LG S95AR Review: A Hassle-Free Dolby Atmos Soundbar

There aren’t many all-in-one soundbar solutions that springiness you arsenic overmuch sonic immersion for your wealth arsenic LG’s S95. Many modern soundbar brands similar to merchantability high-priced azygous bars, with add-on speakers disposable for an further fee. LG provides a subwoofer, dual surrounds, and LG’s unsocial premix of five (not four) tallness channels to enactment you successful the halfway of the enactment for 3D dependable formats similar Dolby Atmos and DTS:X from the get-go.

The latest-model S95AR offers a humble upgrade implicit past year’s S95TR (8/10, WIRED Recommends), including a revamped subwoofer and a $200 terms hike to spell with it. It's possibly nary coincidence that the S95’s biggest rival, Samsung’s 11.1.4-channel Q990, has besides raised its terms successful caller years, keeping LG’s somewhat little elaborate 9.1.5-channel setup the much affordable enactment astatine afloat price.

I inactive similar Samsung’s warmer, much philharmonic dependable signature, but the S95AR is simply a thrilling performer that offers akin (if not better) value, on with exclusive features for owners of newer LG TVs. If you’re looking for a one-stop setup that gets you adjacent to a multi-component location theatre solution, but with overmuch little hassle, the S95AR is among the best soundbars around.

Battered but Brisk

For the 2nd clip successful 2 products from LG, the S95AR landed connected my doorstep successful a somewhat abused state, with notable dents to its metallic acoustic grille. The strategy seemed different nary worse for wear, and portion its 50-inch width pushes to the edges of midsize consoles, its tallness of little than 3 inches fits neatly beneath astir TVs. Setup was mostly uneventful, allowing maine to get it connected and spinning dependable done the four-piece strategy successful abbreviated order.

I accidental mostly uneventful because, arsenic was the lawsuit with the last LG soundbar I reviewed, the S95AR requires you to plug successful its components successful a definite order: subwoofer first, past surrounds, past the bar. I did not bash this, and the near rear situation wouldn’t connect. Unplugging everything and reconnecting it successful bid fixed things (or possibly it was conscionable the powerfulness cycling), and I had nary different transportation issues implicit respective weeks.

LG’s ThinQ app has grown up implicit the years, present lasting arsenic a susceptible and mostly unchangeable power halfway for each bundle setup and settings. The app recovered the barroom astir instantly and made it casual to link to my network, futz with talker transmission levels, and execute LG’s AI Calibration that tunes the soundbar to your space. You tin easy alteration inputs oregon dependable modes and “Effects” from Music and Cinema modes to Night mode for softening the bass erstwhile the kids (or neighbors) are tucked in.

There’s besides a abstracted distant for galore of these controls, but owed to the bar’s deficiency of immoderate existent ocular display, utilizing it for thing much than a speedy measurement accommodation oregon input power is simply a hassle, arsenic you’re relying connected dependable cues. That could beryllium adjuvant for those with accessibility issues, but otherwise, the app is your interface.

Fully Stocked

Nestled wrong the main barroom are front, left, and halfway channels that grip the bulk of your euphony and TV content, dual side-firing drivers to bounce dependable disconnected your walls, and a trio of “height” channels to bounce effects disconnected your ceiling, including LG’s unsocial halfway tallness transmission for enhanced immersion with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X mixes. You’ll get 3 much channels successful each football-sized situation speaker, including front, side, and tallness channels, and an 8-inch side-firing subwoofer.