Verdict
The HW - Q800B deliver yet another telling immersive performance for a Samsung soundbar , delivering a big , wide and spacious audio and knock-down bass performance . With setting to add rearward speakers and the Q800B less tied to needing a QLED TV to draw out its best performance , it offer a friendlier itinerary to creating an Atmos home cinema system than Samsung ’s old mid - range effort . fit Price
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Samsung is one of the biggest brands in thesoundbar market , offering legal profession at various cost detail and ply to both family film enthusiast and modus vivendi users .
The HW - Q800B falls in the former camp , follow theHW - Q800Areviewed sooner in the year , and the Q800B features upgrades both in its appearance and number of speaker drivers , taking a similar approaching to the 2021HW - Q900Ain how it evoke out audio .
That legal community put in a strong immersive performance , so what ’s the HW - Q800B got up its sleeve ?
Design
The appearance of the HW - Q800B is n’t what you ’d call elegant or refined ; more of a working - looking unit of measurement that does n’t draw much tending to itself .
The grill close from the Q800A has been toned down , the black colourway take on on a greyer appearance while the conception at the edge of the bar take over from the Q900A , the angular corners assist to fan out sound from the new side - firing drivers .
On the top surface and seeable through the grille are upfiring drivers for delivery of Atmos and DTS :X audio , while in the centre are the multi - function , volume and mike button , the latter incapacitate the built - in mike Alexa use .
The display placement issue that affected the Q900A soundbar is not apparent on this 800 series model , with the light-emitting diode sensibly placed on the front ( right from centre as you ’re facing the ginmill ) , which take a leak it easier to say , make set - up changes and know what modality the soundbar is in . Here ’s hoping the Q930B and above models follow the same way of life .
The remote has changed from the ergonomically shaped model of 2021 to an effort that more intimately resemble the zapper that get with Samsung ’s TVs . Its functionality seems to have farm too ( or perhaps I simply was n’t paying attention ) with the baptize Smart One Remote Control able to ascertain telecasting ( compatible Samsung models I should sum ) and link up gimmick .
There ’s a bit more to control with the cellular inclusion of Tone Control ( conform bass and triple by -6/+6 ) and CH Level ( changing the book of each verbaliser ) . CH Level actually nobble a few audio modes from the Sound Control button , which now rule other modes such as Active Voice Amplifier , Night Mode , Voice enhance among others .
With the main streak measuring 1110.7 x 60.4 x 120 mm , this is still a fairly meaty piece of home cinema kit to find blank for , though the pace - up HW - Q930B has the same dimensions if that ’s of any value . At 5.1 kg it ’s not too heavy , though the active wireless subwoofer is a similar looking laboured beast to the 2021 mountain range .
Features
The feature article lay out carries plenty over from last year with a few pinch and changes . The driver configuration has been pushed from 3.1.2 to 5.1.2 thanks to the newfangled side - firing speaker unit . There ’s an upgrade path possible by adding rear channels in the SWA-9000S wireless surround package to create a 7.1.2 line system .
The HW - Q800B no longer needs a Samsung TV to assist in calibrate its sound , with build - in mike in both the subwoofer and soundbar intend the SpaceFit Sound Gen II feature can equalise the soundbar ’s public presentation to your room ’s acoustic on its own . That ’s helpful , and parry an bothersome oddity of last twelvemonth ’s models where this tuning was exclusive tosomeSamsungQLED TVs .
There ’s a variety of bright features in Active Voice Amplifier and Adaptive Sound . The former put forward the intensity of dialogue above any international vocalise the bar senses in the elbow room to ensure dialogue from the centre channel remains hearable . Adaptive Sound practice hokey intelligence to automatically optimise the performance for dialogue heavy subject , sports and moving-picture show . For instance , ascertain mutation might make the soundbar emphasise the crew noise to give the impression of a bigger , room - fill up sound .
Other modes include Game Mode Pro which achieves a alike event as Adaptive but with gambling , along with Standard and Surround options . Q - Symphony is only compatible with Samsung television , synchronising the saloon ’s sound with the TV to place effect and talks around the soundstage for a bigger , heroic performance .
forcible connecter are hidden in the recessed region with an HDMI eARC output , HDMI input signal , and Optical port wine – the stimulus can pass through 4 KiB HDR ( HDR10 + ) content . Wireless offersAirPlay 2 , Spotify Connect and Chromecast ( which is a new add-on ) , as well as Bluetooth ( SBC codec ) . deserving a mention is that the soundbar ’s performance could be a bit finickity , as it disconnected from the Wi - Fi a few metre and would n’t connect to the TV , need a few soft reboots to pass to normal .
Dolby Atmos(Dolby TrueHD / Dolby MAT / Dolby Digital+ ) andDTS : X(DTS Master Audio ) immersive data format course sport ; as well as legacy Dolby and DTS track . There ’s Hi - ray decryption for music , with audio formats include AAC , MP3 , OGG , WAV , FLAC , ALAC and AIFF . There ’s also wireless Atmos performance through casting content from pullulate services such as Tidal , Apple Music or though 4 K HDR / Atmos content from Netflix and Prime Video .
The SmartThings app is a part of the experience that you could skip all , but if you have other Samsung devices and impudent IoT products then it ’s certainly deserving perusing as the app has the substance to kickstart Spotify Connect and Alexa consolidation . Elsewhere are choice to alter the equaliser configurations , audio synchronisation , volume / woofer configurations , sound mode , representative / bass part sweetening and to put the bar into Night mode .
The Tap Sound characteristic is still around , but only has relevance to Galaxy smartphone owners , allow music to be transferred to the bar via a unmarried tap on the top panel .
Sound Quality
While I did not essay the HW - Q800A , judge by the specification it feel fairly obvious to discern where the HW - Q800B has uncork improvement with its new side - burn down speakers . Our review of the Q800A aver it did a solid chore of cat sound from its bodywork and the Q800B follows through in a similar nervure .
Watching The Batman in Atmos and the rainy environs of Gotham City make for an imposingly wide soundstage . The front of showery rain shower can be find both in the superlative channels and out wide to both the left and right of the bar , so even for a front - heavy Atmos presentment , it ’s a big and spacious carrying out to cut into into .
There ’s a great sentience of breadth and height evident in The Force Awakens in the scene where Rey and Finn attempt to escape the aid of stormtroopers on Jakku . The explosion from the subwoofer are big and impactful , Tie Fighters fly above the telly , while there ’s a lovely sense of fine particular and spaciousness as the junk and debris of explosions linger in the air and fall to the ground .
The HW - Q800B is also a very weighty - sounding saloon . There ’s heft to the Millennium Falcon as it speeds through the ruins of downed Star Destroyers ; the top executive behind the ginmill ’s performance creates a intuitive and exciting vista – there ’s nothing lightweight about this Samsung bar .
Compared toBowers & Wilkins Panorama 3and the Samsung is the smoother and more bass - inflected performer of the two , which has benefits and drawbacks . It does n’t fire sound into the room as well as the Panorama 3 , its signified of definition is less nippy and attacking – the scene when Maz Kanata ’s Cantina is assault and the soundbar does n’t labour effects into the room with as much personnel as the Bowers does .
But it handle dialog with more smoothness and realism than the Panorama 3 in both Tenet and Dune . There are still a few words in Lady Jessica ’s recitation of the Litany Against Fear in Dune that get lost in the mix , but flipping on the Voice Enhancement adds a smidge more clarity , bigger presence and crisper tone to dialogue , which is more accommodative than the options presented by the Bowers where dialogue is have-to doe with .
Bass is mighty from the wireless subwoofer with Blade Runner 2049 , prove no problems handle the dynamic range of that soundtrack with a deep , knock-down and way shake carrying out . It ’s an intensely cinematic and will absolutely annoy the neighbor .
It can be a tad overpowering in Last Night in Soho during the terpsichore scenery in Café du Paris , and I feel with other photographic film the bass voice arguably takes on a more combat-ready part in proceeding than is ideal . Using the SpaceFit counterbalance added limpidity and definition to the modest - end functioning in that film , while in The Batman it added even more intensity to the Iceberg Club scrap fit . I preferred having it on rather than off , but your taste may vary .
It ’s ably active too , as confident in capturing the nicety of quieter scenes as it is with the bigger action at law sequences , the shifting between tawdry and quiet are convey of course , avoid the flatness theDevialet Dionebrought to proceedings .
With music , the HW - Q800B continues Samsung ’s recent ( at least in my opinion ) figure of bar that are practiced with movies and music , although I find bass voice needed to be dialled down as listen to Beyonce ’s Déjà vu was overtake at first . Listening to tracks over Spotify Connect and the legal community is clear , sharp and detailed , but energetic too . song are crisply delivered and even with bass dial down there ’s still raft of weight unit provided to King of Leon ’s Sex on Fire .
OverBluetooth , the Q800B ’s performance is not too bad . It lacks the sharpness and crispiness of Spotify Connect , with not the same attack and zip but vocals were clear and defined in Sam Sparro ’s Black and Gold , while Bluetooth ’s slenderly debilitate bass execution in reality work more proportion . disregardless of whether it was over Wi - Fi or Bluetooth , the Samsung was versatile in act musical genres such as papa , R&B , rock music and Dance . It ’s another firm exertion on the medicine front .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
The HW - Q800B is a front - punishing performer without any rear loudspeaker , but it supplies plenty of entertainment for movies and medicine with its wide and roomy sound .
The subwoofer append lots of powerfulness , energy and weight to the Q800B ’s execution , but it can result in an overpower strait
Final Thoughts
Samsung ’s rejigged 2022 soundbar crease - up has give rise a satisfyingly cinematic effort in the HW - Q800B. It ’s a big and broad immersive performing artist , with the Modern side - firing speaker unit work to in effect effect to broaden its soundstage .
There ’s the opportunity to add rear loudspeaker system as an upgrade itinerary later down the crease , and by disentangle the way calibration features from Samsung ’s own brand television , the prevention should offer a more consistent carrying out irrespective of what TV you have .
It launches at a cheaper terms than the 2021 HW - Q900A and while there are less speaker than that model , I would n’t say there ’s any less amusement derived from this bar .
Trusted Score
How we test
We screen every soundbar we refresh exhaustively over an drawn-out period of clip . We use industry stock tests to compare feature of speech properly . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , take on money to review a ware .
happen out more about how we test in ourethics policy .
FAQs
The HW - Q800B supports the SWA-9000S wireless rear utterer package that take aim the soundbar from a 5.1.2 organization to a 7.1.2 configuration .
The HW - Q800B does n’t have an HDMI input that supports 4K/120Hz high frame rates .
Alexa is build - in to the HW - Q800B , and can be correct - up via Smart Things on a smartphone by using the app to link the soundbar and your Amazon credentials together .
Full Specs
Sustainability
rely Reviews ’ holds the fact that global warming is not a myth as a gist time value and will unceasingly endeavor to help protect our planet from harm in its business practices .
As part of this mission , whenever we review a product we place the troupe a series of enquiry to help us gauge and make diaphanous the wallop the twist has on the environment .
We currently have n’t received answers to the interrogation on this product , but will update this varlet the minute we do . you may see a detailed breakdown of the questions we ask and why in oursustainability information page .
