SONOS BEAM GEN 2 REVIEW BY ANDREW ROBINSON - originally review Jan. 28, 2022

AN AFFORDABLE SOUND BAR! SONOS BEAM GEN 2 REVIEW

NO, THIS IS NOT ANOTHER JOKE, we’re FINALLY reviewing SONOS. We bought the Sonos Beam GEN 2, so let’s get into it!

ALL-INCLUSIVE SOUNDBAR

The SONOS Beam, now in its second generation, is the brand’s smallest, all-inclusive soundbar featuring Dolby Atmos with five drivers, each driven by their own Class D amplifier. The Beam utilizes three passive radiators to help give this small bar a more full-range sound without the need for a separate subwoofer. Speaking of subwoofers, the Beam is designed to be an all-in-one solution that can be expanded to include a dedicated Sonos wireless subwoofer and surrounds should you want, though both are optional extras, which we’ll discuss in a bit.

SONOS BEAM SPECS

In terms of connection options there aren’t many. The Beam has a single HDMI port that supports ARC/eARC. Clearly the Beam gen 2 supports Dolby Atmos signals, though it does not have DTS:X support. The website claims DTS surround compatibility, though if you read the fine print, Sonos is careful to say that DTS support, “is not an indication of a licensed decoder.” That’s weird. The HDMI port can also be adapted using the included optical to HDMI cable, which allows the Beam to work with older displays that may not have HDMI ARC/eARC capabilities. You also get Ethernet connectivity which allows for streaming. But the Beam isn’t limited to just physical connections for it has support for WiFi, AirPlay 2 but strangely, no Bluetooth.

DOES THE SONOS BEAM HAVE A REMOTE?

Also absent is a physical remote control, though you can control the Beam via its touch-sensitive controls located along the top of the bar itself. You also have some measure of voice control thanks to support for Alexa and Google Assistant, but mainly you’ll have to rely on the free Sonos App, which allows you to adjust the bar’s tone, dialog and night modes, not to mention run its auto-EQ program, Trueplay.

SETTING UP THE BEAM SOUNDBAR

Setting up the Beam soundbar for the first time is pretty straightforward. While perhaps not AS plug-n-play as the LG Eclair, it’s NOT that far off with respect to simplicity. Once connected to the App, you get full control over the Beam and the ability to tailor it to your listening space, which is an important step to get the best sound out of this particular soundbar. While Trueplay doesn’t completely alter the sound of the Beam, it does help with respect to intelligibility and overall clarity –not to mention spatial quality.

TRUEPLAY

Trueplay and the Sonos App will commandeer your phone’s microphone in order to take measurements of the Beam in your room, but before you freak out and start looking for big brother, know that you can grant the Sonos App temporary access to your microphone in order to complete this step, and then turn off access once done. I recommend doing this because if you want to give the Beam voice commands either through Alexa or Google the speaker itself has a microphone for that!

SONOS APP

Let’s talk about the Sonos App for a second. For starters, it’s pretty great! Clearly, Sonos has taken a page from Apple in creating an App that is very polished, and relatively easy to use. And speaking of Apple, I was rather shocked to find native support for Apple Music! While it’s not hard to find a third party app with support for Spotify, TIDAL or even Amazon Music, the Sonos App is the first that I’m aware of with support for Apple Music, which for me is a big plus. While I understand you can control the bar via its touch controls or somewhat through your voice; truth be told, I tried these methods just to say that I did, but ultimately relied on the App more. I found that after about 20 minutes of use, the App was pretty much second nature!

HOW DOES THE BEAM GEN 2 SOUND?

Okay, so enough about the nitty-gritty, how does the Beam Gen 2 sound? Does it live up to the hype AND was it worth the wait? Well - After having our review requests go unanswered for over a year while you guys continued to talk them up, I will admit, my expectations were pretty darn high. WAS IT WORTH OUR MONEY!? (drum roll) YES! The Beam is rather special. I was genuinely surprised by its sound quality. I’m happy to report that the Beam is the real deal and in many ways may be the sub $1000 soundbar to beat, but let’s really break it down.

DOES THE SONOS BEAM 2 NEED A SUBWOOFER?

First and foremost, the Beam, unlike a lot of soundbars, does NOT come with a wireless subwoofer. If you need more bass, Sonos charges extra for that in the form of their SUB Gen 3, which will set you back an additional $749! That said, in a bedroom or small room setup I do not believe the Beam NEEDS a sub in order to sound full-range or fulfilling in the bass department. To say that the bass response of the Beam is satisfying, even impressive would be one of the bigger understatements regarding this soundbar’s performance. While the Beam didn't play as deep as the comparably priced LG Eclair (which does have a wireless sub), the Sonos’ sound was richer and more textural through the bass and low mid-bass that I was okay giving up some extension for the greater low-end clarity and composure while also keeping the extra $800 in my pocket. I did not test the Beam with the Sonos Sub so I have NO IDEA HOW or IF it helps –or potentially hinders– the Beam’s performance. Suffice to say, even out in our main room, the Beam served up enough bass to make action films like 6 Underground, Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Peacemaker fun and captivating!

BEAM’S MIDRANGE PERFORMANCE

Now, the midrange is arguably the Beam’s greatest strength. A lot of bars come across as lean or cool in this department thanks to them having to rely a bit too much on a detached subwoofer for any appreciable weight. Not so with the Beam. It has an almost monitor-like sound to its midrange –at least with respect to tonality –we’ll get into separation and whatnot in a minute. Vocals sounded more true to life and organic through the beam compared to other similarly sized soundbars. The Sonos strives for neutrality, and as a result gets very, very close to achieving in –at least in the midrange. I would put the Beam’s midrange performance up there with the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage or even the Ambeo. I’m not saying it’s equal to these two costlier soundbars, but it’s up there. Both music and movies sounded more “right”, dare I say traditional, in that the mildly larger drivers found within the Beam are simply capable of reproducing more of the frequency range on their own compared to other soundbars, and this is something that is immediately noticeable.

THE TWEETER

Which brings me to the tweeter, yes, THE tweeter. Because the Beam has but one, it’s presence is definitely heard for it is more center focused and pronounced as a result. While the highs are not bad, sharp or brittle –quite the opposite actually –the center mounted tweeter does make the Beam’s overall focus a bit more center-weighted compared to other bars –even compared to the diminutive LG Eclair. But like the bar’s midrange, the tweeter is simply more organic, more naturally airy and above all more composed compared to much of the competition –though if absolute intelligibility is important, I wouldn’t be surprised if some listeners turn the treble control up a notch or two in order to make the Beam “brighter” overall on account of it having but ONE tweeter.

ATMOS CONTENT

Now, with respect to soundstage, or should I say surround sound. In my experience and in our room, the Beam is spacious, but it is also appropriately named. Laterally and even depth-wise the Sonos is impressive, BUT, it’s surround sound performance is most impressive when the bar is in relative alignment with your seated listening position. The Beam lacks upward firing drivers, and as a result its vertical dispersion is not quite as good as some bars with these drivers. Don’t get me wrong, the Beam isn’t terrible when playing back Atmos content, it's WAY better than the LG Eclair we just reviewed – but in terms of floor to ceiling dispersion and spaciousness, it didn’t mop the floor with the competition.

SONOS DYNAMICS

Dynamically the Beam is impressive, though I will say, it’s at its best when kept below 80dB or so, where it is virtually unflappable, even in a space as large as ours. Go above 80dB and some compression, clipping or distortion will begin to set in and its otherwise composed, spacious sound will flatten and, well, BEAM. As a result, dynamics will start to compress and be more shouty rather than engaging. But like I said, keep it around or below 80dB and I doubt the Beam will give any one much, if anything, to complain about with respect to dynamics!

DOWNSIDES OF THE SONOS BEAM 2

So what’s wrong with it? A lot of you like to say that with respect to value for money, nothing beats the Beam. While that is accurate in many respects, it’s not outright true in every one. For starters, soundbars with separate subwoofers may play lower, or have more bass than the Beam on its own. While you can add a Sonos Sub to the Beam, doing so raises the cost to $1,198, which is approaching Samsung Q950A territory, which for that price I’d say get the Sammy, because you also get a great subwoofer, surrounds and upward firing drivers.

BEAM 2’S LACK OF DTS:X SUPPORT

While the Beam does support Atmos, it relies very heavily on Dolby Virtualization to give you a surround effect. It is very good in this respect, arguably better than any bar at or around $500, but it isn’t perfect and does suffer from a lack of dispersion with respect to height. As a result sound may at times be a little more localized to the bar itself compared to the competition. I recommend placing the Beam as close to the bottom edge of your display as possible to ensure that some sounds –chiefly dialog –sound as if they’re emanating from the center of your TV rather than from the Beam itself. Then of course there is the Beam 2’s lack of DTS:X support, which for some of you may be a deal breaker.

BLUETOOTH SUPPORT

Lastly, the lack of additional inputs and support for Bluetooth may be problematic for some. While I was surprised by the Beam’s single HDMI port, I kind of understand as the Beam is meant to be as simple and as easy to use as possible and additional ports and whatnot may complicate or confuse some users. That said, no Bluetooth support is a real head scratcher.

IS THE SONOS BEAM BETTER THAN OTHER SOUNDBARS?

So how does the Beam stack up to the likes of LG, Samsung and more. Well, compared to the tiny LG Eclair, both systems have their strengths and weaknesses. For me the Eclair is a little more versatile in that LG allows you to dial in its sound to taste, more so than what Sonos does. That said, I was never able to achieve as neutral a tone or tonal balance through the Eclair as what the Beam simply possessed on its own out of the box. The Eclair always maintained a more punchy, smile-like response compared to the Beam’s more linear, balanced sound overall. At times the slightly leaner, more treble-forward sound of the Eclair was welcomed for dialog intelligibility, but on the whole, the Beam is a more mature and refined sound in comparison. Though if you like bass, and need a bit of thump in your life, the Eclair does play deeper thanks to its included sub.

SONOS VS BOSE

Compared to the Bose 900 Soundbar, this is more of a fair fight. The Bose is almost twice the price of the Beam, though the two bars, at least in their white finish, look like relative twins. I prefer the Beam. It sounds fuller, richer and more neutral compared to the Bose, though the Bose is better spatially –at least with respect to height and the sensation of experiencing sounds happening overhead.

BEAM 2 VS Q950A

I would still buy the Samsung Q950A over the Beam. While a Beam with the Sonos Sub and surrounds is about the same price as the Samsung, the Q950A simply has more to offer for the money by way of features, connectivity and even sound quality. BUT, the Samsung system doesn’t look as good as the Sonos products, nor is its App as good.

BANG AND OLUFSEN BEOSOUND STAGE SOUNDBAR — BEOSOUND STAGE SOUNDBAR VS SONOS BEAM 2

SONOS VS SENNHEISER AND BANG & OLUFSEN

As for my two reference all-in-one solutions, the Sennheiser Ambeo and Beosound Stage…I would still buy both of these over the Beam as they are “better”, but they’re also nearly five times the price –so they better be, well, better. While I continue to be impressed by the B&O and Senheiser bars, the fact that the Beam can be mentioned in the same conversation as these costlier options makes the Sonos especially impressive for the money!

IS THE SONOS BEAM 2 THE BEST SOUNDBAR UNDER $1000?

So the only question that likely remains is this; seeing as how we bought the Sonos Beam Gen 2 with our own money, at full retail, are we sending it back? Was this just a case of buy and return in order to silence a few critics? It sure started out that way, but that’s not how this story is ending, for I’m happy enough with the Beam that we’re keeping it. Say hello to our new, sub $1000 reference soundbar.

AN AFFORDABLE SOUND BAR! SONOS BEAM GEN 2 REVIEW