Samsung HW-Q930D Soundbar Review

The Samsung Q930D strongly resembles the last generation, the Samsung HW-Q930C. It's black and angular without any rounded corners. The top, front, and sides of the bar are perforated metal grills, while the back and underside are plastic with tiny rubber feet. The look is visually uncluttered, and the back of the bar doesn't leave the ports exposed, which elevates the look.

The sub looks like the one included with the previous model, the Samsung HW-Q930C. It's primarily metal and plastic with a small rear bass port. The side of the sub has a round fabric grill covering the driver.

The Samsung HW-Q930D includes two angular satellites to match the soundbar. They have metal grilles on the front and top and plastic sides, backs, and undersides. They also have rubber feet, so they don't mark any surfaces you place them on.

The soundbar is wide but not very tall. It's too wide to fit neatly between the legs of most 65-inch TVs on a stand, but it's low enough that it's unlikely to block your screen.

The subwoofer is similar in size to a desktop computer tower, and a bit smaller than the Samsung HW-Q990D's sub.

The satellites are compact and wireless. They're also a bit shorter and narrower than satellites in other premium soundbar kits, like the Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 9 with Satellites + Bass Module.

You can mount the soundbar and satellites. Included are the necessary hardware and screws to mount the bar to a wall. You'll need to add your own brackets and screws for mounting the satellites.

The Samsung HW-Q930D has excellent build quality. The soundbar's metal and plastic construction feels solid, and its finish isn't prone to collecting fingerprints. The satellites and subwoofer match in high-quality build, too. Only the input ports seem a bit cramped on the soundbar, and the subwoofer's fabric-covered driver can collect dust or rip if you're not careful while moving it.

• Instructions
• Simple User Manual
• Remote with batteries (2x AAA)
• 3x power cord for subwoofer and satellites (6.5 ft / 2m)
• Power cord for soundbar (4.9 ft / 1.5m)
• HDMI cable (4.9 ft / 1.5m)
• Wall-mount guide
• Wall-mount bracket with screws (2x holder screws, 2x screws)

The Samsung HW-Q930D has a great stereo frequency response. When set to the 'Standard' preset, it plays back clear lead instruments in your music with a good amount of low end. Vocals sound articulate, and you can pick out instruments in the mix well. It overall trends towards a balanced sound out of the box, and you can play with the seven-band EQ if you want more low-end oomph. Altering the EQ, you can sculpt the sound to be similar to that of this generation and the last generation model. It's roughly similar-sounding to the previous Samsung HW-Q930C but with a more conservative low-end and a gentle boost to the mids that emphasizes speech.

This soundbar includes a room calibration tool to tune it to your space. If you set it to the 'Standard' mode, you can use the seven-band equalizer to sculpt the sound further in the SmartThings app. In other preset modes, there are only Bass and Treble sliders, not a graphic EQ. The default sound in 'Standard' doesn't require additional tweaking to make it neutral, but you have the option if you want a different sound. You can also compare the other frequency responses produced when using the different modes.

The Samsung Q930D has a good soundstage. It's perceived as about the width of the soundbar in 'Standard' mode, which is similar to the previous Samsung HW-Q930C. The soundbar delivers audio from the center and sides with great focus, but it gets a bit more diffused towards the farthest edges of the soundstage.

The Samsung HW-Q930D has impressive stereo dynamics. It gets loud enough to fill your space and maintains your audio's dynamics at max volume without noticeable compression or pumping affecting the quiet and loud parts of music.

The soundbar has great center channel performance. It uses a discrete center channel, which clearly reproduces the fundamentals of speech well without becoming diffused. As a result, you can easily keep up with people talking over each other in reality TV shows.

The Samsung Q930D has an impressive 5.1 surround performance. The satellites playback balanced audio all around you. Meanwhile, the sub ensures you'll feel the rumble and punch of action scenes. Compared to the last generation, Samsung HW-Q930C, the mid-range and treble frequencies sound a bit more balanced and a touch less boomy by default.

The soundbar uses a combination of discrete upfiring and phantom channels for object-based audio formats, like Dolby Atmos. Throughout the range, it's quite neutral, with a roll-off in the highest frequencies, so it doesn't sound airy. However, the bass and mids are tight and even, and the treble sounds clear but not piercing.

Subjectively, it outputs trebly sounds with detail that you can locate within the space. Side-to-side movements are defined and easy to track. Meanwhile, deep rumbling scenes are immersive and felt without losing the finer details in the higher frequencies. Certainly, the low-end keeps up with other premium soundbars like the Nakamichi DRAGON.

That said, the height dimension is somewhat cramped and small with a slightly artificial quality, and the audio coming from behind you seems less focused than the left and right panning.

The Samsung HW-Q930D is packed full of sound enhancement features. It boasts a room calibration tool that tunes your bar to suit the space's unique acoustic characteristics. In 'Standard' mode, the companion app or using the remote to access settings provides a seven-band EQ if you want to fine-tune the sound more. The other modes ('Surround', 'Game', and 'Adaptive') only offer bass and treble sliders, or you can also use EQ presets ('Normal', 'Jazz', 'Classical', and 'Pop').

Besides that, you can use tools like 'Voice Enhancement' to help with poorly mixed audio, alongside 'Night Mode' so you can binge-watch without waking anybody. There are also 'Bass Enhancement' and 'Virtual' modes. Plus, you can adjust the individual levels of the speakers via the app. You can also adjust the Audio Sync to compensate for latency, too. The brand's Q-Symphony feature allows you to link up a compatible Samsung TV's built-in speakers with the soundbar, though subjectively, that feature doesn't improve the sound.

You can connect the soundbar via its HDMI eARC or Optical ports. It also has an HDMI In for passthrough, so you can use the Samsung HW-Q930D as a hub. If you require HDMI 2.1 passthrough for gaming, you'll want to check out the step-up model, Samsung HW-Q990D. The underside of the soundbar also has a USB port for service only.

The soundbar supports many of the most common audio formats, like Dolby Digital and Dolby Atmos, without issue. It also processes DTS and DTS:X audio formats correctly, which are more commonly found on Blu-rays.

The Samsung HW-Q930D supports plenty of audio formats via the HDMI In port, so you can watch your Blu-ray collection with DTS audio or stream the latest blockbuster using object-based formats like Dolby Atmos.

The soundbar supports Dolby Digital and two-channel PCM via its Optical port, so you can hook up older media devices.

The soundbar's audio latency via eARC is fantastic. Video and audio match up well across different audio formats for tight lipsyncs. However, latency can vary across different TVs and apps, but you can compensate using the Audio Sync feature if the lag is noticeable.

The Samsung HW-Q930D's latency performance using the HDMI In port is outstanding. Common formats are supported with generally low enough latency that your audio and video will match, though some apps and TVs compensate for latency differently. That said, you can access the Audio Sync feature to make manual adjustments via the companion app or the settings, which is accessible on the remote via the gear button.

The soundbar has great latency performance via Optical connections. Lag is higher and more noticeable with Dolby Digital content than two-channel PCM, though you can use the app's Audio Sync tool to offset the latency.

The Samsung Q930D can act as a hub between your TV and other devices like gaming consoles and PCs via the HDMI In port. For gaming, the soundbar supports variable refresh rate formats like FreeSync and G-SYNC passthrough. It can also playback tear-free 4k video at 60Hz for example.

You have an extensive selection of wireless connection options with this soundbar. Chromecast is supported, but you'll want to check with your region, as it can vary from country to country. In addition, you can connect to the usual suspects, Wi-Fi, Apple AirPlay, Spotify Connect, and Bluetooth. In addition, if you select the Tap Sound feature (and your Samsung device runs on Android 8.1 or newer), you can transfer your audio playback from your phone to the soundbar.

The right side of front-facing panel of the soundbar has a minimalist three-character display that automatically scrolls when the information is longer than three characters. It displays volume, input source, and format display. For basic functions, it's useful, but it's impractically slow for longer messages like song titles.

The top of the soundbar has four buttons and a wireless tap feature. The circle button on the right side is a multi-function button for features like input selection. Volume controls are in the center, and there's a dedicated mic mute button. The wireless tap feature lets you seamlessly switch your audio from compatible Samsung smartphones to the soundbar.

The included remote covers the majority of your basic functions, and the gear icon lends access to more advanced settings. Using the SmartThings companion app offers more in-depth access to the soundbar's features.

The soundbar includes Amazon Alexa built-in as your voice assistant for hands-free control. There's also a microphone mute if you prefer more privacy.