Samsung sells a dizzying variety of soundbars, which may make selecting something aside from its multi-speaker Dolby Atmos flagship, the HW-Q990C (or older Q990B), fairly complicated. The HW-Q800C, which sits a step or two beneath the Q990, stands out as a best choice for these trying to dive into 3D soundscapes and nice sound at a extra cheap worth.
The Q800C is a chip off the outdated Q990 block, borrowing the identical angular hexagon profile and loads of trickle-down options in a pared-down package deal. As a two-piece system, it’s simpler to include into your listening room than Samsung’s priciest bar, whereas its included subwoofer provides it a cinematic edge over stand-alone choices just like the Sonos Arc and different opponents.
The kicker is you could normally decide up the Q800C for nicely under its $1,000 MSRP, typically as little as $700, which makes its spectacular sound high quality and beneficiant characteristic set all of the extra engaging. Whereas not with out its limitations, that is a compelling Atmos bar that’s nicely price contemplating on a midrange finances, even when it floats beneath the radar.
Straightforward Setup, Loads of Extras
Samsung makes practically all the pieces easy with its soundbars, although unboxing the Q800C would be the exception. Its L-shaped packaging appears nearly designed to confound, requiring you to open a number of ends to dig all the pieces out. That mentioned, after renegotiating its place and liberating the contents, I had the subwoofer and 46-inch bar in place and belting out sound very quickly.
You’ll more than likely be connecting the system to your TV over HDMI ARC/eARC, which presents one of the best sound and simplified management over energy and quantity along with your TV distant. Most newer TVs will discover the bar and ship sound mechanically, however older setups might require you to decide on it as an exterior machine. In case your TV is notably seasoned, you might want to attach over the Q800C’s optical enter, however this negates Dolby Atmos, which sort of defeats the purpose.
The Q800C helps Dolby’s object-based Atmos sound format at full decision from sources like 4K Blu-ray immediately from the bar’s spare HDMI enter, or in compressed kind by way of streaming providers. In contrast to Sonos’ and Bose’s high soundbars, the Q800C additionally helps Dolby Atmos’ major 3D-audio competitor, DTS:X, alongside nearly each different main audio format you’ll encounter.
The Q800C presents some Samsung-only tips, together with the flexibility to supply Atmos wirelessly from choose fashions just like the model’s Q-series TVs or work in tandem with their onboard TV audio system by way of the proprietary Q-Symphony system. Customers of any TV can take pleasure in different trendy options like a built-in voice assistant by way of Amazon Alexa, and Spacefit sound calibration to mechanically analyze your room and modify efficiency accordingly (although I’m undecided I heard a lot enchancment there).
Connecting the bar to your Wi-Fi community by way of the SmartThings app allows you to dig into settings like channel ranges and EQ, and logging on unlocks high-quality streaming over Spotify Join, Tidal Join, and Apple AirPlay. Google’s Chromecast is conspicuously absent (within the US model anyway), however Bluetooth streaming is accessible as a substitute.
Thrilling, Swirling Sound
After spending numerous hours listening to Samsung’s newest soundbars, it was no shock to seek out that the Q800C serves up sensible sound throughout all kinds of content material. The sound profile is highlighted by full-bodied midrange and bass frequencies, treble that sings with candy lyricism in brass and strings, and stable dynamics that deliver out all the pieces from delicate dialog to potent explosions (or each directly) with tempered stability.