Samsung HW-Q70R Soundbar review

The Samsung HW-Q70R uses an almost identical design to the N650 - basically it’s a slim and stylish soundbar with a low form-factor that’s only 59mm high. It has a build quality that’s commensurate with its price tag and metal grilles at the top and front, along with an attractive metal finish to the edges and sides.

While primarily designed to pair with Samsung's 2019 QLED TVs, given its width of 1100mm, it will complement most TVs and not just the Q70R. Even better, because of its low-profile, it shouldn’t block the screen. That said, if you’d prefer to wall-mount the soundbar, Samsung includes dedicated brackets, screws, and paper template for that very purpose.

On the front, there’s a simple LED display on the right that lights up when you use the controls, and provides basic information on the volume, inputs and sound modes. To the right of this display, on the end plate, are some equally basic controls for power, input selection and volume.

The provided remote is the same one Samsung has been using with its soundbars for the last few years, and it gets the jog done. It’s ergonomically designed and has all the necessary buttons sensibly laid out, making setup and operation as intuitive as possible.

The connections are located in a recessed area at the bottom of the soundbar, and are composed of an HDMI input, an HDMI output with eARC, and an optical digital audio input. There’s also a  USB port for firmware updates, and a connector for the AC power adapter.

The HW-Q70R comes with a newly designed and much bigger wireless active subwoofer that measures 205 x 403 x 403mm (WxHxD), weighs in at 9.8kg and has an 8-inch side-firing driver. The bar and sub should pair automatically, and you can tweak the bass levels using the remote.

Design TL;DR: The sleek design and wide body will complement most TVs, and not just its namesake; while the speaker layout and beefed-up sub promise suitably immersive audio. 

Features

The Samsung HW-Q70R uses a 3.1.2-channel speaker configuration, with a claimed frequency range of 35Hz to 20kHz and a total claimed power of 330W. There are three forward-firing speakers, which means the soundbar has a dedicated centre channel for dialogue.

It has a pair of upward-firing speakers that literally bounce sounds off the ceiling, thus creating the illusion of overhead channels. This is what Samsung refer to as Acoustic Beaming, and it can be very effective, although for the best results you need a low, flat, and reflective ceiling.

The '.1’ part of this system is the wireless active subwoofer. This newly-designed bass-reflex model uses a side-firing 8-inch driver, coupled with a rear port to deliver an impressive amount of bass extension for a bar and sub combination.

The HW-Q70 supports both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, along with all their other variations aside from IMAX Enhanced DTS:X. The soundbar and subwoofer can deliver 3.1.2 channels out of the box, but those wanting to add rear channels can buy the optional SWA-8500S