We were very impressed with the Samsung HW-Q990H when we reviewed it several months ago, awarding it five stars and praising its detail, nuance and spatial sound effects.
However, it clung rather tightly to the lofty £1599 price we tested at, making its discounted predecessor, the HW-Q990F, the better-value buy.
Not any more. The HW-Q990H has just won a What Hi-Fi? Award, and, almost as if to celebrate, it has been given a lofty discount itself. The refined Dolby Atmos soundbar system can now be picked up for only £886 at Smart Home Sounds, a whopping saving of 45%.
This deal price is part of a £400 cashback deal from Samsung, however – full T&Cs are here.
It didn’t seem as though Samsung had changed a lot for its latest flagship sound system – the HW-Q990H’s exterior is essentially identical to the HW-Q990F. The soundbar, surround speakers and subwoofers are all well-built and premium-feeling, even if the design is a little tired.
However, when it came to testing, it was clear Samsung had made several worthwhile improvements under the hood.
“The Q990H takes everything we love about the last generation, and delivers it with even more nuance, detail and scale,” our Samsung HW-Q990H review reads.
“Starting with Civil War, we watch the section leading up to the climactic final battle, and we find that this soundbar package excels in practically every aspect. As Lee goes to comfort Jessie in a serene woodland area, we’re totally immersed in the environment thanks to the soundbar’s excellent placement of cinematic effects.”
Height effects – such as birds chirping overhead – are placed with impressive accuracy, and a river trickling in the background is packed with sonic nuance.
The Samsung HW-Q990H is an 11.1.4 system, with an impressive 23 individual drivers on board. This includes upward-firing drivers on both the soundbar and surround speakers, which helps explain the three-dimensional sound experience above.
The Samsung HW-Q990H has three immersive audio formats: Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Samsung’s Eclipsa Audio. It's great to see Samsung embrace multiple formats, even if Eclipsa is adopted only by YouTube for the time being.
One of the new features of the HW-Q990H is Samsung’s new Sound Elevation feature, which is designed to raise the audio upwards to match the position of your screen. We found, in our review, that it overshoots slightly, and placed the audio at the top of our TV, but it’s a feature that may be of interest to those who are wall-mounting with a big gap between the TV and the soundbar.
There’s also an impressive amount of connectivity on offer. There are three HDMI sockets, including an HDMI eARC for connecting to your TV and two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 passthrough sockets.
The stellar performance of the Samsung HW-Q990H proves that subtle upgrades can make all the difference. As its What Hi-Fi? Award shows, this is the soundbar system we recommend at this price range – especially with £713 off at Smart Home Sounds.
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