Amrita Raj
Table of Contents
Want a more immersive home theatre experience but don’t want to put holes in your ceiling or transform your living room into a speaker version of Stones? You may watch movies in the comfort of your own home with the support of a Dolby Atmos soundbar and experience really immersive audio without any hassle. Your home theatre may actually be upgraded with a Dolby Atmos soundbar for TV without the effort and expense of a full installation. These sleek speakers are capable of recreating the immersive and three-dimensional sound experience that one would enjoy at a movie theatre.
Many true music lovers steer clear of soundbars because they cannot match the performance of a typical home theatre setup. The main advantages of a soundbar are its smaller size and wireless connectivity, which eliminate the need for costly cabling work required in an ordinary home theatre setup. The soundbar also offers a center-ground solution where the sound benefits go well beyond those of only the TV Speaker when the room is smaller because of its compact dimension. The majority of high-end Atmossoundbars use upward-firing drivers to vertically spread the sound and reflect it off your ceiling, creating the illusion of overhead speakers. We’ll examine three soundbars in the same category today. It is going to be Samsung Q990B vs. Bose Soundbar 900 vs. Samsung Q950A.
The Samsung HW-Q990B carries on the recent history of the firm providing its flagship soundbar with four physical boxes; however, up until this point, Samsung has constantly been able to cram more channels into those four boxes. The latest flagship soundbar from Samsung now boasts an auto-calibration mechanism, making it much simpler to maximize its unrivaled channel count. Bose joins the Atmos movement with the release of the Smart Soundbar 900. As the Sonos Arc’s direct rival, it is the first Bose soundbar that supports immersive surround sound technology. Both provide multiroom audio, come equipped with built-in voice assistants, and have the option of adding wireless surround and a subwoofer.
The Samsung HW-Q950A supports both Dolby Atmos and DTS:3D X’s audio formats and has the most channels of any soundbar currently available on the market. The Samsung HW-Q950A pushes the boundaries of what a Soundbar can be. That’s because it’s actually four independent pieces of equipment, and nothing about its appearance foreshadows the volume of sound it can produce. Let’s look at the detailed study of three Soundbars.
Samsung Q990B vs Bose Soundbar 900 vs Samsung Q950A: Comparison Table
| Features | Samsung Q990B | Bose Soundbar 900 | Samsung Q950A |
| Launching Year | 2022 | 2021 | 2021 |
| Brand | Samsung | Bose | Samsung |
| Model Name | Samsung Q990B | Bose Soundbar 900 | Samsung Q950A |
| Series | Samsung Q Series | Bose Soundbar Series | Samsung Q Series |
| Online Pricing Range | ₹90,990 | ₹1,04,900 | ₹99,990 |
| Customer Ratings | 4.5/5 | 4.5/5 | 4.5/5 |
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Samsung Q990B vs. Bose Soundbar 900 vs. Samsung Q950A: Detailed Analysis
Design
The Q990B’s design, which consists of four components, is what is most crucial- the primary soundbar, a subwoofer, and two rear speakers. With the exception of the subwoofer, each speaker, including the primary soundbar, has three distinct channel drivers in the rear and nine in the front. In contrast to the previous two generations of flagship soundbars, Samsung has abandoned the felt surface on its primary soundbar and rear speakers in favor of an all-metal grilled finish. This gives it a tougher, less domesticated appearance, but overall, We like it better, not least because it resists dust accumulation better than the soft finish.
The design of the Q990B, though, is best because Samsung, mercifully, has added a little LED information screen on the front edge of the soundbar, where you can see it when lying on your couch. Additionally, the back speakers have been upgraded. Their primary cabinets now stand on small “feet” to prevent any sound contamination from whatever furniture or shelf you have them sat on, and their top edges have been angled down to help the orientation of the up-firing drivers. Samsung’s flagship soundbar receives a proper built-in auto-calibration system for the first time with the Q990B.
The Bose Smart Soundbar 900 is a sophisticated-looking soundbar that practices absolute simplicity. The soundbar, which comes in black or white, has a glass top and a metal grill that surrounds the front and sides. The unit has virtually little decoration. It contains two touch-sensitive buttons in addition to the Bose logo on the front, one of which activates the voice assistant and the other of which mutes the microphone. Additionally, there is a tiny LED indicator next to the buttons. Depending on the function you’re using, it lights in a variety of colors and patterns. One HDMI input and one optical digital audio input are located on the Smart Soundbar 900’s back. For wireless sources, it also supports Bluetooth and AirPlay 2. You can use the Ethernet port to make a physical connection to your network or the built-in Wi-Fi to connect wirelessly.
The HW-main Q950A’s unit is not small, but it is still shorter than many other current top-tier Dolby Atmos soundbars. So it’s very amazing that there are a whopping 15 drivers packed inside. Two woofers and a wide-range tweeter are used in the left, center, and right channels, respectively. Next, there are two each of the surround, wide-surround, and upward-firing drivers. Another outdated design element that has regrettably found its way onto the HW-Q950 is the shaky LCD screen that is strangely located on top of the primary soundbar. We can understand that space on the soundbar’s exterior must be limited with so many drivers stuffed inside.
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Sound Performance
The Q990B excels at reproducing a true Dolby Atmos soundscape in your home space. Each of its 16 audio channels is given careful consideration, especially since the new auto-calibration system that is built into the device performs a fantastic job of balancing the channels without your assistance. A bubble of sound envelops you entirely, going all the way down the sides of your seat, all the way around the back of your head, and even, startlingly joined up, all the way over your head.
Delivering a realistic Dolby Atmos audio experience depends on achieving this continuous globe of sound. Dolby Atmos, after all, is a so-called object-based sound format in which sounds are put in a skilfully created “3D” audio space as opposed to just being sent to certain speakers. Therefore, if your sound system can’t accurately build that 3D area, it can’t accurately put particular sound effects within that space.
Although the Bose Soundbar 900 has wide and deep audio, it doesn’t sound as nice as you may anticipate for the price. The speech is understandable and crisp, and it does a good job with Atmos height effects and virtual surround sound. When viewing movies and television, the bass is lacking, which is something We never imagined we’d say about the typically powerful bass that Bose speakers provide.
The performance of the Atmos mode on the Smart Soundbar 900 was satisfactory but not extraordinary. The rain sounded as though it was falling from the ceiling when listening to an Atmos demonstration movie, but the effect was clearer to hear when using the Arc. Although the soundbar did not produce enough bass when viewing movies, it did not have this issue when listening to music; in fact, it produced too much bass, and the low-end frequencies that it produced were somewhat hazy and lacked definition.
The customer’s preferences, available space, and financial constraints should guide their decision between purchasing a standalone soundbar and opting instead for a bundle that includes surround speakers and a subwoofer. When it comes to creating a dramatic film or gaming experience at home, immersive surround audio and room-quaking bass are generally at the top of the list for individuals wishing to update their home setup. Extra boxes do not always indicate better value. And the Q950A does admirably in this area.
During our testing of Dolby Atmos, we discovered that the extra drivers in the satellite speakers frequently cause a lack of coherence when there are numerous heavy surround elements. This has a negative influence on the subtlety and spatial precision of the sound.
The soundbar’s Standard mode, which appears to be the only setting without using the surround speakers’ side-firing drivers, makes things a little better. Unfortunately, if we switch movies or inputs, the sound mode automatically switches back to Adaptive, which favors putting movies in the all-singing and all-dancing Surround mode.
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Samsung Q990B vs Bose Soundbar 900 vs Samsung Q950A: Quick Results
| Particulars | Samsung Q990B | Bose Soundbar 900 | Samsung Q950A | Which One Is Better? |
| Design | Good | Good | Good | Any |
| Sound Performance | Better | Good | Good | Samsung Q990B |
Samsung Q990B Vs Bose Soundbar 900 Vs Samsung Q950A: Final Verdict
The Q990B is an aggressive beast, but its enormous power and dynamic range combine with startling clarity and precision to give full movie soundtrack dynamics, unlike anything we’ve heard from any other soundbar. The Q990B’s built-in rear speakers are unquestionably functional. With three channels each, they add to a Dolby Atmos experience that is wholly unique. The Bose Smart Soundbar 900 is, all things considered, a really decent soundbar. It is equipped with all of the features that you might desire in a high-end soundbar, including support for the Atmos audio format, the ability to distribute sound to several rooms, and many more functions.
It would make the most sense to stick with a Bose soundbar if you already have other Bose speakers in your home. The Q950A provides a robust listening experience by providing a powerful amount of sonic vigor in addition to features and, of course, speakers. It’s clearly not the most detailed or expansive performer, and we’d prefer if all that driver power could be more coherently controlled, but those with rich pockets looking for a soundbar that can offer huge, punchy music and wonderfully clear vocals will likely not be disappointed by the Q950A.
