Nathan Rizzuti, dedicated to Gadget Review for over 4 years, specializes in home entertainment technology and purchasing decisions. Outside of work, Nathan finds solace in playing bluegrass. With 50 months of consistent contributions at GadgetReview, Nathan’s expertise lies in navigating the realms of home entertainment technology and aiding purchasing decisions. His insightful articles, such as “Oh Ballers of Pittsburgh, Where Art Thou,” reflect a unique perspective that resonates with readers.
The Samsung HW-Q900A soundbar has a neutral sound profile, an immersive soundstage, and wide wireless connectivity. It excels in dialogue and mixed usage but has limited bass, display issues, and compatibility concerns. Despite issues, it’s well worth the price.
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Table of Contents
Product Snapshot
Overview
Released in 2021, the Samsung HW-Q900A is a high-end 7.1.2 channel soundbar that touts an exceptionally wide soundstage for both living rooms and home theater setups, thanks to Dolby Atmos.
Similar to some of the highest-rated speakers on the market, it features a built-in microphone to support the Amazon Alexa voice assistant natively.
In addition, just like the best soundbars in the industry, it comes with a dedicated wireless subwoofer unit that connects via Bluetooth, and it has Wi-Fi and Apple AirPlay for wireless connectivity.
However, if you don’t need Apple AirPlay, make sure to check out our Samsung HW-Q800T review today. This soundbar also offers an exceptionally low audio latency, which means the video content almost never goes out of sync with the audio output.
But, if you are a veteran gamer and need an even lower audio latency, take a look at our Samsung HW-Q850T review. Its wired connectivity section consists of two full-speed HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel) passthrough ports and an optical audio jack.
Best For
Large Rooms
Consensus
our Verdict
Samsung HW-Q900A soundbar’s connection quality is generally reliable with low latency, but compatibility issues with certain TV models hinder eARC functionality.
Sound quality is impressive, filling rooms and offering spatial sound. However, lower bass frequencies might leave a lot to be desired.
It shines in dialogue-centric content, offering clear voices and multiple enhancement features like room correction, which calibrates the subwoofer to a room’s size. The soundbar’s build quality is commendable, though dust accumulation on the fabric is a concern.
The soundstage is fairly wide on its own but lacks immersive overhead effects like Atmos that increase the width. While it supports multiple inputs and wireless playback options, it lacks Chromecast built-in, potentially limiting streaming choices.
ReasonS to Buy
Well-balanced sound
The HW-Q900A is best for TV shows, followed by music and then movies. Dialogues, vocals, and most instruments sound great thanks to its well-balanced sound profile and terrific center channel performance. The stereo soundstage is as wide as the bar with accurate sound placement.
Satisfactory surround performance
The surround performance is satisfactory, with clear dialogue and some rumble in the bass during action scenes.
Terrific voice clarity
Dialogues and vocals sound exceptionally clear and well-placed on the soundstage, thanks to the balanced center channel.
Standard smart features and great inputs
This soundbar is compatible with Samsung’s SmartThings app (iOS and Android), giving you control over some of the bar’s features via your smartphone. You can also give vocal commands with built-in Alexa. Input options are excellent thanks to the presence of 2 x Full HDMI In and 1 x HDMI eARC inputs, so you can connect multiple devices to the bar. There is no audio lag over Full HDMI In (-66 ms), and Optical audio (19 ms), and their tested latency is among the lowest we’ve measured. Latency over eARC is higher at 49 ms, but there is no lag.
Reason to Avoid
Mediocre Atmos
The Atmos performance is poor because its up-firing speakers don’t sound immersive enough.
Low bass slightly lacking
The low bass is a bit underemphasized out of the box, so action sequences and bass-intensive music won’t sound as satisfying. But you can customize the profile with bass adjustment and graphic EQ to improve it.
Samsung HW Q900A Specs
Bluetooth Enabled
Yes
Depth
5.4"
Dialogue Enhancement Feature
Yes
Energy Star Certified
No
Equalizer Settings
Advanced
HDMI ARC
Yes
Height
2.7"
Number of Audio Channels
7.1.2
Subwoofer
Included
Surround Sound Supported
Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS:X
Voice Assistant
Amazon Alexa
Wall Mountable
Yes
Weight
37.3 lbs
Width
48.5"
Wireless Connectivity
Bluetooth
Wireless Subwoofer Connectivity
Yes
Works With
Amazon Alexa, SmartThings
All Specs
Test Results
These are the most important criteria to test for Soundbars based on our comprehensive Testing Methodology.
Low End Roll Off (Hz)
62.586
High End Roll Off (Hz)
12,901.592
Max Volume Test (db)
98.3
Latency (ms)
49
THD @ 80dB
0.25
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Released in 2021, the Samsung HW-Q900A is a high-end 7.1.2 channel soundbar that touts an exceptionally wide soundstage for both living rooms and home theater…
Released in 2021, the Samsung HW-Q900A is a high-end 7.1.2 channel soundbar that touts an exceptionally wide soundstage for both living rooms and home theater setups, thanks to Dolby Atmos.
Similar to some of the highest-rated speakers on the market, it features a built-in microphone to support the Amazon Alexa voice assistant natively.
In addition, just like the best soundbars in the industry, it comes with a dedicated wireless subwoofer unit that connects via Bluetooth, and it has Wi-Fi and Apple AirPlay for wireless connectivity.
However, if you don’t need Apple AirPlay, make sure to check out our Samsung HW-Q800T review today. This soundbar also offers an exceptionally low audio latency, which means the video content almost never goes out of sync with the audio output.
But, if you are a veteran gamer and need an even lower audio latency, take a look at our Samsung HW-Q850T review. Its wired connectivity section consists of two full-speed HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel) passthrough ports and an optical audio jack.
Thanks to its two extra sets of speakers, the Samsung HW-Q900A provides a much wider soundstage than the Samsung HW-Q800B. The HW-Q900A also sports many…
Thanks to its two extra sets of speakers, the Samsung HW-Q900A provides a much wider soundstage than the Samsung HW-Q800B. The HW-Q900A also sports many more sound customization features (e.g., dialogue enhancement) than the HW-Q800B, and at 98.3 dB, the former model can get much louder and has fewer audio compression artifacts at the max volume.
Despite the Samsung HW-Q900A offering a much more comprehensive 7.1.2 channel speaker setup, the Sonos Arc soundbar features a slightly wider soundstage and better build…
Despite the Samsung HW-Q900A offering a much more comprehensive 7.1.2 channel speaker setup, the Sonos Arc soundbar features a slightly wider soundstage and better build quality. However, the HW-Q900A does include a subwoofer for deeper bass and two full-speed HDMI passthrough ports, both of which the Sonos Arc soundbar lacks. In addition, unlike the Sonos Arc, the HW-Q900A soundbar supports Bluetooth and has a GUI (Graphic User Interface) based menu that is easy to navigate along with built-in hardware EQ presets.
Thanks to its two extra upward-firing speakers, the JBL Bar 9.1 delivers a much wider soundstage and features better surround sound performance than the Samsung…
Thanks to its two extra upward-firing speakers, the JBL Bar 9.1 delivers a much wider soundstage and features better surround sound performance than the Samsung HW-Q900A. The JBL soundbar also features better build quality than the HW-Q900A and supports Chromecast. However, unlike the JBL Bar 9.1, the Samsung model has a built-in microphone and natively supports the Amazon Alexa voice assistant. The Samsung soundbar also features many more audio customization options, including a graphic EQ menu, treble/bass adjustment, a dialogue enhancement mode, and it gets much louder than the JBL model with fewer compression artifacts at the max volume.
