Sonos has launched its most affordable soundbar to date and has entered a tough segment where it delivers great performance compared to the competition. For its compact size, it delivers good treble and mid-tone performance at both low and high volume. These are Beam’s main strengths.

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  Good mid-tones, Design & build quality, Decent 3D effect despite its size, Apple Airplay 2

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  Distorts at high volume, Weak bass, No Dolby Atmos, Only 1 HDMI port

Although some cheaper options sound better, Sonos Beam is a feature-packed, voice-operated sound bar with unmatched flexibility.

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  The Sonos Beam is the least-expensive sound bar available with a choice of two voice assistants, Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. Its expansive sound can fill a small room. HDMI connectivity includes the ability to power up and control TV input switching via voice command.

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  The lack of a subwoofer means the Beam lacks deep bass compared to sub-equipped competitors, even some that cost less. You lose connectivity options on TVs that lack ARC. You can't switch between Google and Alexa on the fly and there's some lag with Google Assistant voice commands.

The Sonos Beam packs multi-room, multi-service audio streaming and Amazon's Alexa voice assistant into a deceptively small soundbar.

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  No Bluetooth., Optional subwoofer is expensive.

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  Powerful sound for its size., Built-in Amazon Alexa voice assistant., Easily expanded with additional Sonos speakers.

If you’ve been tempted to get into Sonos, but weren’t sure where to start, the Beam is for you. Not only is it a relatively affordable, solid speaker in its own right, it is a capable soundbar and Alexa assistant rolled into one.

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  Excellent overall sound, HDMI port for TV control, AirPlay 2 support, Reasonably priced

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  Sound is less impactful in bigger rooms, No support for other smart assistants (yet), No auxiliary input

“The Beam is a home theater sound bar for the smart home era -- at a price that won’t break the bank.”

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  Great sound, Elegant, simple design, Reasonably priced, TV voice control with Alexa on-board, AirPlay 2, Google Assistant coming

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  Still no HDMI pass-through, No Dolby Atmos support

Sonos’ compact, Alexa-enabled soundbar offers impressive performance for the price. All in all, a smart value.

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  Affordable price, Alexa voice control, Links with other Sonos speakers

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  More optimized for TV sound than music, Requires HDMI ARC for voice control of TV

Sonos recently announced a new soundbar they call the Sonos Beam . I’ve had some time to test it and simply to use it, and the Beam might be the most impressive speaker I’ve tested from Sonos yet, especially considering its US$399 price tag .

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  Easy setup; great, full sound; lower cost-of-entry than other Sonos home theater speakers; better sound and more flexible than Apple’s HomePod.

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  Only works with other Sonos speakers for surround sound and subwoofer. With a $699 Sonos SUB as the only subwoofer option, that’s a pricey step.

The Sonos Beam is a compact soundbar with expandability that makes it a perfect companion for Apple users. AirPlay 2, Apple Music, and a big bag of tricks make this great sounding speaker a must-have.

Sonos’ vision of entertainment has always been more open house than invite-only, and with Amazon Alexa, Apple AirPlay 2, and the Google Assistant on the horizon, the new Sonos Beam epitomizes that ethos more than ever.

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  Sounds great in a small to mid-sized room, Assistant-agnostic approach is admirable, Affordable, Does a good job of handling multiple services

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  Very expensive in a 5.1 surround configuration, Takes up an HDMI port, Not every assistant works in the same way

Sonos has always gone its own way. The speaker manufacturer dedicated itself to network-connected speakers before there were home networks and they sold a tablet-like remote control before there were tablets. Their surround sound systems install quickly and run seamlessly.

I cannot believe the amount of sound that comes out of this. I was worried it was be too soft. I have it paired with two Play 1's (see picture) and it fills the room on movie soundtracks. I was going to buy the sub but I don't think I need it with the Play 1's providing the ambiant background.

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  Great sound - great for both TV and music

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  Set up with the Play 1's was not as straightforward as it could have been. Also, be sure to buy an HDMI cable, the one supplied is not that long.

Sonos support claims that there's a known lip sync issue with LG and Sony TV's. I have Beam connected to an LG OLED B7 via HDMI ARC with sound on LG set for PCM rather that Dolby Digital 5.1. It seems this setting is the only way I can reliably sync audio and video.

Put this soundbar on a new Samsung 65" QLED TV. It definitely enhances the overall sound of the TV and I would recommend it especially at this price point. The only downside I found so far is when you change the volume up or down, the TV no longer displays a volume counter (ie: 0-100 depending on...

This sound bar is fine; I can't really hear a difference in sound quality from other sound bars I've had in the past, but the sound is better than the built in speakers. I got the Sonos Beam specifically (versus a cheaper sound bar) primarily because it has Alexa built in, and boy am I disappointed...

We bought the Beam because we have four other Sonos speakers and the Beam gets great reviews. It is connected using HDMI-ARC so operation with the TV remote is very easy and it can be fine tuned using the Sonos phone app. It does provide great sound quality.

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  Sound quality, ease of operation

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  Not quite the sound quality improvement that I expected, but worth the purchase.

I purchased this for the TV in my mom's master bedroom. The sound is very good and much clearer and louder than the TV's built-in speakers (no real surprise there). She likes it and the fact that she can still use her standard DirecTV remote with it saves her from having to get used to another...

Love the sound which comes from this bar. At first I was concerned going through the calibration process but then I redid it and the sound has been great every since. Really fills up the living room.

I'm new to Sonos. I just received and setup my Sonos Beam, Sub and 2x Play 1s yesterday. I have a small / medium apartment. I had been using an old cheap 'home theater in a box' sound system that wasn't very good. I'm not much of an audiophile at all. I just like sounds to sound good to my ears.

Sounds great but a little tricky getting it connected to my Sony TV. It could be that I'm not as savvy as some but a couple trips to the internet and a few extra settings on my TV and all is good. I have a pair of Sonos speakers so I was familiar with the operation app.

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  Sound, size, appearance

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  Connecting to TV with HDMI cable can be tricky

Very pleased with my purchase. The sound is great, love the smaller size and the the ability to hang it off the wall under the TV. This is for our TV in our Master bedroom and our previous system took up half of my dresser top. I also feel the sound is much better.