Fast Facts
- Samsung's flagship soundbar for 2024 — the HW-Q990D — supports Dolby Atmos and features an HDMI 2.1 port for passthrough.
- The soundbar also features AI-infused technology to make voices easier to hear.
- You also get a bonus feature when using it with a Samsung television.
There are a lot of reasons to be excited for Spring; for one, it means warmer weather and blooming flowers, but it’s also when we typically see some of the home entertainment devices announced back at the Consumer Electronics Show actually hit the market. Now, I’ve had the chance to put my ears and eyes on Samsung’s (SSNLF) flagship soundbar for 2024.
The HW-Q990D doesn’t necessarily focus on a modern build or masking itself in a lifestyle design like the forthcoming Music Frame, but it does look pretty badass. Presented as an all-black soundbar with strong angles on the sides, it shows up for business and will easily fade away to let you focus on whatever you’re watching or listening to.
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If that looks or sounds familiar, that’s because it looks pretty much identical to Samsung’s 2023 990C. It’s priced a bit more at $1,999.99 and is available now with an immediate discount of $200; it pairs the main soundbar with a subwoofer and two speakers.
Jacob Krol/TheStreet
Those modern rears produce sound out the front and top to better place audio in your space and increase immersion. This equates to an 11.1.4-channel system powered by 22 drivers.
New for 2024, though, Samsung is promising an improved Q-Symphony experience. This lets you use a Samsung-made soundbar with a Samsung-made TV and have both pieces of hardware produce sound. Typically, a soundbar fully takes over, but this tech delivers a richer audio experience and doesn’t put the TV's audio hardware to waste.
There is also an AI-infused Active Voice Amplifier Pro that uses a dedicated model to separate key voices from other sounds for what you’re watching. This way, it can adjust the mix and ensure vocal clarity or that booming background noise doesn’t make speech inaudible.
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The only physical hardware change is an HDMI 2.1 port, which enables 4K 120Hz passthrough for devices like an Apple TV 4K, Roku, PS5, or Xbox Series X. It was a bit of an oddity not to offer, especially for the price point, but Samsung’s corrected this.
In my brief hands-on, the Q990D is certainly at the same level as the Q990C in that it produces room-filling sound with a high level of clarity. The low-end bass is more than enough to cause a rumble, but even in a packed event like an action movie, you can make out the respective parts. At $1,999.99, it’s no small investment, but it can be cheaper than building out your own system or purchasing a similarly connected audio product from Sonos.
Samsung’s Q990D isn’t limited to audio from a television, either. It supports Apple’s AirPlay 2 standard, Chromecast, Spotify Connect, and Bluetooth, and even integrates with Amazon Alexa and Google Home. You can use it for almost anything, including music playback.
If you’ve been eagerly awaiting the Q990D since its unveiling at CES 2024, Samsung is not making you wait any longer. However, it might also be better to consider the Q990C to save a bit of cash if you don’t need the latest. As far as the Music Frame or the glare-free S95D OLED, Samsung is still showing them as coming soon. You can sign up here to learn more about those two and the rest of the 2024 home entertainment lineup and lock in a $100 discount from Samsung.
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