We've been recommending the Sonos Beam to anyone in the market for a compact soundbar with great connectivity for some time, but now that the audio company has announced the Sonos Beam (Gen Two), you may be wondering which bar sounds best for you. . . . From the outside, the Sonos Beam (Gen Two) looks just like its predecessor, making it hard to pinpoint precisely what it's tweaked. In truth, the acoustic architecture of the 2 sound bars is the same. However, there is a big difference between the 2 generations of Beam. The Sonos Beam (Gen XNUMX) brings Dolby Atmos surround sound to the mini soundbar for the first time, and that could be a game changer if you want to recreate a home theater environment. Unsurprisingly, the second-generation Sonos Beam also saw a small price increase, and now that the original Beam has been counterfeited, we're starting to see this model scaled up. The discount level will only increase as we approach Black Friday XNUMX. So should you save the money and go with the original Beam model, or go with the second generation of Dolby Atmos from Sonos's smaller soundbar? We haven't had a chance to test the Beam (Gen XNUMX) yet, but we've taken a deep dive into all of the new specs and features to help you make the right decision.
The new Sonos Beam (Gen Two) comes with Dolby Atmos. (Image credit: Sonos)
Sonos Beam (Gen Dos) vs Sonos Beam: Cost and Availability
The new Sonos Beam (Gen XNUMX) will be available for purchase from October XNUMXth for €XNUMX / €XNUMX / €XNUMX (although it is already available for pre-order). This makes it more expensive than the original at launch, which costs €XNUMX / €XNUMX / AU$XNUMX. We've already started to see the prices of the original Sonos Beam drop, and you can pretty much guarantee it'll drop dramatically from Black Friday XNUMX — while stocks last, that is. The first generation Beam has been officially discontinued, so you should act fast if you feel like it. Interestingly, we're not persuaded that the cost of the second-generation Sonos Beam won't change in the future. Sonos recently announced a price increase for many of its products, saying it measures costs "market to market." One of the biggest price increases is for the company's other soundbar, the Sonos Arc, which now costs $XNUMX / £XNUMX / AU$XNUMX more than before. This does not bode well for the new Beam. That said, Sonos hasn't made any suggestions that the Sonos Beam (Gen XNUMX) is going to see a cost increase anytime soon, just know that the company's cost isn't set in stone. Today's best deals on the Sonos Beam soundbar
Integrated
The design of the Sonos Beam (Gen 72) and its predecessor is largely the same, though the company has made some subtle changes. Both soundbars are designed for small spaces, and at 2 x 2 x XNUMX inches (H x W x D), they should fit comfortably under most TVs. Both devices are also available in black and white color options, are wall-mountable, and can be controlled via a touch panel located on top of the unit. You also have the option of using the Sonos SXNUMX app, your TV remote, AirPlay XNUMX, or using the built-in Google Assistant and Alexa voice assistants to control music playback and other settings. The only immediately noticeable difference between the two is that Sonos has removed the canvas grille from the original Beam, replacing it with a polycarbonate (or plastic, if you prefer) faceplate. The plastic grille matches that of the Sonos Arc and, as the company notes, is much easier to clean than a dust-collection cloth. We asked Sonos if the new grille offers any acoustic benefits, but the company told us it was a purely cosmetic choice. This has effectively brought the soundbar in line with the rest of the Sonos ecosystem, as none of the other current-gen Sonos speakers have fabric grills. On the back of the soundbar, you'll now find an HDMI eARC port, instead of the HDMI ARC on the original Beam (more on that later).
The new Sonos Beam (Gen Two) (Image credit: Sonos)
The biggest audio difference between the Sonos Beam (Gen two) and the original is that the new soundbar supports Dolby Atmos. This cinematic sound technology arranges elements of a movie soundtrack (or compatible music files) into a 3D sphere, making it seem like sound is coming at you from all angles. “Real” Dolby Atmos soundbars and speakers, like the Sonos Arc, use rising tweeters to bounce sound off the ceiling and down into your ears to give soundtracks a sense of height, plus the Sonos Beam ( Gen two) does it virtually. According to Sonos, the feeling that sound is surrounding you from all angles is achieved with the help of "psychoacoustic techniques," made possible by new and improved speaker assemblies. The second generation Beam contains 5 bays as opposed to the 3 found in the original Beam. Though we haven't tested it ourselves yet, the Virtual Atmos can be pretty punchy, though you'll surely get a better idea of height from the pricier and taller Sonos Arc. Otherwise, the rest of the audio technology in the Sonos Beam (Gen 5) is exactly the same as before. It has 4 Class D amplifiers, a central tweeter, 3 elliptical midwoofers and 2 passive radiators that work together to deliver a powerful and balanced sound. And that's not bad. In our review of the original Sonos Beam, we were impressed by the richness and depth of the audio, despite the small size of the device. With that in mind, you can certainly expect clear, punchy sound from the new Beam, especially when paired with the Sonos One Limited rear speakers and the Sonos Sub for a more complete home theater setup. Like all Sonos speakers, the new Beam uses Trueplay, a feature that calibrates the soundbar to the dimensions of your room. The Beam (Gen XNUMX) also always comes with sound modes, like speech enhancement for clear dialogue and night mode when you don't want to bother your neighbors, and you can change the equalizer settings via the app' SXNUMX.
The original Sonos Beam in black. (Image credit: LaComparacion)
Connectivity
Like the original Sonos Beam, the Beam (Gen Two) supports Alexa and Google Assistant, AirPlay two, and Wi-Fi connectivity, like an Ethernet port for connecting the soundbar to your router. As mentioned, you can connect the two soundbars to your existing Sonos system for a richer home theater setup or multi-room audio to complete your sound space. A new connectivity feature included with the Sonos Beam (Gen Two) is HDMI eARC support, which the company claims will deliver a "richer, more immersive, higher definition sound experience." Compared to the HDMI ARC connectivity found in the original Beam, eARC can handle more advanced audio formats and deliver higher audio quality. It's a shame there's no support for HDMI pass-through, which would leave 4K at 120Hz and even 8K at 60Hz, which in turn would make the Beam ideal for consoles that require 8K support like the PS5 and Xbox Series X. However , the new Beam will be able to handle 8 channels of audio and even XNUMX channel XNUMX Mbps uncompressed data streams at XNUMX bits / XNUMX kHz. In other words, apart from supporting Atmos, you can play high-resolution audio files of your favorite songs.
Sonos Beam (Gen Two) has a plastic grille. (Image credit: Sonos)
Wear
While we can't say for sure if you should buy the Sonos Beam (Gen 950) before we can try it out for ourselves, if you want Dolby Atmos without paying for the Sonos Arc, the new soundbar is your best bet. You should also go for the new Beam if you want to play high-res audio files through your soundbar. However, if you're on a budget and Atmos or hi-res music isn't on your radar, the original Sonos Beam is still a great option, and Sonos tells us it'll still be compatible with upgrades. Updates and bug fixes. in the future. However, you will need to act quickly if you want to purchase the original Beam. It is not clear when the stock will run out and it is surely going to be very popular on Black Friday in November. Not sold on Sonos? There are plenty of other brilliant soundbars out there. If you want Dolby Atmos support, check out models like the Samsung HW-Q8500A and Sony HT-X362. With a rigorous budget? The Vizio SB6An-F300 is worth a look, just like the Sony HT-MTXNUMX.