Sonos has announced a new speaker for small to medium sized living rooms to complement its already available PlayBar and PlayBase alternatives. The Sonos
Sonos has announced a new speaker for small to medium sized living rooms to complement its already available PlayBar and PlayBase alternatives.
The Sonos Beam isn’t a replacement for the company’s soundbar, as previously rumoured, it’s something altogether new.
At 651 x 100 x 68.5mm and 2.8kg, it is more compact than the PlayBar and has a flat smooth layer on top with the buttons and controls. That doesn’t increase the size though, as it is designed to provide a big sound but take up a small footprint.
The Beam comes with Alexa built in, much like the Sonos One, and will eventually have support for Apple’s AirPlay 2 (from July) and Google Assistant later this year.
There are five microphones to capture your voice commands, one tweeter for high frequencies, three passive radiators and four woofers inside to ensure a beefy, booming audio performance from a single bar solution. Although you can pair it with the Sonos Sub for even more oomph.
You can also pair the Beam with other Sonos speakers for a 5.1 surround sound solution.
Many will be pleased to learn that it also has an HDMI input — something much requested by those with an existing PlayBar. It connects to the HDMI-ARC port on your TV and can therefore be controlled via your existing TV remote and vice versa — such as turn on your TV using Alexa voice commands.
It also has an optical audio input, much like the larger PlayBar.
The Sonos Beam will be available from 17 July for £399 ($399) in either white or black. Pre-orders are available now on Sonos.com .
