Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
A run through of The Gray Man on Netflix (Dolby Atmos) provides plenty of opportunities for the HW-Q700B to impress, as an example. Intelligibility is consistently good, without dialogue sounding overly sharp. There’s genuine heft to the presentation too.
The two buttons above the navigation controls are used for source selection and Bluetooth pairing while the other three below the circular navigation controls are for sound mute, sound mode selection and sound control which includes many sound calibration options like treble, bass, frequency bands adjustment and specific channels volume control. The two buttons at the bottom are for main volume on the left and woofer volume on the right. In terms of control the Q700A seems to be exactly the same as the Q905A which is not all that surprising. The inclusion of WiFi and Bluetooth certainly helps to include all these and add great flexibility to the unit. Extra Features and Services The whole system is rated at 330 watts of output power so let’s brake this number down. The main unit is rated at 170 watts with a (30 W x 4) + (20 W x 2) + 10 W) configuration while the subwoofer comes at 160 watts. Connectivity The Samsung Q-Symphony support is interesting here, if you have a compatible Samsung TV. Typically, a soundbar is used to replace a set’s internal speaker system. When connected, the screen flashes up a message informing viewers that ‘external speakers are active’. However, Q-Symphony intelligently allows both the soundbar and the internal speakers in a compatible Samsung TV to work together, creating an altogether larger, louder soundstage. For the two main channels the Q700A is using a single round woofer in combination with an oval one. The center channel uses a single tweeter while for Atmos there are two round woofers.
The Q700A delivers truly immersive surround sound with the courtesy of market leading technology through multiple, custom designed, built-in speakers. This alongside an incredible bass boosting subwoofer included in the box means you will be encapsulated with pure and precise directional sound. After you connect all parts to the appropriate power outlets then both the subwoofer and main unit should pair automatically. If for some reason they don’t then you have the option to do it the manual way and there are very clear and easy instructions on how to do that. The soundbar offers everything we were expecting from Samsung. It is not the most feature complete unit we have tested, and some omissions will certainly hurt its practicality overall, but what is there works very good and will suffice for most users. Initial Setup There’s plenty of subtle detail in the wider soundstage too. Spatial placement is wide, and panning is speedy. The result is an exciting, entertaining listen.
Samsung has gone for a more angular design with its 2022 soundbars, which is distinctive if not overtly fashionable (softer curves are more on trend, we feel). Overall build quality is fine, but there’s no nice acoustic fabric on show, this is very much a sliver of hard plastic. As for the subwoofer, the majority of it is made of wood, with a thin layer of fabric covering the front. Therefore, it may get dirty easily as it collects dust. Adaptive Sound ensures the content you are watching will always sound its best with each scene optimised by AI Sound. Watching sport, you'll feel as if you're in the stadium, or during a movie, you'll hear the action closing in from all directions. Whether the director’s intent is to make you feel like part of the crowd or if you are required to feel like you are centre stage, the Q700A will be sure to fulfil. Once again we tried comparing the different sound modes available and the Adaptive Sound mode is a good choice if you want to set it up and forget as it will adjust sound according to the content on screen. Panning effects will give you the sense of moving sounds in space, dialogue was distinct and clear even during hectic moments and you will get some elevation on the Atmos sounds even if not as much as we would like. The last thing you have to do is select the appropriate sound mode. Here you can either choose one according to the material being played or if you are the kind of person that just wants to leave the settings alone then you can use the Adaptive mode and let the soundbar determine the best audio mode to be used each time.The SmartThings app also has a voice enhancement feature allowing you to make dialogue sound more clear and crisp. Competition The main problem with the HW-Q700A is the single HDMI input it has as it doesn’t leave you with a lot of options in terms of connections. This means that in a full home theater system with many sources you will have to resort to the TV HDMI inputs and use the ARC/eARC connectivity to pass the audio to the soundbar. Other than this, what the Q700A offers is pretty much the standard nowadays in this category. Control Options Moving into the sound enhancement features, the HW-Q700A has a plethora of options to choose from. For example, you can either use the graphic EQ or select one of the presets provided. There is ‘Standard’, ‘Game Pro’, ‘ Adaptive Sound’ and ‘Surround’ for you to choose from. With its 3.1.2 setup the HW-Q700A has a discrete center channel giving it an excellent center performance. This results in an accurate and clearer reproduction of dialogue in TV shows/movies.
audio immersion is good, to a point. The adoption of decent drivers for Atmos height channels warrants an unambiguous thumbs-up. Last year’s Acoustic Beam solution did the job, but on this model those dedicated drivers bring clear benefits when it comes to relating detail and creating presence. Audio upscaling of stereo and 5.1 sources is impressive too. Connectivity is more accommodating than has become the norm. In addition to HDMI eARC/ARC, there’s an HDMI source input that supports 4k HDR10+ pass-through, ideal for hooking up a games console or 4k UHD Blu-ray player. There’s also an optical digital audio input for legacy TV connections. Again we didn’t sense any exaggerations towards the higher end and all vocals had good energy and enough life into them to make the whole performance worthwhile. The dedicated center channel surely helps in this regard. use of the content you supply does not violate these Terms of Use and will not cause injury to any person or entity.
Using the HDMI ARC port, the Samsung HW-Q700A is able to support DTS and Dolby Digital audio formats, found on streaming platforms and Blu-ray discs. Additionally, it also supports DTS:X and Dolby Digital Plus which are premium surround formats. Let’s see next what connections are offered in this one. As we said above all inputs are placed on two insets underneath the unit making it a bit hard to reach them all the time. It is mostly aimed to make all connections one time and leave it be.
Great Deal 
New Comment