Q990B

Overview

HW-Q990B is the top model of Samsung's 2022 Q-series soundbars. It is a full 11.1.4 system: the soundbar, a wireless subwoofer and two wireless rear speakers all come in the box. The soundbar is 1232 mm wide, 69.5 mm high and 138 mm deep and can be wall-mounted; the wall-mount brackets are included.

Samsung lists 22 speakers and 656 W of total power for the set, with up-firing, side-firing and front wide-firing speakers in the soundbar and up-firing speakers in the rear speakers.

The TV connects over HDMI eARC. Two HDMI inputs pass 4K video with HDR10+ through to the TV, and there is also an optical input, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Over Wi-Fi, the bar supports AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect, and it has Amazon Alexa built in. Samsung also lists wireless Dolby Atmos over Wi-Fi from select 2022 Samsung TVs, and Q-Symphony, which plays sound through the TV speakers and the soundbar together on select 2021 and 2022 Samsung TVs connected over HDMI.

You can control it with the buttons on the bar, the included remote, the TV remote, or the SmartThings app on iOS and Android.

What the specs mean

• 11.1.4 speaker setup: eleven main channels, one subwoofer channel and four height channels. The height channels come from up-firing speakers that bounce sound off the ceiling, which is how the bar plays Dolby Atmos and DTS:X with sound from above.
• HDMI eARC: the enhanced Audio Return Channel sends 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.
• HDMI passthrough: a console or streaming box can plug into one of the two HDMI inputs; the bar passes 4K video with HDR10+ on to the TV.
• Audio formats: Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby MAT, DTS:X, DTS Digital Surround, DTS-HD, DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio and multichannel PCM.
• Room correction (SpaceFit Sound+): Samsung says the bar analyses the room and automatically calibrates the audio, including the bass. Samsung lists SpaceFit Sound+ as compatible with 2021 and 2022 Samsung QLED TVs from the Q70 series up.