Samsung Galaxy Dolby Atmos upgrade actually makes things worse

While many updates will bring new features to your phone, it’s not unheard of to experience an update that makes your phone worse. Of course no one wants that, but it happens – and Samsung seems to be the latest victim of the curse of the update.

The One UI 6.1.1 update appears to have caused some problems with Dolby Atmos on devices, like the Galaxy S23, with users taking to Reddit to highlight the problems. While the Dolby Atmos update aimed to boost the spatial audio experience, it seems that it had a knock-on effect in other modes, reducing the quality of the sound.

If you thought something was amiss, then you’re not alone. According to SamMobile, Samsung users providing feedback via the Samsung Members app have now had a response from Samsung confirming that there’s a problem.

According to Samsung, the update changed the Dolby Atmos Library from version 3.10 to 3.12, but it has changed the sound quality in other areas. Samsung says that Dolby has been notified and there’s another release in the work to correct the problem.

Currently, there’s no timeline for the fix and it didn’t arrive with the November 2024 security update, leaving users with inferior sound.

What is Dolby Atmos and spatial audio?

Samsung has long supported Dolby Atmos in its devices, with the aim of providing more immersive audio when listening to music or when watching a movie. Dolby Atmos aims to create a soundstage that’s expansive, with the ability to place audio in different positions, rather than just using left and right like a stereo soundtrack.

Dolby Atmos is best known from cinema and traditionally was created using speakers for height in addition to a surround sound setup with rear channels. However, in more recent times, virtualisation of Dolby Atmos has become more common, allowing a more immersive soundstage from headphones, soundbars, phones and tablets – without the need for discrete audio channels.

Dolby Atmos in music has been a more recent addition, designed to give a more immersive experience, but the results can be rather variable. Dolby isn’t the only company offering immersive audio – Sony’s Reality 360 Audio is one of the best-known solutions, while many companies will just refer to spatial audio when they’re talking about a more immersive audio experience.