Samsung HW-Q950T  Soundbar Review

This is a fairly wide and heavy soundbar. It has a similar design to the Samsung HW-Q900T as it has slightly angular sides with vent-like openings for its side surround speakers. The bar is mostly made from plastic and its front and top sides covered in a tight fabric that looks like it could easily get dirty.

The Samsung HW-Q950T's subwoofer is mostly made of wood. The right side speaker is covered by fabric that feels like it could easily rip or collect dust. You can also check out the Nakamichi Shockwafe Ultra 9.2 eARC, a 9.2.4 setup with two subwoofers, if you have a larger living space to fill with sound.

The satellites are mostly made of plastic. They have a tight fabric covering on their top and front sides. As their power cable is located beneath the speakers, there's a groove to help keep the satellites from squashing the cord. If you're looking for a similar soundbar but don't have space for satellite speakers, check out the Samsung HW-Q900T.

The Samsung HW-Q950T is a long soundbar and it most likely won't fit between the legs of any 55" TV. On the upside, it's not too tall, especially when compared to other large soundbars like the Samsung HW-Q90R, so it shouldn't obscure your view of the TV unless it sits flush to the table.

The subwoofer is about the size of a large desktop PC but you shouldn't have too much of a problem placing it in a room.

The satellite speakers are fairly tall and long but they can be placed anywhere in the room, as long as they're connected to a power source.

The Samsung HW-Q950T soundbar has one opening for its input ports and its power cable is located separately on the right side of the bar's back. You can wall-mount this bar using its universal holes located on its underside thanks to the included brackets and screws.

The back of the subwoofer has its port as well as its pairing button. The power connects at the bottom of the subwoofer.

These satellites are labeled left and right so that you can place them accordingly in your home. Their backside has a pairing button and a universal hole if you want to wall-mount them.

The Samsung HW-Q950T has a good build quality. Although it's fairly wide and heavy, the bar and satellites are made from mostly plastic. All of the speakers are protected by tight fabric but it looks like it could easily collect dust, and is a slight step down from the Samsung HW-Q90R's metal grilles. However, the subwoofer is made from wood, which makes it feel pretty sturdy. Unfortunately, the display is located on the top of the bar and you won't be able to see it unless you're standing directly over it.

• Manual
• Remote and 2x AA batteries
• 4x Power cables
• HDMI cable
• Wall-mounting accessories
• x4 Rubber foot

The Samsung HW-Q950T has a great stereo frequency response. It has a deep low bass that's boomy, which is great for explosions in your favorite action films. It otherwise has a very neutral sound profile that's well-suited for a variety of audio content. If you prefer to customize its sound, this soundbar also has a graphic EQ plus a few presets.

The Samsung HW-Q950T soundbar has a good stereo soundstage. While the bar is pretty wide, the soundstage is about the same width and the bar doesn't do any tricks to widen it. That said, it has a pretty focused soundstage as objects seem to be coming from accurate pinpoint locations rather than general areas.

The Samsung HW-Q950T has outstanding stereo dynamics. It can get pretty loud, which is great if you're hosting a house party or if you have a large room. It also performs quite well at max volume as there isn't much compression.

The THD performance of the Samsung HW-Q950T soundbar is great. At a normal listening volume, its audio reproduction is clean. While there's a small jump in THD when you push this bar to its max volume, it may not be noticeable to most people with real-life content.

The Samsung HW-Q950T is a 9.1.4 setup with an impressive center channel performance. As it uses a dedicated center channel, it reproduces clear and accurate dialogue in movies.

Update 06/17/2021: We updated the surround setup photo to reflect that this soundbar only plays surround content from the satellites and the subwoofer. There were no changes to the score or the results.

The Samsung HW-Q950T has an impressive surrounds performance. It comes with two discrete surround speakers that help to more accurately localize objects like voices in the sound image. Its surround channels get pretty loud, too, and the frequency response is quite neutral and balanced, so dialogue and instruments are reproduced clearly.

The Samsung HW-Q950T soundbar has a disappointing height performance. As it uses its up-firing speakers found on the bar as well as its satellites, it bounces sound off of your ceiling to help give you the impression of height. However, this produces a diffused localization of objects that doesn't sound as real as a discrete localization provided by down-firing speakers.

The Samsung HW-Q950T soundbar has acceptable sound enhancement features. Unlike the Samsung HW-Q950A, it lacks room correction and an auto-volume mode, which is a little disappointing from a high-end model. However, it does come with a graphic EQ as well as several presets: 'Standard', 'Surround', 'Game Pro', and 'Adaptive Sound'. Inside the companion app, there's also EQ graph modes: 'None', 'Pop', 'Jazz', and 'Classic'. It's equipped with Q Symphony, which allows you to sync this soundbar with your Samsung TV and is advertised to produce a more immersive sound by using all speakers, including your TV's.

The Samsung HW-Q950T can be used as a hub between your TV and other devices as it has several inputs. While it doesn't have an AUX In so that you can connect it to older devices, it has two Full HDMI In cables.

Update 11/25/2021: Following user feedback, we updated the the firmware to version 1021.0. We can confirm that this soundbar now supports 5.1 PCM content. Sound comes from both the soundbar and the satellites.

The Samsung HW-Q950T soundbar has incredible support via its HDMI ARC port as it supports most common audio formats. It also supports eARC, so it's able to play object-based surround signals and high-quality lossless formats.

Update 05/14/2021: We updated the the firmware to version 1019.5. We retested the bar and found that it now supports 5.1 PCM via Full HDMI In with all the channels playing the correct files.

The Samsung HW-Q950T has remarkable support via its Full HDMI In port. It can play almost all audio formats, which is great if you like to watch Blu-ray movies or shows from a streaming service.

When you're connected via Optical In, this soundbar supports both Dolby Digital and DTS, which is usually found on Blu-ray discs as well as streaming platforms.

Update 03/18/2021: There was a mistake in our methodology where we measured the latency using every second frame (eg. 120fps). We now re-evaluated the footage using every frame at 240fps for more accurate results.

The Samsung HW-Q950T has great wireless playback options. You can stream your favorite audio via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi but you won't be able to use more system-specific connectivity options like Apple AirPlay.

The Samsung HW-Q950T soundbar can passthrough the highest quality signals. When connected between your PC and TV, text is clear and crisp on your screen.

This subwoofer connects wirelessly to the soundbar and only requires a cable for its power supply.

The Samsung HW-Q950T's satellites only use a power cable and connect to the soundbar wirelessly.

The Samsung HW-Q950T soundbar has a small display on its top side. It can only be seen when you're standing over the bar, which is a little annoying. This display indicates your volume level, speaker settings, and inputs. There are also three lights in front of the bar that turn on and off when adjusting the volume but they're not level indicators.

The Samsung HW-Q950T has a couple of buttons on the top of the bar. There's a multi-function button to select your input, you can adjust the volume up or down, and you can turn the mic on/off.

The Samsung HW-Q950T's remote is the same style as the Samsung HW-Q90R and it allows you to control all the soundbar's functions. However, you won't be able to use it as a universal remote for other devices.

The Samsung HW-Q950T soundbar has a companion app called Samsung SmartThings. You can control some of the soundbar's settings such as changing the volume or tweaking its sound via its EQ. However, it can't do everything that the remote can do, as the remote can also control the bar and satellite's levels.

The Samsung HW-Q950T turns itself off after 18 minutes of inactivity. It also supports HDMI CEC, so you can use your TV remote to control basic features of your soundbar like volume.