your couch. There's also a companion app called SmartThings; it offers the entire suite of features at your fingertips and even acts as a hub for your Smart Home devices.

This bar has built-in Amazon Alexa support, so you can control it hands-free with just your voice. Some regions also support Google Assistant, but it's unavailable in the US. If you're looking for privacy from your voice assistant, you can mute the microphone via a button on the bar.