Sound has enough power and projection to fill a good-sized room despite the lack of rear speakers ; Strong upgrade path available ; Surprisingly compact design for the amount of power it delivers

Needs a Samsung TV as well to unlock its best performance ; No 4K/120 pass through ; Not quite as good for music as movies

While the Q800A’s speaker set up and power hasn’t changed significantly from that of its impressive Q800T predecessor, a couple of key extra features and improvements to its optional rear speakers make it ultimately a more substantial step forward than...

Crisp, agile movie audio ; Seamlessly integrated bass ; Good set of features overall

No Chromecast or Google Assistant ; Only one HDMI input

The HW-Q800A is the kind of Dolby Atmos soundbar that puts a smile on your face. It’s a genuine crowd pleaser no matter what TV you have, though with the right Samsung TV you get even better performance.

Spacious presentation ; Weighty, articulate sub ; Good range of features

Could be more insightful ; Height channel lacks precision

The HW-Q800A is a powerful performer with a forthright delivery and room-filling dynamics, but it’s up against some tough competition

Immersive front soundstage ; Sub really energises ; Dolby Atmos & DTS:X decoding ; EARC support ; Optional rear speakers ; Alexa integrated

No surround presence ; Only one HDMI input ; Setup requires tweaking

It's a case of evolution rather than revolution, but this accomplished soundbar still delivers impressive Dolby Atmos and DTS:X object-based format decoding. There's also a powerful subwoofer, eARC connectivity, and integrated Amazon Alexa for voice...

Gets very loud. Dialogue enhancement feature. Outstanding audio format support. Graphic EQ and presets. Auto-volume feature. Great build quality. Extended low-bass.

Lacks a room correction feature. Poor surround sound performance. Sub-par height performance. Some compression present at max volume.

The Samsung HW-Q800A is very good for mixed usage. It has a neutral, balanced sound profile, making it suitable for a variety of audio content. It can produce a thumpy, punchy low-bass, which is nice for action-packed movie scenes and bass-heavy music...

Tight, precise sound ; Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, AirPlay 2, and Spotify Connect support ; Built-in Alexa ; Low-profile design

Q-Symphony and room-correction features only work with Samsung TVs ; Only one HDMI input (besides HDMI-eARC) ; Alexa gets shout-y if the main volume is too loud

The HW-Q800A comes with most of the perks we like to see in a premium soundbar, starting with audio casting in the form of Apple’s AirPlay 2. That means you can cast audio to the Q800A from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, including tunes from any installed...

Easy to set up. ; Good balance between dialog and other channels. ; Lots of audio settings. ; Option to add wireless surround speakers. ; Alexa built-in ; Integrates with Samsung SmartThings mobile app. ; The HDMI input is 4K/HDR video pass-through...

The subwoofer can be overpowering. ; Dolby Atmos implementation is not that impressive. ; Only one HDMI input for the external source devices. ; No analog audio input. ; Some features only work with select 2020/2021 Samsung TVs