SONOS BEAM Wall Mount - Black

Product Information

This is a pure SCAM, with one software update, you Sonos turned my "Beam" into an expensive paperweight and forcing me to buy a product. What is the guaranty that the same will not happen again? In terms of wireless connectivity, the Beam (Gen 2) supports Wi-Fi and Apple AirPlay 2 with compatible iOS devices. There’s also the option to hook it up to your router with an Ethernet cable if you want a more stable connection to your home network.

Saying that we were very impressed by the width of the soundstage. You get the sense that the action onscreen is taking place all around you without adding additional rear left or right speakers, like the Sonos One SL.The app also allows you to pair the Beam with any other Sonos speaker, such as the Sonos Sub, or a pair of Sonos One SL speakers that could be used as left and right rear speakers.

Once you’ve done this, you’ll be able to use the Beam’s room calibration feature, TruePlay, which tunes the ‘bar’s sound to the dimensions of your room.Use the included Sonos Optical Audio Adapter to connect the soundbar to your TV if you don’t have an HDMI ARC port.

While the general audio performance of the Beam (Gen 2) was impressive, we weren't fully convinced by the virtual Dolby Atmos. As vending machines propelled soda cans over the heads of the characters on screen, the sound did provide a sense of height, but we didn't get the feeling that it was coming from above our heads.You’ll also find a small LED light strip on the top of the soundbar, which lights up as you interact with it, and another LED beneath the microphone icon to let you know when the soundbar’s mic is enabled. Improper or inadequate wallmount installation could cause your device to fall, resulting in personal injury. Integration with the Sonos network gives the Beam (Gen 2) something many other soundbars don’t have: an easy way to upgrade your home cinema system. While the new Beam works very well on its own, adding in a sub and rear speakers is a great way to add to your setup over time. If you already have a Sonos Roam portable speaker, you’ll be able to ‘throw’ your audio between the Bluetooth speaker and the Beam using the Sound Swap feature. It’s a deep, spacious, atmospheric delivery, with echoes and reverb and three-dimensionality, but, unsurprisingly, it’s not surround sound. For that you’ll need to add a couple of Play:1s or pay the extra for the Arc, which is an upgrade on the Beam in every conceivable way, not least in terms of its room-filling ability.

While the Playbar and Playbase offered only a digital optical connection, the Beam (like the newer Arc) has HDMI (there's an optical adapter too). The sole purpose of the Beam’s one HDMI connection is to receive audio from the TV, using ARC (Audio Return Channel). There's no support for eARC as there is on the Sonos Arc, but because the Beam doesn't support Atmos of any type, let alone the high bitrate Dolby TrueHD version of it, eARC isn't necessary. On the subject of sound formats, it’s important to ensure all of your sources are sending Dolby Digital signals to your TV, and that the TV can accept and send them to the Beam natively. Depending on the devices involved, this can be a fiddly process, but it’s worth making the effort as Dolby Digital signals result in a far better performance. One new connectivity feature for the Sonos Beam is HDMI eARC compatibility, which the company says will bring a “richer, more immersive, and higher definition sound experience”. Compared to the HDMI ARC connectivity found on the original Beam, eARC can handle more advanced audio formats and deliver superior audio quality. Besides the neatness of the connection, the other advantage of using HDMI ARC is that it allows the Beam a certain amount of control over your TV, as long as it supports CEC (Consumer Electronics Control). This means that, thanks to voice support on the Sonos Beam, you can turn on your TV and adjust the volume with voice commands. Located above the logo; displays the speaker's connection to WiFi, indicates when the volume is muted, and signals errors.And while the Beam is almost unbelievably spacious for its size, it doesn’t quite fool you into thinking you’re listening to a proper surround sound system. Effects stretch right across the front of the room, well beyond the dimensions of the screen but they don’t stretch up the sides of the room. TV with HDMI ARC / eARC port or optical digital audio output, broadband internet, and the Sonos app. You can always trust iMore. Our team of Apple experts have years of experience testing all kinds of tech and gadgets, so you can be sure our recommendations and criticisms are accurate and helpful. Find out more about how we test.