S80QY

Overview

The S80QY is a 3.1.3 soundbar from LG's 2022 lineup. A wireless subwoofer, a remote, batteries and a wall-mount bracket come in the box. The black soundbar is 1000 mm wide, 63 mm high and 135 mm deep and can be wall-mounted.

LG rates the system at 480 W. Its three height channels come from up-firing speakers, one of them an up-firing center channel. For rear surround sound, LG sells the SPQ8-S wireless rear speaker kit separately.

The soundbar has one HDMI input, an HDMI eARC output to the TV, an optical input, USB, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Over Wi-Fi it supports Apple AirPlay 2, Chromecast and Spotify Connect, and it works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant devices. You can control it from the remote, the buttons on the bar, LG's smartphone app for iOS and Android, or the TV remote.

What the specs mean

• 3.1.3 speaker setup: three front channels (left, center, right), one subwoofer channel (the included wireless subwoofer) and three height channels from up-firing speakers. The optional SPQ8-S rear speakers add surround channels behind you.
• HDMI eARC: the enhanced Audio Return Channel carries the TV's sound to the soundbar over one HDMI cable, including high-bitrate formats such as Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Atmos and uncompressed multichannel audio.
• Audio formats: Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS Digital Surround, DTS:X, DTS-HD High Resolution, DTS-HD Master Audio, LPCM and IMAX Enhanced.
• HDMI passthrough (4K120, HDR10, Dolby Vision, VRR, ALLM, HDCP 2.3): a console or player plugs into the HDMI input and the soundbar passes the picture through to the TV. VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) lets a console change the refresh rate frame by frame, and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) switches the TV to its low-latency mode automatically.
• Room correction: LG's room calibration tunes the sound to the room the soundbar is in.