Samsung HW-Q990C review: The ultimate Dolby Atmos soundbar

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It's not an exaggeration to say that Samsung's HW-Q990C represents the pinnacle of Dolby Atmos soundbars. Packing 22 speakers in an 11.1.4-channel audio configuration with a separate subwoofer and rear satellites, the Q990C provides poise, power, and incredible sonic immersion.

This 2023 model provides a few updates over the 2022 edition, including zippier software and cleaner bass response thanks to a redesigned subwoofer. There's also a 2024 model, the Q990D, that adds HDMI 2.1 support for 120Hz video passthrough. But otherwise, all three bars look nearly identical and offer similar features, right down to the ability to stream Dolby Atmos wirelessly from newer Samsung TVs and play in concert with them via Samsung's Q-Symphony system.

If you can find the newer Q990D on sale, it's a slightly better option for gamers, but the cheaper Q990C remains the top value for most needs. This is easily one of the best soundbars for anyone who wants a Dolby Atmos system.

The Q990C's setup is refreshingly easy

You'll be hard-pressed to find an easier multi-speaker setup process than what Samsung's Q990C provides, and that's doubly true if you decide to go all in with one of Samsung's latest flagship TVs. We tested the Q990C with the brand's S90C OLED TV, and the two got along like old friends from the get-go, right down to automatically sharing a WiFi connection.

If you don't have a Samsung TV, the HW-Q990C is still an easy lift — apart from actually lifting it, as the box is pretty dang heavy. Once you've pulled the bar, subwoofer, and other speakers from the package and plugged everything in, they'll instantly pair with each other. Like most soundbars, the extra satellite speakers and subwoofer are all "wireless" other than the fact that they'll need a power outlet. HDMI eARC makes connecting to most TVs painless, allowing you to control power and volume with your TV remote.

Samsung's SmartThings app makes WiFi setup a cinch. We were able to connect in a matter of minutes, which stood out against the dodgier WiFi setup we experienced with the older Q990B. As before, SmartThings lets you control a variety of settings, audio streaming services, and smarts. It worked without a hitch over two weeks of testing.

The design is simple but stylish, and suitably hearty

The HW-Q990C is pretty massive, stretching over 48 inches across and over five inches back, so you'll need to allocate proper space for it. The bar is basic in design but looks rather elegant on your TV console, and the construction feels premium. There's no real weak spot here, with a metal perforated grille across the top, front, and sides revealing a multitude of drivers beneath.

The Q990C offers a useful front-side visual display with real words, not just LEDs. That's particularly handy if you're trying to figure out if you're getting Dolby Atmos or to see if the proper input is selected. The satellites and subwoofer look stylish as well, and you can easily see all the satellite speaker drivers under their perforated grilles.

The included remote looks even fancier, with a brushed metal top. But you shouldn't need it much, as your TV remote and the Samsung app account for most functions when connected via HDMI.

The sound is balanced, clear, and incredibly immersive

The HW-Q990C is an absolute powerhouse, capable of surrounding you in a dome of immersive sound. Thanks to excellent control and an almost laughable number of speaker drivers, music and effects swirl around you with seamless fluidity and precision.

The result is sound that's not only exciting but also brilliantly subtle in its immersion. You won't find many soundbars that can out-brawl the Q990C and its 650+ watts when it comes to sheer power, but it's arguably even better when rendering more granular moments, from a rainstorm overhead to an echoey voice in a splashy hallway. 

The collage of up-, front-, and side-firing speaker drivers, including the satellite speakers at the rear, provide pinpoint accuracy when working in concert with the main bar. Little effects, like a buzzing fly or a whirling helicopter, sound incredibly realistic. Each effect feels perfectly placed within the soundstage, and their impact is so clear that it almost tricks you into believing you're there. In short, the Q990C is a cinematic wizard. 

That's true whether the Q990C is connected over WiFi with a new Samsung TV or via a traditional HDMI connection. The Q-Sympony feature, which plays audio through the bar and your Samsung TV speakers at the same time, can provide an even broader sense of space and directionality for some content, but it's not necessary to get the most out of the system. Whatever TV you own, the Q990C raises the audio stakes significantly.

Even when you're not getting lost in Ant-Man's miniature world or deep beneath the waves of a neon coral reef in Netflix's "Our Planet," the Q990C proves Samsung knows audio tuning. The sound profile is warm yet detailed, elevating everything from the velvety purr of Bucky's Harley Davidson in "Captain America: Civil War" to the flashy dialogue in Amazon Prime's "Good Omens."

But at the end of the day, this is still a soundbar, and there are some limitations that come with that. At times, you can hear the Q990C over-correcting with software to limit distortion or trending toward a boxier, sharper sound in bright productions. Those moments are rare, though, even for music playback. The bar and subwoofer work in concert to provide punchy and well-balanced sound, from jazz to hip-hop.

Speaking of the sub, it has plenty of boom yet is easily tamed with some adjustments to render lower frequencies with smooth musicality. A similarly priced bookshelf speaker pair will still offer better music playback, but the Q990C handles instruments with care, from flashy guitars and synths to reedy horns and strings. This system offers more than enough groove and flow to serve as your primary audio device and earns a spot in our guide to the best soundbars with subwoofers.

The bar offers good features, with a few exceptions

With the HW-Q990C, you'll get nearly every feature you could want, including an array of settings and support for virtually every major audio format. That includes the big ones, like Dolby Atmos and Dolby TrueHD, as well as their DTS counterparts, like DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS:X.

SmartThings makes the software experience intuitive, with the ability to adjust nearly all settings from your mobile device. Samsung also offers features like SpaceFit Sound, designed to adjust the audio to your room automatically, and Adaptive Sound mode, which does an impressive job of optimizing the audio for whatever you play in real time. 

Tinkerers will find a full multi-band EQ when using the Standard sound mode, and individual channel settings let you do things like adjust the center or up-firing speakers to fine-tune their performance. (Samsung hides that last setting under the triple dots at the app's right corner under Device Settings.) You can also make most adjustments with the included remote, though this is definitely a more arduous process.

Clicking the triple dots also lets you set up your choice of Bixby or Alexa as a built-in voice assistant. You can control things like song skip and volume and access other smart features with your voice. It's a workable system, though Alexa's voice was a bit quieter than expected, and it also seemed to falter when trying to pause audio from Spotify.

Another Spotify quirk is that, while using an iPhone's onboard keys to control volume over Spotify Connect, the bar unexpectedly lowered volume completely with a single press for any level below 12. This wasn't the case with a Samsung phone, but we tried two different iPhones with the same result. It's likely this is a software glitch that will be fixed down the road (or potentially an issue with our model), but you can avoid it with AirPlay or Bluetooth. Google's Chromecast is conspicuously not supported for this model.

Those points aside, the main issue we'll take with the Q990C is that its pair of spare HDMI inputs don't support the latest HDMI 2.1 spec. That means you can't get pass-through video signals with 120Hz or Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) when directly connecting a PS5 or Xbox Series X. However, this feature is now available in the 2024 Q990D, but that model costs about $500 more than the Q990C. 

Should you buy the Samsung HW-Q990C?

Unless you can find the newer Q990D for the same price or HDMI 2.1 is an essential feature for your needs, the Q990C is a fantastic buy. It's one of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars on the market and an incredible audio system for movies and music.

If you don't want to spend this much (or plug in this many speakers), there are some solid alternatives for less, like the Sonos Arc or the Bose Smart Soundbar 600. But neither offers the same immersion, and both skip extras like HDMI inputs and DTS:X support. The Vizio Elevate 5.1.4 system also offers solid Dolby Atmos immersion for a fair bit less, but fewer speakers means it won't be as enveloping as Samsung's model.

If you're looking for the full monty when it comes to utterly immersive Dolby Atmos performance in a soundbar system, Samsung's Q990C is very tough to beat.