Samsung Hw-q950t Soundbar With Dolby Atmos Hwq950t Reviews

John Archer samples the 9.one.4-channel theatrics of Samsung'south flagship soundbar

While I honey most things nearly Samsung's HW-Q950T soundbar, there is one matter almost it that'due south and then incredibly dumb I accept to go it off my chest right away: its LED display is on its top edge.

This might sound a trivial way to offset a review of a £1,400 soundbar, but trust me: only existence able to see the reams of useful information the readout can share if you stand up from your sofa and lean over the soundbar's meridian is annoying.

Presumably the 'logic' behind putting the display at that place has something to do with Samsung placing an on/off button for the soundbar's built-in far-field mic (which supports Alexa voice control) on the Q950T's top edge. Or, perhaps, the soundbar's support for Tap Connect, where Samsung phones running Android 8.ane can be connected to the 'bar for Bluetooth music streaming just past tapping them against its bodywork.

Yet neither of these explanations for the display trump the overwhelming logic of being able to come across from your seating position such key information as input, volume level, incoming sound format, and audio mode.

Couch irish potato rant over, permit'due south move on to the many things the Samsung Q950T does right. Starting with most of the rest of its pattern.

Slimmed Down
This 'bar is slightly smaller than its HW-Q90R predecessor, with a 14mm reduction in superlative to slide comfortably under a wider range of TVs. Samsung has also shifted from a total plastic cease to a Kvadrat fabric cover on the Q950T's top and front end sides. This is rather prone to collecting grit, but creates a more opulent feel.

The best affair well-nigh the Q950T'south design, of course, is that it manages to fit a stiff combination of forepart LCR, surround left, surroundings right, rear left, rear right and 2 upfiring drivers into its relatively compact grade. Samsung is a little reticent to talk driver technology, but we practise know the 'bar uses total-range units for the height channels and packs 'wide-range' tweeters.

Couple this plethora of main soundbar channels with the wireless units that send with the Q950T (a subwoofer with an 8in driver, and ii rears that also each deport upfiring drivers) and y'all end up with a total channel count of 9.i.iv, driven past a suggested 546W of grunt.

This naturally makes the Q950T well positioned for playing Dolby Atmos and DTS:X soundtracks. Both formats are supported, via either direct HDMI connection, or over eARC via eARC-capable TVs.

The soundbar's two HDMI inputs and one HDMI output handle 4K at 60Hz, HDR10, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision (the latter somewhat ironic given that Samsung's TVs don't). At that place's no support for the 4K/120 HDR streams provided by new consoles and PCs, just no other soundbar I tin recall of supports that either. For such sources, you'll have to connect them to a sufficiently capable Television set and use eARC to pass the audio on to the 'bar. The merely other connection is an optical digital audio port. There'southward no USB, nor Ethernet (apply Wi-Fi instead).

While the Q950T is predominantly a motion-picture show machine (and over-engineered daytime TV audio booster) it besides supports a wide range of music services (including Spotify, Amazon Music, and Apple Music) via Samsung'due south SmartThings app, also equally audio file formats, including hi-res FLAC, ALAC and AIFF options.

Raw Power
For the final five years, via its R&D 'Sound Lab' in California, Samsung has been crafting some of the all-time all-round soundbar solutions in town. The Q950T continues that theme. The mix of raw ability, audio project and dynamic range it achieves is truly explosive.

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Source: https://www.homecinemachoice.com/content/samsung-hw-q950t-soundbar-review

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