With so many different choices, buying a soundbar may seem like a daunting task. But once you figure out what you're looking for and narrow down your options, the choice will be much clearer. This guide is designed to help you to do exactly that: pick the best kind of soundbar for your Samsung TV. Once you've found the perfect match, visit Samsung.com to get your ideal soundbar.
Which Samsung Soundbar To Buy
On its own, a Samsung soundbar will help sound travel further, especially a Dolby Atmos edition. But if you want to be even more immersed in your movies or music, you should consider getting some surround speakers or a subwoofer.
As for surround speakers, there are only a few soundbars that include them: HW-Q990B, HW-Q950A, HW-Q90R and HW-N950. If you purchase any soundbar other than these, you'll need to buy rear speakers separately. Remember to double-check if the rear speakers are compatible with your soundbar first, just in case.
The majority of soundbars are straight, though. These soundbars come with wall mounting brackets, so you can hang them up. This is great for saving space, adding to your dÃcor, or placing the soundbar right underneath your TV. Hanging it a little higher can also help the sound travel better, depending on your seating arrangement.
We've currently tested 39 Samsung soundbars. They seem to separate themselves from their competition with audio reproduction that's generally balanced and neutral-sounding. If you don't like their sound, they also have graphic EQs, which is well-suited for those who like a little more customization over their sound experience. Samsung's soundbars are also well-built, and they tend to feel sturdy and solid.
The best Samsung soundbar that we've tested is the Samsung HW-Q990B. It's the upgraded version of last year's Samsung HW-Q950A, and with its versatile performance, it's a standout pick for everything from movies to music to TV shows. Compared to its predecessor, it brings more rumble in the bass, as well as some additional sound enhancement features. With immersive audio formats like Dolby Digital and Dolby Atmos, you feel like you're right in the middle of the action, thanks to its deep bass from its dedicated subwoofer and the angled rear satellites that expand the soundstage. There's built-in Alexa support for hands-free control, too.
Another big difference between this bar and our top pick comes with the selection of available sound enhancement features. You get the SpaceFit Sound room correction tool, which adjusts the bar's output based on your room's acoustics but compared to the 990B, you don't have the Auto EQ feature to adjust the sub's reproduction. However, with bass and treble adjustments and the 7-band EQ, there are still plenty of tools on hand to make it sound how you want. You can control it using Amazon Alexa, too. If you want the top-of-the-line model, the 990B is the way to go, but depending on your listening habits, you may find that the 930B is the better value overall.
The Samsung HW-Q800B is a more affordable alternative to our top picks. This premium 5.1.2 setup offers a versatile performance, which supports many different audio formats you're likely to find on streaming platforms and Blu-rays, like Dolby Atmos and Dolby Digital. You get a clear and detailed sound right out of the box, with a little extra rumble mixed in to bring action-packed scenes to life. It's customizable, with tools like SpaceFit Sound room correction and a 7-band graphic EQ on hand, as well as Q-Symphony support.
Since it doesn't come with rear speakers, this soundbar is a great alternative for those who are low on space in their living room setup. That said, its performance with multi-channel content isn't as immersive as what you get with the Samsung HW-Q930B as a result. It's especially noticeable with Atmos content, as you don't get as much height in the soundstage. For example, drones and helicopters that are meant to fly above your head seem like they're coming from the space beside you. It's a fine pick, though, and you can always add on separate rears if you move to a bigger space down the line.
If you want a more budget-friendly soundbar, check out the Samsung HW-Q60B. It's a 3.1 setup with a sleek design that makes for a noticeable improvement over your existing TV speakers. Dialogue in TV shows and movies is reproduced with great clarity, and voices and lead instruments in music are pleasant and detailed in the mix. The bar supports many different audio formats, including Dolby Digital and Dolby Atmos, but due to its 3.1 setup, it has to downmix them into stereo to play them. The resulting sound isn't quite as immersive as what you get with the Samsung HW-Q800B, but it's adequate for the price.
Unfortunately, this soundbar doesn't come with a room correction feature, so it sounds a little different depending on the room you're listening in. However, you can make up for this with its other customization tools, including its graphic EQ. It supports Q-Symphony, too, so you can pair it up with a compatible Samsung TV, and you can easily stream audio from your phone to the bar via Bluetooth. It's a solid setup, especially compared to other models at its price, but if you want a cinematic feel in your movies, you'll probably want to opt for one of our more premium picks.
The best Samsung soundbar in the budget category that we've tested is the Samsung HW-B550. It's a simple 2.1 bar, so it's best suited for those who mostly listen to stereo content like music and TV shows. Right out of the box, it has a balanced sound, accurately reproducing everything from vocals to lead instruments in your favorite songs. There's a subwoofer included, too, that adds some rumble to bass-heavy genres like EDM and hip-hop. You can switch up its sound to your liking thanks to its graphic EQ and bass and treble adjustments. For its price, it's a pretty good bar.
However, you naturally don't get as much flexibility as with the manufacturer's top options. As with most budget bars, there's no support for Dolby Atmos, so you can't take advantage of more immersive object-based formats often found on streaming services. Its surround sound performance is also pretty abysmal. Without discrete surrounds, it has to downmix this content into stereo to play it, which doesn't sound quite as immersive. That said, if you aren't much of a movie fan, it's a great fit. Ultimately, it still makes for a solid upgrade over your existing TV speakers at a wallet-friendly price.
For those who don't have a lot of space in their setup, Samsung offers several standalone bars. You can still enjoy great sound quality without worrying about finding space in your setup for a subwoofer and satellites. The best of the bunch is the Samsung HW-S60A. This 5.0 soundbar has a very small and compact design that fits easily under your TV stand. Despite its small size, it still has a good soundstage that pushes sound past the edges of the bar for a more immersive sound. You can also find Samsung's standard selection of sound enhancement features, like a graphic EQ and built-in voice assistant support, though there's no room correction like you'll find with the most premium picks.
This soundbar has a neutral sound profile that reproduces voices and lead instruments clearly and accurately. Unfortunately, since it lacks a dedicated subwoofer, it struggles to reproduce a deep and thumpy low-bass, so you don't feel the rumble in bass-heavy music or action-packed movies. It isn't something you can remedy with a graphic EQ, but if you mostly listen to content that doesn't have a lot of bass mixed in, like vocal-centric TV shows and podcasts, it's not very noticeable. Depending on the constraints of your space, it might be the best pick for your needs.
Bose and Samsung are both top-of-the-line soundbar manufacturers that produce products at a wide array of price points. Samsung tends to have more products on the market, and their soundbars offer more customization features, like graphic EQs. Meanwhile, Bose soundbars tend to have wider, more immersive-feeling soundstage performances.
While Samsung is known to offer many different soundbars in their yearly lineups, Sonos has only a few soundbars on the market. That said, each have premium offerings, as well as more affordable options for more budget-conscious shoppers. Sonos soundbars tend to be better built, with sleek designs and built-in voice assistant capabilities to easily integrate the bars into your existing Sonos ecosystem. Their soundstage performances are better than Samsung, but they come with fewer sound customization tools.
Samsung usually makes pretty good soundbars with good sound quality and a well-balanced sound profile. Some of their subwoofers are powerful, adding a bit of extra bass that can be great for movies. They also have a sleek and durable design that doesn't require fabric other than to cover the subwoofer port. However, this usually means they're also a bit more expensive than similar models, but the price difference can be worth it for some people. Generally speaking, they offer more customization tools than other brands, but their soundstage performance isn't quite as impressive as other premium manufacturers like Bose and Sonos.
Samsung produces a wide array of soundbars at both premium and budget-friendly price points. Generally speaking, the higher the number, the more channels it has, and the better its performance is. However, depending on your usage habits, the improvements may not be worth the added cost. The letter in their model number corresponds to the year:
Samsung is a well-known brand that offers many different types of products. Whether it comes to TVs, headphones, or soundbars, it's fair to expect a good quality product with decent performance. In terms of soundbars, they produce some of the best products on the market, with great audio quality and many connection options to use your soundbar as a hub for your various devices.
Households across the globe are turning to soundbars in their droves and this surge in popularity has been enthusiastically embraced by manufacturers across the AV and Hi-Fi world, with models of all shapes and sizes now available catering to a broad range of budgets.
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