Good deal – The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) soundbar “5 stars” at €429.00 (-12%)

For the renewal of its excellent Beam compact soundbar, Sonos plays the security card. But if the appearance of the Beam Gen 2 has undergone almost no changes, this does not prevent it from offering some attractive new features.

The Sonos Beam Gen 2 is certainly only a very minor evolution of the first Beam of the name, but it does not need more to remain one of the most recommendable compact soundbars on the market. Its remarkably musical and immersive sound (despite anecdotal Dolby Atmos compatibility) combines with a connected audio ecosystem of unparalleled completeness and maturity to form a very attractive whole. Beware, however, of its ultra-minimalist connectors, which could be a source of frustration in certain installations.

Strong points

• Warm, yet balanced sound reproduction.
• Excellent bass depth for a soundbar without a subwoofer.
• Excellent midrange and treble precision, clear and open sound.
• Ample and enveloping horizontal virtual spatialization.
• The Sonos connected audio ecosystem, complete and mature like no other.
• Compatibility AirPlay 2, Chromecast, Alexa, Google Assistant…

Weak points

• Anecdotal Dolby Atmos compatibility (no verticality in the sound).
• TruePlay automatic acoustic calibration available only on iOS.
• Ultra-minimalist connectivity.

NB: The reported price drop is calculated by comparing the lowest price of the day with the average of the lowest prices charged by all merchants for the product last month, with security rules to exclude prices from shops whose the VAT policy is not clear (known as “grey” shops, typically in the case of imports from China).

Alternatively

The Sonos Beam comes very close to total success. It manages to achieve amazing sound quality for such a small footprint, while benefiting from all the attributes traditionally associated with Sonos products: a multi-room among the best there are, intuitive use (at the cost of a closed ecosystem and ultra-minimalist connectivity, of course), compatibility streaming of an unbeatable completeness… Too bad however that the only major defect of the bar, its incapacity to reproduce a central channel precisely localized, is a little in contradiction with its vocation of enclosure TV/home cinema.