Dolby Atmos FlexConnect in a powerful package

The components of the LG Sound Suite

The H7 houses a dozen Peerless drivers comprising front, side and up-firing units.

There’s also four woofers and eight passive radiators for bass and low-frequency audio.

The soundbar has a pretty basic design, plain enough to sit in front of an LG OLED (or other premium TV) without being a distraction, and short enough not to block it.

Both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are available here, so AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect are all supported.

The W7 wireless sub has an 8-inch woofer that gets really boomy at times.

It’s quite large at 16.1 x 16.3 x 7.6 inches, but you can use it standing up vertically or laying down horizontally — whichever orientation fits your needs or available space.

The M5 and M7 speakers offer basically the same features, including AirPlay and Cast, and can be used either by themselves, as a stereo pair, as a four-speaker array or as rear satellite speakers with the H7 soundbar.

The main difference is the M7 has two full-range drivers, one up-firing driver and a woofer while the M5 only has a tweeter, an up-firing driver and a woofer.

What is Dolby Atmos FlexConnect?

FlexConnect works as advertised, but there is one caveat that should’ve been obvious, although I didn’t anticipate it.

Every time you add or remove speakers from a DAFC group, you’ll need to recalibrate the system, which includes the software playing sounds from the speakers so that the TV or soundbar can locate them and Dolby’s tech adjusts their output.

It doesn’t take long, but there is audible noise from each unit in the group, so you’ll want to factor in that time — and potential annoyance for anyone else in the house.

Other Sound Suite features

Once you set your current position with a tap in the ThinQ app, Sound Follow is supposed to change the levels and tuning accordingly.

I’m not entirely sure this was working on my system.

Unlike my demo at CES, the seating position on the FlexConnect layout in the app was never updated.

And while the UI seemed to indicate the change was made when I tapped the buttons, I couldn’t hear any difference in the audio.

I asked LG for more information to ensure Sound Follow is functioning properly.

A word about setup

The app will ask you to set the distance between the soundbar and your primary seating area before running the sound optimization (tuning) process.

ThinQ will display the speaker layout and you can edit the DAFC group at any time.

If you move a speaker though, you’ll need to run the optimization again for the best audio performance.

And if you’re using an LG TV as the lead device, all of this is sorted onscreen rather than in the app.

When I was adding the M7 speakers to my DAFC setup, I had no issues connecting them to Wi-Fi initially.

However, I did have trouble adding them to the FlexConnect group, which required each piece of the Sound Suite playing an audio calibration clip.

Repeatedly, the ThinQ app told me there was a connection issue with one of the M7s, although eventually they all somehow got added anyway.

I also had trouble removing speakers from the arrangement.

Even though the app said sound was only coming from the H7 soundbar, one of the two M7 speakers was still connected and emitting sound when I didn’t want it to.

For some reason, this only happened when playing music over AirPlay — TV audio over HDMI eARC always functioned as intended.

Which configuration sounds best?

Before I get into describing the various Sound Suite configurations, I need to make an important note about the limitations for the possible setups.

LG only allows a maximum of five speakers in any Sound Suite arrangement, but you can mix and match however you want.

Just remember if you don’t opt for the H7 soundbar, you’ll need a compatible LG TV as the lead device for FlexConnect to work.

After testing multiple configurations of the Sound Suite, I think the combination of the H7 soundbar, W7 subwoofer and two M7s is the ideal arrangement.

I’ll hedge that a bit as I prefer to disable the M7s in the rear of the room when watching live TV — especially sports — as the same audio coming from the soundbar and those speakers didn’t really enhance the experience.

Plus, arena noise seemed overly echo-y and off-putting.

This setup is well-suited for streaming TV shows and movies, things where Dolby Atmos, or at least LG’s spatial upscaling, is at the height of its powers.

The four-speaker setup could be particularly beneficial for people who mount their TVs on the wall and don’t want a soundbar underneath.

And, again, FlexConnect allows you to put the speakers anywhere, not necessarily flanking your TV.

You also get the option of moving these smaller speakers around when you need to — something you can’t really do with a soundbar.

The only sacrifice I noticed audio-wise is that two M7s in the front doesn’t offer the same overhead sensation for Atmos content as the H7’s up-firing drivers.

If you’re hoping to invest in something that can pull double duty for music, I prefer one or two M7s for that purpose.

And while there’s decent low-end thump, streaming your favorite tunes is where you’ll notice the absence of that W7 subwoofer.

The competition

If you’re looking for alternatives to LG’s Sound Suite, you have to make some sacrifices.

The only other option right now that offers Dolby Atmos FlexConnect is the TCL Z100 speaker.

Obviously, you’ll need multiples of this $300 device, and you’ll probably want to add the $350 subwoofer, too.

Like the LG M7, you’ll need a compatible TCL TV to serve as the lead device for FlexConnect (a QM6K, QM7K, QM8K, QM9K or X11L model).

I haven’t tested these 1.1.1-channel units, so I can’t provide a direct comparison to the Sound Suite’s M5 or M7.

For those who can live without FlexConnect, Samsung’s Q990 series is consistently the best all-in-one setup you can buy.

I haven’t reviewed one since 2024 because the company has been keen on shipping new models with minimal updates, which means the hardware and most of the features remain the same.

The HW-Q990H will be the latest installment when it arrives later this year, with the biggest differentiator being a new dialogue boost called Sound Elevation.

While the Q990 always comes with rear speakers and a subwoofer alongside a powerful soundbar, some features will only be available if you also have a Samsung TV.

One of those is Q-Symphony, which utilizes TV speakers alongside the Q990’s drivers for more detailed and immersive sound.

For the entire Q990 package, you’re looking at $2,000 — $100 less than the comparable Sound Suite arrangement of the H7 soundbar, two M5 speakers and a W7 sub.

Wrap-up