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Sonos Beam (Gen 2) · Photo source

Sonos Beam (Gen 2)
Photo 1 of 56

Sonos Beam (Gen 2) · Photo source

Sonos · Beam

Beam (Gen 2)

Released October 2021

Sonos's compact Dolby Atmos soundbar for TVs up to 65 inches, which creates virtual height channels rather than using up-firing drivers.

Type
Soundbar
Atmos
Yes
Connects by
Wi-Fi and HDMI
Battery
–
Weight
2.88 kg

What reviewers say

Reviewers agree it sounds spacious, clean and balanced for its compact size, works well with music as well as films and is a clear step up from the first Beam. What Hi-Fi? and Trusted Reviews note it has only one HDMI connection and lacks DTS:X; TechRadar was less convinced by its virtual Atmos without up-firing drivers, and found it slightly dearer than before.

From whathifi.com, techradar.com and trustedreviews.com

Specifications

Report a wrong or missing spec

Sound

Type
Soundbar
Dolby Atmos
Yes
Drivers
One centre tweeter, four elliptical midwoofers and three passive radiators
Amplifiers
Five class-D digital amplifiers
Audio formats
Stereo PCM, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos (Dolby Digital Plus); with HDMI eARC also Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Atmos (TrueHD), multichannel PCM and Dolby multichannel PCM; DTS Digital Surround
Room tuning
Trueplay (iOS device required); bass, treble and loudness adjustable; Speech Enhancement; Night Sound

Connections

Wi-Fi
Yes
Bluetooth
No
AirPlay
Yes
HDMI eARC
Yes
Voice assistants
Alexa and Google Assistant
Wi-Fi
802.11b/g/n, 2.4 GHz
Ports
HDMI eARC (optical adapter included); 10/100 Ethernet; IR receiver
Streaming
Apple AirPlay 2; Sonos Radio
Multi-room
Groups with other Sonos products over Wi-Fi; add a Sonos Sub and rear speakers; TV Audio Swap to Sonos Ace headphones
App
Sonos app (iOS and Android); works with the TV remote

Design

Weight
2.88 kg
Controls
Capacitive touch controls (play, pause, skip, replay, volume, microphone off)
Microphones
Far-field microphone array with beamforming and multichannel echo cancellation
Mounting
0.5 in (12.7 mm) threaded mount / 10-32 threaded socket; wall mount sold separately
Size
68 × 651 × 100 mm (H × W × D)
Colours
Black, White
In the box
Beam (Gen 2), power cable (2 m), HDMI cable (1.5 m), optical audio adapter, documentation

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Dolby Atmos over HDMI eARC, including Dolby TrueHD
  • Ethernet port and IR receiver for the TV remote
  • Optical adapter included for older TVs

Cons

  • No up-firing drivers; height effects are virtual
  • No Bluetooth
  • Wi-Fi works on 2.4 GHz only

Closest rivals

Model
TypeAtmosConnects byBatteryWeightReleased
Polk AudioSigna S4
SoundbarYesBluetooth and HDMI–2.9 kgDec 2021
Polk AudioMagniFi Mini AX
SoundbarYesWi-Fi, Bluetooth and HDMI––Mar 2022
BoseSmart Soundbar 600
SoundbarYesWi-Fi, Bluetooth and HDMI–3.13 kgOct 2022

Sources

  1. sonos.com/en-gb/shop/beam
  2. theverge.com/2021/9/14/22671384/sonos-beam-2-atmos-soundbar-announced-price-spe…

Photo: media.sonos.com

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