Samsung HW-Q990F

The top soundbar for Samsung's TVs just became even better

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Every year for what feels like forever, Samsung has released a new, only marginally altered, iteration of its top-of-the-line, four-component, channel-rich flagship soundbar package.

As the 21st century rolls on, though, it seems as if Samsung’s soundbar engineers decided they needed to set themselves a challenge by quite radically redesigning a key part of this latest HW-Q990F model - the subwoofer. It’s now a compact cube, with two separate drivers fitting into opposing sides.

It’s undoubtedly risky to change such a key part of a winning sound quality formula so drastically. Has Samsung shot itself in the foot? Or has the best actually just got even better?

The main bar element is a typically large affair, which makes it suited to 55-inch TVs and up - the sort of screen someone spending this much on a soundbar will already own.

The Q990F wears its size well, with its double-angled left and right edges and plastic grilles. Samsung has emphasised the horizontal axis of the top edge this year to quite stylish effect, as well as going for a lighter grey finish than the near-black of the soundbar’s Q990D predecessor.

The top edge has a grille, just like the front and side edges, because the Q990F features up-firing speakers to deliver Dolby Atmos soundtrack height channel effects.

The rear speakers wear the same finish as the main bar, and sport a similarly angular look - including a peaked top edge to help the up-firing speaker angle its sound so it can join up with that from the main soundbar.