Sonos announced the Sonos Beam “soundbar” yesterday for the ultimate in in-home audio experience. The compact, smart soundbar is due out next month for Sonos customer and those wishing to upgrade their soundbar. Also, coming with the Sonos Beam is support for Apple Airplay2. The smart speaker will offer rich sound experience for all the sonic content in your home, from films and TV shows, to music and podcasts. Sonos Beam supports 80+ music services, and multiple voice assistants.
As part of the Sonos range of Sonos home sound system, owners of Beam have options like adding two Sonos Ones for surround sound, a SUB for more bass, or integrating Beam into their existing Sonos multi-room set-ups. You can also control Beam whichever way they like, whether it be with voice, the Sonos app, third-party apps like Spotify, Audible, Pandora and Tidal, their existing TV remotes, smart home gadgets like wall switches and remotes made by Sonos-certified partners.
With AirPlay 2, you will be able to play music and podcasts from their your iOS devices directly on your Sonos speakers, including the new Sonos Beam, Sonos One, Playbase, and the second generation Play:5. And, with a single supported speaker, AirPlay content can be streamed to other Sonos speakers in the system.
With Apple AirPlay 2 on Sonos you will also be able to voice command with Siri. Ask Siri to play any track, album, or playlist on Apple Music by using an iOS device to start playing on Sonos.
Out of the box, Beam comes with Amazon Alexa in the US, UK, Germany, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and, soon, in France. Beam will support additional voice assistants as they become available on Sonos around the world and won’t lock owners into specific streaming boxes or services.
According to Sonos, the Sonos Beam was tuned by a team of world-class acoustic engineers, collaborating with leading sound experts from the world of film, music and television. The result, they said, is a product that faithfully represents the artists’ work and delivers an unparalleled listening experience.
Beam produces a surprisingly wide soundstage for a speaker of this size, with four custom-built elliptical full-range woofers and three passive radiators delivering deep, warm bass and superior mid-range performance, while a single tweeter ensures crisp and clear dialogue.
Sonos Beam Product Details:
- Low profile and compact size, Beam was designed to fit on credenzas or under wall mounted TVs, providing versatility. At only 25.6 inches long, Sonos Beam won’t hang off furniture, block the TV or take over your space.
- Five linear far-field microphone array used for advanced noise suppression and multi-channel echo cancellation for both music and home theatre content.
- Beam has three ports – power, Ethernet, and HDMI-ARC.
- Use the HDMI cable to connect Beam to the TV’s HDMI-ARC port. If your TV doesn’t support HDMI-ARC, use the included Optical Audio Adapter to connect Beam to the TV’s optical audio port.
- Comes in black and white fabric with matte finish.
- Adding an Amazon video streaming device like Fire TV unlocks voice control for Alexa-enabled streaming services. Ask for a specific movie or show, get more info about a favourite movie director or control playback, all with voice.
