At a Look
Knowledgeable’s Score
Professionals
- Compact
- Wonderful sound high quality
- Dolby Atmos
- HDMI ARC
Our Verdict
Now not the reasonably priced machine it was, the Beam isn’t the perfect worth Sonos soundbar however gives a stability of compact design, huge sound, good options and Dolby Atmos that can nonetheless go well with many patrons.
Worth When Reviewed
$499
Greatest Costs At present: Sonos Beam
$349.00
For years, Sonos soundbars have been just for the flush of money. Nevertheless, the agency’s newest speaker is much extra reasonably priced, extra compact and consists of good options.
Design & Construct
You actually do know what you’re getting when buying a Sonos product; Basically a smooth and trendy design with a method that can match properly with the overwhelming majority of TVs and decors. You may select black or white finishes.
The Beam, like each Sonos speaker we’ve reviewed seems to be and looks like a high-end product – and we’re speaking concerning the packaging and cables as effectively.
Construct high quality is superb with a mix of stable plastic that doesn’t really feel low cost and cloth across the sides. All of the ports are neatly hidden on the again as typical.
The important thing issues right here is that the Beam is rather more compact than the opposite two Sonos soundbars. So in the event you’re on the lookout for one to place in a bed room, kitchen or simply don’t have as a lot house then it’s an ideal alternative.
Just like the Playbar, you may wall-mount the Beam so it’s very versatile in how one can place it.
The speaker has contact delicate controls on the highest that are responsive and never annoying to make use of as is commonly the case.
Sound High quality & Options
Establishing the Beam couldn’t be a lot simpler. Merely plug the ability in and observe the directions on the app, which is able to take you thru the completely different choices for connecting to your TV. This may embrace organising your TV distant to manage the amount of the speaker, which could be very helpful.
Regardless of being cheaper, the Beam has some options not discovered on the older Playbar. You get AirPlay built-in making it simpler to stream music to the speaker and HDMI ARC, which is a primary for a Sonos machine.
This implies you may plug it into your TV with an HDMI cable, so long as it has an audio return channel (ARC). In any other case, Sonos gives a helpful adapter so you should use optical.
You additionally get Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, just like the Sonos One, so it is a good soundbar which you’ll management together with your voice.
Utilizing your voice and the far-field mic array, you may regulate the amount, swap the TV on and management different good residence gadgets round your house like lights and heating if in case you have appropriate merchandise. If you’d like privateness, the mics will be switched off.
Lastly, we’re onto sound high quality and though the Beam is considerably smaller than its two larger brothers, it nonetheless packs a powerful punch within the audio division.
It solely has 5 drivers in comparison with the Playbar’s 9 nevertheless it doesn’t matter an excessive amount of, particularly in the event you’ve received the Beam in a smaller sized room.
4 of them are full-range drivers and one is a tweeter. Some are organized to provide a stable centre channel sound, whereas two face out to the facet to offer a wider soundstage.
This isn’t encompass sound, however if you need you may add satellite tv for pc audio system, the most affordable possibility being the $179/£179 One SL. The Beam Gen 2 provides Dolby Atmos for the preferred digital encompass sound normal on the market.
There are additionally three passive bass radiators, which support the Beam within the low finish. It will probably’t compete with the Playbar or Arc on this respect nevertheless it’s nonetheless spectacular. You may pair the Beam with the Sonos Sub however we’d suggest merely getting the Playbar if it’s not too massive as shopping for the Beam and the $429/£429 Sub Mini actually provides up.
Though the Beam is half the scale of the Playbar and designed to be a speaker for TV, sound and music it managed to adapt to something you may throw at it -somehow with glorious sound high quality, spaciousness and stereo area.
For the Beam, you may make use of modes like speech enhancement and evening mode. The latter of which makes positive loud parts like explosions don’t wake anybody up advert you may nonetheless hear quieter issues.
There’s all of this and we haven’t even talked about all the standard advantages of the Sonos multi-room system with its virtually infinite record of appropriate companies. Discover out extra in our full information to the perfect Sonos audio system.
Worth & Availability
Initially launched at £399/$399 for the unique era, the newer Gen 2 Beam has been given a worth rise to $499/£499 making it extra reasonably priced than the $899/£899 Arc.
These wanting one thing extra reasonably priced ought to go for the Sonos Ray which is simply $279/£279 in the event you don’t want HDMI or voice management.
You may purchase it straight from Sonos or retailers together with Argos, John Lewis, Currys and Amazon. It’s also possible to check out the finest soundbars proper now if you need extra inspiration earlier than taking the plunge.
Verdict
There’s little or no to dislike concerning the Beam, although it’s now not essentially the most reasonably priced soundbar within the Sonos vary.
HDMI ARC will probably be a boon for some and Amazon Alexa/Google Assistant is one other bonus, particularly if in case you have good residence merchandise you may management with it. The Gen 2 mannequin provides Dolby Atmos.
What makes the Beam actually particular is that the extra compact measurement means it can match into extra areas, but the sound isn’t vastly worse off for it. Sonos has labored its audio magic right here. It’s the now inflated worth that’s the primary draw back.
