Sonos introduces the Sonos Beam, a somewhat smaller and cheaper sound bar. Unlike the Sonos Playbar and Playbase, it comes with the language assistant Alexa on board. Sonos also uses an HDMI connection to a sound bar for the first time.
After the Sonos One, the Sonos Beam is the second smart loudspeaker from Sonos that comes with a language assistant. The Sonos Beam is equipped with 5 microphones, an HDMI and a LAN port. The Sonos Beam is controlled by voice or via the integrated touch keys, which are taken over from the Sonos One. The microphones of the smart Multiroom loudspeaker can also be switched off via the touch control panel.
Technical details
The HDMI port in the new Sonos Beam is ARC (“Audio Return Channel”) capable. This means that with compatible TVs, the sound can be transmitted directly to the sound bar via HDMI. In addition, the sound bar communicates with the TV via CEC and the TV communicates with the sound bar, which is why the TV remote control works directly with the beam without further setup. For older televisions, Sonos provides an adapter to the optical audio output (the same input that also fits into the Sonos Playbar and Playbase). CEC also enables the TV to be switched on via the integrated Alexa.
From July, the Sonos Beam will receive AirPlay 2 via a software update. AirPlay 2 has also been announced for the Sonos One, Playbase and Play 5. The Sonos devices can also be accessed via Siri, Homekit or natively from iOS and macOS.
The Google Assistant, which has already been announced for the Sonos One, will also follow later.
Sonos 5.1 Sourround System
Analogous to Playbar and Playbase, the Sonos Beam (with 2 Sonos One and one Sub) can be used to create a 5.1 system. The difference is that the Sonos Beam is slightly cheaper and smaller. The Sonos Beam is the smallest Sonos sound bar with a length of 65 cm. Nevertheless, it should be sufficient to sound small to medium sized rooms. Sonos supports PCM Sterero, Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital 5.1 as sound codecs. Sonos still does not supply a DTS codec with its latest product.
My opinion about the new Sonos Beam Soundbar
Sonos continues its clear design line. Optically the Beam fits perfectly to the Sonos One. I was also very surprised by the price. It is now the cheapest way to set up a Sonos 5.1 system. Still without DTS – a pity. Also from other modern sound codecs every track is missing. The Sonos Beam is certainly a great product at a great price, but a little more innovation I personally would have liked. The upcoming updates will show how the new features will turn out.
Smart Home Automation 