Samsung HW-Q65T/ZA

Soundbars / Full-Featured Soundbars

A full featured sound bar with 5.1 surround channels, two wireless rear surround speakers, a wireless subwoofer.

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CR Expert Take

How did it perform in our expert lab testing?

Overall Score

The Overall Score for this model is derived from our expert lab test results.

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Current Range of Tested Soundbars

What goes into the Overall Score?

Sound quality

/ 5

Ease of use (TV)

/ 5

Ease of use (Features)

/ 5

Versatility

/ 5

480i DVD picture quality

/ 5

HD picture quality

/ 5

Ease of use

/ 5

Upconverted DVD picture quality

/ 5

Type (bar or base)

/ 5

Surround sound system

/ 5

WIFI audio streaming content

/ 5

Built-in digital assistant / voice control

/ 5

Number of speakers supplied

/ 5

Number of channels

/ 5

Built-in digital assistant

/ 5

Surround sound

/ 5

Internet streaming

/ 5

System type

/ 5

Height channels

/ 5

Detailed Test Results

Sound quality: Samsung's HW-Q65T/ZA in Standard sound mode with the rear speakers turned off, the bass has good impact and goes fairly deep, but is slightly prominent and boomy. Midrange is even, but is slightly hazy and grainy. Treble is slightly smeared, somewhat subdued, and the uppermost treble is muted. Does a decent job of recovering room ambience. The other Sound mode settings made the sound field wider and taller, but depending on the mode, can also make the midrange sound harsh, metallic, and echoey. With the rear surround speakers turned on, various sound modes sound the same as they did with the rear surround speakers turned off except the sounds are wider and taller and can be heard from the sides and from the rear, but the sound field has a diffuse quality. When playing 5.1 channel material in the standard sound mode with the rear channels on, the sound quality is the same as with the rear channels off; with the rear speakers properly positioned behind the listener and with the proper listener position and adjustment of center and rear speaker volume levels the surround sound image placement is wide, fairly tall, very distinct and this soundbar can provide an enveloping experience. Except for the DTS Virtual: X sound mode, the other sound modes had a noticeable but not dramatic effect on the sound quality. The DTS Virtual: X sound mode made the sound field extend up to and somewhat above the listener. There was no significant difference in sound quality between the HDMI, optical, BT, and USB inputs. The system can provide satisfying volume in a medium sized room.

TV setup and ease of use: Very Good overall. Setup: Ease of Use:

Features setup and ease of use: Fair overall.

About

A full featured sound bar system with 5.1 surround channels and a wireless active subwoofer. The HW-Q65T/ZA It can also play audio from wirelessly connected Bluetooth devices.

Features & Specs

Features

No. of channels

5.1 surround

Number of speakers, as supplied

Active subwoofer

Yes

Wireless subwoofer

Yes

Wireless surround speakers

WiFi audio streaming platform

WiFi streaming audio services

WiFi video streaming platform

Optional multi-room sharing

Has On Screen Display (OSD) Feature

Audio USB host mode

Dolby Atmos

DTS:X

Simulated surround sound

Yes

Virtual surround sound

Yes

Dialog enhancement

Has "Night" Mode and/or Dynamic Range Compression

Tone adjustments

Multi-band EQ, Treble, Bass

Built-in digital assistant mic mute indicator

Works with the following digital assistant(s)

Programmable to respond to TV remote controls

Can respond to remote controls from TVs with HDMI ARC CEC

Yes

Universal remote

Available app remote control(s)

App operating system(s)

Maximum pass-through HDMI video resolution

HDR video HDMI pass-through

Yes

Dolby Vision video HDMI pass-through

Auto speaker calibration

Speaker set-up test tone function

Updatable software/firmware

Yes

Sound bar/base is wall-mountable

Included surround speakers are wall-mountable

Included accessories

HDMI digital video/audio connecting cable, digital audio optical connecting cable, stereo mini-plug to RCA plug analog audio connecting cable, stereo mini-plug to mini-plug analog audio connecting cable, surround speaker audio cables, remote control, wall mount brackets.

Warranty (mos.): parts/labor

12/12

Other features

Reads MP3, AAC, WAV files. Can access various Internet services such as Any audio content provider with Chromecast compatible apps. HDMI connections support UltraHD DolbyVision as well as HDR high dynamic range video pass-through. The sound bar has auto rotating height speakers that can be adjusted based on the preset height modes that the user chooses. When the height speaker preset "Up" is selected, the front height speakers will rotate up to provide a height soundfield for Dolby Atmos, DTS-X, and Virtual:X multi-channel with height decoding. When Wide is selected, the front height speakers will rotate forward for multi-channel decoding and stereo reproduction. Auto height speaker preset setting will adjust height speakers based on the content being played. Sound Bar remote comes with a LED built in display. Has a dedicated smart speaker analog audio input for use with any optional smart speaker equipped with an analog audio output. An optional smart speaker can also be connected to the soundbar via Bluetooth. With either of these connections the optional smart speaker can be heard through the soundbar but does not provide voice control of any soundbar functions. Free Vizio SmartCast app available to allow WiFi network joined Android and iOS mobile devices to be used as a remote control. WiFi content streaming to this soundbar is via Chromecast only. USB host mode can play WAV and MP3 audio files only. Rear surround speaker weight given is for each speaker.

No. of speakers supplied

3.1

Other DSP modes

Yes

3D video HDMI pass-through

Yes

Voice control

Remote control app operating system(s)

Sleep timer function

DTS digital audio decoding

Yes

HDMI Output with Audio Return Channel (ARC) capability

Yes

Can stream content from computer or NAS server on home network

Dolby Atmos digital audio decoding

DTS:X digital audio decoding

DTS-HD Master Audio digital audio decoding

Surround speakers are wall-mountable

PCM digital audio decoding

Yes

USB host mode(s)

Audio

Accessible Internet content providers

Wireless surround spkrs/amps

Yes

Can respond to remote controls of some same-brand TVs

Yes

Network platform/content

Dolby Digital digital audio decoding

Yes

DTS-HD Master Aud Essential digital audio decoding

Dolby Digital Plus digital audio decoding

DTS-HD High Res. audio digital audio decoding

Dolby True HD digital audio decoding

Remote also controls some same-brand TVs

Ultra HD video HDMI pass-through

Yes

Can respond to remote controls of some major brand TVs

Yes

Specs

Height (in.)

Width (in.)

Depth (in.)

Subwoofer dimensions (HxWxD)

13.5 x 7 x 10.75

Side surround speaker dimensions (HxWxD)

Rear surround speaker dimensions (HxWxD)

5 x 3 x 3

Soundbar/base dimensions (HxWxD)

2.25 x 38.5 x 4

Connections

HDMI in (quantity)

Digital audio optical (input)

Stereo Analog Audio In (RCA jack)

Stereo Analog Audio In (3.5mm jack)

Active subwoofer pre-amp out

Bluetooth (input)

Bluetooth (output)

Wireless connection via Bluetooth to many Bluetooth capable TVs

Wireless connection via Bluetooth to some Bluetooth capable TVs of the same brand

USB port

Yes

WiFi connection

LAN connection

Wireless connection via WiFi to some WiFi capable TVs of the same brand

Other connections

Dedicated analog audio mini jack input for smart speaker.

Coaxial digital audio (in/out)

0/0

Ethernet connection

HDMI (in/out)

1/1

Stereo analog audio (in/out)

0/0

Optical digital audio (in/out)

1/0

Mini-jack input for portable audio player

Headphone jack

Bluetooth (in/out)

Yes/No

HDMI Out

Price & Shop

Samsung HW-Q65T/ZA

CR Expert Take

Overall Score

What goes into the Overall Score?

Detailed Test Results

About

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