A software update is killing Samsung soundbars – including Q990D Dolby Atmos models

Samsung’s five-star HW-Q990D soundbar has (along with as several other models) been rendered useless for some users after a faulty firmware update was rolled out last week, according to reports from The Verge.

There have been a whole host of complaints on a variety of different sites, including Reddit, where some owners have noticed their soundbars becoming unresponsive and freezing on the TV eARC input, despite doing all the usual factory resets. Users are reporting issues from all over the world, so it does not seem to be limited to just the UK or US. The affected soundbars also don’t appear to connect to Samsung’s SmartThings app.

We have not experienced these issues first-hand, but we reached out to Samsung for comment and it replied with the following: "Samsung is investigating the cause of the issue, and is taking immediate action to resolve the firmware error."

This appears to be down to Samsung’s latest firmware release, which is version 1020.7. There have also been reports on the company's community forum of similar issues with the HW-Q800D and HW-S801D soundbars, but in fewer cases.

If your Samsung soundbar is still working and hasn't yet downloaded the latest update, it would be a good idea to delve into the settings and make sure 'Automatic Updates' is switched off – at least until this issue is resolved.

In our in-depth review, we rated the Samsung HW-Q990D five stars for its three-dimensional sound as well as its dynamic performance, so it’s a shame to see this many users having issues. It’s not cheap, either, as we tested the Dolby Atmos ‘bar at £1699 / $1400 / AU$1999. Fingers crossed Samsung manages to get the affected soundbars up and running soon.

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Here is our review of the Samsung HW-Q990D

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