Sonos Arc Ultra vs Samsung HW-Q990H

Tom's Guide's one con is that a full setup quickly becomes very expensive: the Sub 4 adds $799 and a pair of Era 300 rears adds $900. CNET and PCMag both list it as expensive, and PCMag also calls it large. Amazon's review summary says some owners feel it doesn't justify the price.

Wirecutter could get it working with an iPad but not with a Samsung Galaxy S10 Android phone, and never got the Sonos Sub 4 to connect, so it isn't a pick. Amazon's summary says some owners report connection issues.

CNET found movie sound less expansive than the original Arc's. Tom's Guide found that the Advanced Trueplay room tuning cut the bass, so it had to be added back with EQ, and the EQ has only two bands. The only TV connection is HDMI eARC: there's no optical port.

Wirecutter calls it pricey and says the 48.5-inch bar may not fit between a TV's legs. Its compact sub measured 5.6 dB (mid-bass) and 4.2 dB (low-bass) less than the Vizio Elevate's and isn't likely to shake your couch. A 2-star Amazon reviewer found the sub basically useless.

Wirecutter says the front display scrolls only four characters at a time, so you end up using the SmartThings app, which takes more time than grabbing a remote.

RTINGS found much of the performance unchanged from the HW-Q990F. It says the new Sound Elevation feature lifts dialogue at the cost of horizontal clarity, and it picks the discounted Q990F as the better value. A few early Amazon reviewers were disappointed with the sound and soundstage.