Samsung's new Dolby Atmos soundbars don't even need to be connected to your TV

(Image credit: Samsung)

published 9 January 2022

Samsung's having a very good CES 2022, and the reveal of its QD-OLED TV tech is particularly exciting. But as someone who's just spent the weekend wiring up surround sound speakers for my newly acquired Dolby Atmos AV receiver, Samsung's embrace of wireless Dolby Atmos is maybe the most exciting bit.

If you buy a 2022 Samsung QLED TV from the model QN80B upwards and you also buy a 2022 Samsung soundbar, they can connect to each other over Wi-Fi – no HDMI cables required.

It looks like our best soundbars for Samsung TVs guide is going to need a rewrite for 2022.

Samsung Q950B soundbar on grey surface — This is the Samsung Q950B, which will deliver seriously powerful Dolby Atmos with no wires – if you have the right TV.

Dolby Atmos is amazing. Cabling it up, not so much

I'm completely sold on Dolby Atmos: whether I'm gaming on my Xbox Series X or watching box sets on my Samsung QLED TV, the difference it makes is really quite astonishing: it's much more immersive than the standard surround sound I'm used to. I had a tech-mad friend round the other night and within about 20 seconds of hearing Atmos she was ordering more speakers for her own home cinema setup.

What I don't like are the wires, because my flat layout and sofa choices mean I have to run cables and cover them with a runner. I'd buy wireless speakers, but for my system they're hundreds per pair for the rear surrounds only. So If I were in the market for one of the best Samsung TVs in 2022 I'd absolutely want one of the best soundbars with wireless Dolby Atmos to save me the cabling and the cost of finding wireless separates.

The first named model is the new flagship, the HW-Q990B, which is the successor to the HW-Q950A. In our Samsung HW-Q950A review we said it was "the best audio upgrade available today". I can't wait to hear how Samsung has improved it for 2022.

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Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).