SAMSUNG HW- Q800A

THE SOUNDS MAGIC

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Telling soundbars apart is often akin to playing the world’s most tedious game of Where’s Wally? The HW-Q800A’s long slab design is familiar, and the matt black metal grille discreet. You can say it’s made to be heard, not seen. Equally discreet is the matt black sub with its 20cm driver.

Samsung, though, has made improvements to performance, and added some intelligent features like Alexa voice, Wi-Fi connectivity to stream via Spotify Connect and AirPlay 2, and more.

This 3.1.2 soundbar has three forward-facing channels – left and right both consist of a tweeter and a mid-range/bass race-track driver, while the centre is a single wide-range tweeter. Two upward-facing tweeters provide height channels for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X formats, and the sound is enhanced by Samsung’s ‘Acoustic Beam 2.0’ tech.

There are three sound profiles to choose from – standard, game mode pro, and surround mode that up-mixes basic audio to use the height channels. There’s also an adaptive mode that autodetects what you’re watching and switches to the right mode. In the Le Mans race in Ford v Ferrari, the soundbar delivers a soundstage way beyond its size. Despite the chaos, small touches like the seat noise or fingers tapping on the steering wheel are well projected. The opening to Blade Runner 2049 gives the sub a chance to shine with the bassy Dolby Atmos soundtrack. It handles the pulsing score with an epic sense of scale that a solo soundbar seldom matches.