Great video! Just one correction -- I don't think Siri is coming directly to the Beam. However, you can use Siri through an iOS device to control the soundbar through Airplay 2.
I am replacing my ageing TV and have no knowledge of sound bars at all as I have never had one. Your fantastic review has been extremely informative and helpful for me, thank you.
I’ll add that having tried them both, while I agree that the Beam is good for it’s size and cost, the Playbar is better, and that’s even proportionate to cost. Essentially, if you have the budget for it and have the space, get the Playbar.
If you are worried about triggering Echo devices by mistake, just change the wakeword on one of the devices! Have one of them respond to "Alexa" and the other "Echo" or "Computer" and you won't trigger the wrong device!
I have a sony ct260h for a couple of years Id like to buy the beam but I dont want to loose too much base that I was used to with my sony, I know the sonos is upgradable but if I turn off my subwoofer on my sony will I be disapointed vs the beam ? my sony lack mid and high to a point that its too flat if I leave the subwoofer turned off !
Gonna have to take your word that it sounds good as never got to hear it in this review- for the price I think Sony x850 may be on the edge with this and also cheaper
Are further models going to work with all major assistants? So if I bought one I could say 'Hey Google' and access my Google account and then say 'Alexa' and access my Amazon account? Or will you have to specify which assistant it comes with at point of purchase?
Would be a slam dunk if say they would only support DTS. Atmos I can somewhat understand at the moment due to limited content but not supporting DTS at this point is silly.
I am pretty big into home audio systems and general and, as a musician have an excellent ear. I will tell you that the sonos beam sounds pretty good but honestly I don't think that it is worth 400 dollars US. Then again, the Bose solo 5 isn't worth the ridiculous amount being charged for it too. If the beam was 300 USD I would buy it. However, if you already own Sonos one's to add to the system for surround sound, I would recommend you get the Sonos beam. I spent a long long time testing almost ever soundbar in best buy and other stores. Soundbars, IMHO are flawed methods of delivering the best surround sound experience for a television. They are compact, lack proper acoustics, and often cram small drivers inside of something hoping to do everything from bass, highs, and mids. They never truly do any of those perfectly unless paired with other speakers. Bose, on the other hand uses highly cheap drivers in their speakers in general. The image Bose has going for itself as being a "high quality" speaker company is nonsense. Their drivers in their soundocks and bluetooth speakers for example are literally some of the cheapest on the market. Their image is driven entirely from brilliant marketing. I have Sono's one speakers and I love them. Are they the best sounding? No. Do they sound pretty good for the price and functionality? YES! I love the seamless integration with the ecosystem. I want a beam but I can't spend the money on it right now. My friend is a high end music producer and has taught me a lot about audio, speakers, and most importantly, how to position speakers for the rooms acoustics to improve speaker sound. He said Bose is absolute garbage and he's right. Don't fall for the hype of the brand because the exterior may be pretty but the inside is filled with cheap components. The beam will sound good for you but I don't think that it would be good to buy if you do not have other speakers attached to it as it will not cover the full spectrum of sound properly. Everyone's ears are different but to me the bass is limited (understandably so due to its size and design) and the highs are decent and mids are saturated. I would highly recommend you buy the Sonos ecosystem if you enjoy smart speakers with Alexa, as I have a smart home and use the sonos speaker to control everything. They sound great for the money which is key here. The one's are 200 dollars each and the play 1 is 150 without Alex and it is the same sound. I honestly recommend you listen to them and compare them to anything Bose puts out because honestly the Bose speakers are so mediocre its criminal what they charge... Sorry for the rant and long explanation lol
It can turn on the TV but can it turn on my DirecTV box too? If all you have is android, you can borrow your buddy’s iPhone and dial in the True Play feature. You only have to do it once.
Sandz my LG B7A 65" oled with the beam is about flush, it covers just a little bit of the bezel of the tv. I since have moved the beam to bedroom and now use the Playbar which covers even more....... but in my opinion the sound is worth it! I rock a 5.1 sonos setup! Playbar, sub, with 2 Play 1s as the rears.
I would believe Sonos sound will still be above average when compared to other similar pricing. As for DTS, if one is not planning to buy 2x Sonos One, no point for DTS? I have the Sony HT5000 and I still don't find their DTS anywhere good without 2 physical speakers on the rear
The Beam is going to get Google Assistant in the future (Sonos has backed down from the late 2018 timeframe), but there is no timeline for adding Siri at this time, if at all. Sonos said they would like to add it, but that is up to Apple and if they will allow third party companies to integrate Siri.
I still finding the good quality Soundbar and I watched he review sonos same like others review it except if he not using high quality microphones I will understood. BTW Sonos it's not cheaper Soundbar so why I must listened from computer mini speakers
Buy the Sonos Beam they said! Its a great soundbar with decent audio, nice design and it doesn’t emty your wallet completely. So I bought it. Everything mentioned abbow matched my expectations and for 10 happy minutes, I was a proud owner of great soundbar. Until the lip sync issues arrived. Using the ARC cable, I tought lip sync issues belonged to history. I’ve tried pretty much everything in terms of settings and AV adjustments on my TV (LG oled) but the lip sync issues wont go away. I’m sorry to say that my Sonos Beam will be returned to the supplier tomorrow. Doesn’t support 5 GHz. Only 2,4 IF THE SONOS ACTUALLY CAN FIND IT. Really hard to set up because of the primitiv app. Back off.
It's crazy to think of the underlying technology in use and what it is doing, then we think of it as being slow because it takes a few seconds! I can see what you're saying, it's just that we've become used to things being instant nowadays.
Bradbury Robinson yeah all that you’re saying is true.. however, technology has been quite stagnant. I would like that the voice assistants computation power comes to the point that you literally can have a dialogue with Alexa/Siri etc..
Just got one today. To be honest... I didn't hear the sound coming from it much different than a LG or Samsung soundbar. In fact, I found it annoying that I need an app to lower or raise the volume or having to speak to it in order to control volume. I was expecting the sound to blow me away. It didn't. Maybe I'm missing something. I don't know. But, so far it doesn't merit $300 more than the regular $150 soundbar. Not in my book.
People actually waste their money buying an Alexa knowing that Amazon record and monitor everything they do at home?!?! Why don't you just call a marketing company and have them have a representative live in your home 24/7 and listen to everything you do instead. It would be cheaper!
So we go from dedicated surround systems which can play everything to this 1 hdmi no dts no hd audio piece of shit. The regression is complete. The revival of the optical output is a joke.
I heard it. I work in the Hi-Fi Section of an electronic store. It's a peace of shit when it comes to sound quality! as if you put a blanket on a speaker. The Bose Solo 5 still has waaaay better clarity than the beam. And the design of the beam is also awful. It's disturbing to see that people actually buy Sonos despite the dull sound. No one liked it at our store. It's just Sonos what did I expect... dull sound as ever... Your review is also disturbing.
Light Emerging soundbars in general are junk. They offer no real audio separation unless you stand 2 feet away from it (which is how they display these unites in stores) once you bring it home and sit a more reasonable distance from it, you feel cheated
Guy Stevens I absolutely agree! The only really good Soundbar that I or we at our store ever heard is the Bose Soundtouch 300. I installed it for customers and it's really a crazy good mashine! The only Soundbar that ever impressed me! But only with the Subwoofer! We always play music on it at our store and everyone loves it.
I have 1000$ to spend, I wanted to buy Sonos beam+ 2 sonos one to place near the sofa but now , reading your comment, I'm a Little afraid of buying them. Can you help me? I need something like Sonos, so Alexa/Google assistant, easy to install and good looking
Great video! Just one correction -- I don't think Siri is coming directly to the Beam. However, you can use Siri through an iOS device to control the soundbar through Airplay 2.
I am replacing my ageing TV and have no knowledge of sound bars at all as I have never had one. Your fantastic review has been extremely informative and helpful for me, thank you.
best review i’ve seen to date
Lol that tv is so close to falling off
i know it was stressing me out the whole time
It so is!
I’ll add that having tried them both, while I agree that the Beam is good for it’s size and cost, the Playbar is better, and that’s even proportionate to cost. Essentially, if you have the budget for it and have the space, get the Playbar.
Awesome sound for movies and music. in a condo from Canada. Works great with ipad and iphone.
The way that Samsung TV sits at the edge of that stand gave me instant depression.
Its a cheap telly so he doesn't care if it falls I think
Excellent review!
Thanks for the review. I'm looking for a soundbar which works both with my television and with my Spotify. This will be it, I think.
So did you buy it? And what do you think 😊
Is this better than the Sony HTX-8500 which has Dolby Atmos?
I wonder the same question
The Beam DOES come with an adapter that uses an optical out from a TV to connect to the HDMI input...in the USA anyhow...
CED another excellent review! Still using one of the great TV I see :) Thanks Pal
Thanks for really neutral review. I think you covered pros and cons really well and made me to get one. ;) Thank you.
Great review.
Any updates with the Beam Gen 2?
Alexa was reluctant to say goodbye lol!
She didn’t want to go yet!
Great video bro.
Great review 👍‼️
If you are worried about triggering Echo devices by mistake, just change the wakeword on one of the devices! Have one of them respond to "Alexa" and the other "Echo" or "Computer" and you won't trigger the wrong device!
I have a sony ct260h for a couple of years Id like to buy the beam but I dont want to loose too much base that I was used to with my sony, I know the sonos is upgradable but if I turn off my subwoofer on my sony will I be disapointed vs the beam ? my sony lack mid and high to a point that its too flat if I leave the subwoofer turned off !
Gonna have to take your word that it sounds good as never got to hear it in this review- for the price I think Sony x850 may be on the edge with this and also cheaper
Are further models going to work with all major assistants? So if I bought one I could say 'Hey Google' and access my Google account and then say 'Alexa' and access my Amazon account? Or will you have to specify which assistant it comes with at point of purchase?
It does come with a HDMI/optical out adapter if you can only use optical on your tv.
The Polk magnifi max sr1 offers the same things for less money and it sounds great also.
What TV was it in the video?
Great stuff!
Will you compare this to the Polk command?
Do all tvs have this arc hdmi slot.
so I have a 55" Samsung Q8FN, will this bar cover the bottom of my tv?
Would be a slam dunk if say they would only support DTS. Atmos I can somewhat understand at the moment due to limited content but not supporting DTS at this point is silly.
HI everyone , need your help I am between this beam or the Bose solo 5. Which is a better sound bar? Thanks
I am pretty big into home audio systems and general and, as a musician have an excellent ear. I will tell you that the sonos beam sounds pretty good but honestly I don't think that it is worth 400 dollars US. Then again, the Bose solo 5 isn't worth the ridiculous amount being charged for it too. If the beam was 300 USD I would buy it. However, if you already own Sonos one's to add to the system for surround sound, I would recommend you get the Sonos beam. I spent a long long time testing almost ever soundbar in best buy and other stores. Soundbars, IMHO are flawed methods of delivering the best surround sound experience for a television. They are compact, lack proper acoustics, and often cram small drivers inside of something hoping to do everything from bass, highs, and mids. They never truly do any of those perfectly unless paired with other speakers. Bose, on the other hand uses highly cheap drivers in their speakers in general. The image Bose has going for itself as being a "high quality" speaker company is nonsense. Their drivers in their soundocks and bluetooth speakers for example are literally some of the cheapest on the market. Their image is driven entirely from brilliant marketing. I have Sono's one speakers and I love them. Are they the best sounding? No. Do they sound pretty good for the price and functionality? YES! I love the seamless integration with the ecosystem. I want a beam but I can't spend the money on it right now. My friend is a high end music producer and has taught me a lot about audio, speakers, and most importantly, how to position speakers for the rooms acoustics to improve speaker sound. He said Bose is absolute garbage and he's right. Don't fall for the hype of the brand because the exterior may be pretty but the inside is filled with cheap components. The beam will sound good for you but I don't think that it would be good to buy if you do not have other speakers attached to it as it will not cover the full spectrum of sound properly. Everyone's ears are different but to me the bass is limited (understandably so due to its size and design) and the highs are decent and mids are saturated. I would highly recommend you buy the Sonos ecosystem if you enjoy smart speakers with Alexa, as I have a smart home and use the sonos speaker to control everything. They sound great for the money which is key here. The one's are 200 dollars each and the play 1 is 150 without Alex and it is the same sound. I honestly recommend you listen to them and compare them to anything Bose puts out because honestly the Bose speakers are so mediocre its criminal what they charge... Sorry for the rant and long explanation lol
It can turn on the TV but can it turn on my DirecTV box too?
If all you have is android, you can borrow your buddy’s iPhone and dial in the True Play feature. You only have to do it once.
DirecTV just added an Alexa skill, so I'd assume yes.
How does it compare with the Sonos Playbar?
LG OLED has less space at bottom, does it not look weird or block the TV?
Ced Yuen Thank you Ced 🤙
Sandz my LG B7A 65" oled with the beam is about flush, it covers just a little bit of the bezel of the tv. I since have moved the beam to bedroom and now use the Playbar which covers even more....... but in my opinion the sound is worth it! I rock a 5.1 sonos setup! Playbar, sub, with 2 Play 1s as the rears.
I would believe Sonos sound will still be above average when compared to other similar pricing. As for DTS, if one is not planning to buy 2x Sonos One, no point for DTS? I have the Sony HT5000 and I still don't find their DTS anywhere good without 2 physical speakers on the rear
How do I get my SonosBeam to turn on by saying 'Alexa turn on the TV' I don't have an apple phone, I have android, can I do it by adding Google Home,
The Beam is going to get Google Assistant in the future (Sonos has backed down from the late 2018 timeframe), but there is no timeline for adding Siri at this time, if at all. Sonos said they would like to add it, but that is up to Apple and if they will allow third party companies to integrate Siri.
Do they have one without the creepy “smart “ features? I just want improved and louder sound
GuyFox there’s an Ethernet port on the back, just don’t use it
I sounded awesome
Good review, but as you said do we a voice activated soundbar, it will drive me mad keep saying "Alexa" do this , etc
mark adams then turn off the mic and use the app? It’s not hard..
how you squeeze your tv onto that old toy box making me really nervious!!!!!! DAMN!
It’s a luggage case, it’s chic to use it as a TV stand.
Can the Beam support Dolby Atmos or DTS X
It’s stated in the review. No.
2 years later and still same price
Lol yup. Just bought one this weekend and it was 399
Will it block or look weird with the 55" sony x90f?
It's 68.5 mm tall, or 2,7". Measure it.
how do you connect it to lg c9?
Brilliant review thanks!! Can you recommend a Dolby Atmos Speaker
Can you deactivate Alexa on the speaker?
Review with no sound test for a soundbar?
@@tonyhumber111 it's a reason someone needs sound test cause we need to know the best sounds like what's your review it
I still finding the good quality Soundbar and I watched he review sonos same like others review it except if he not using high quality microphones I will understood. BTW Sonos it's not cheaper Soundbar so why I must listened from computer mini speakers
I heard it today it sounded better than the Bose 700 which is double the price
We want the sound
王晶 it sounded better than the Bose 700 which is double the price
Where is audio testing??
No optical is a bit silly, I have no spare HDMI inputs....
DiggerDave1968 it comes with a HDMI to optical converter 👍. I’m in the same boat
Buy the Sonos Beam they said! Its a great soundbar with decent audio, nice design and it doesn’t emty your wallet completely.
So I bought it. Everything mentioned abbow matched my expectations and for 10 happy minutes, I was a proud owner of great soundbar. Until the lip sync issues arrived.
Using the ARC cable, I tought lip sync issues belonged to history. I’ve tried pretty much everything in terms of settings and AV adjustments on my TV (LG oled) but the lip sync issues wont go away. I’m sorry to say that my Sonos Beam will be returned to the supplier tomorrow.
Doesn’t support 5 GHz. Only 2,4 IF THE SONOS ACTUALLY CAN FIND IT.
Really hard to set up because of the primitiv app.
Back off.
Your tv is too lovely to balance on that old trunk.
Alexa seems so slow to respond. Is that true for every voice assistant?
It's crazy to think of the underlying technology in use and what it is doing, then we think of it as being slow because it takes a few seconds! I can see what you're saying, it's just that we've become used to things being instant nowadays.
Bradbury Robinson yeah all that you’re saying is true.. however, technology has been quite stagnant. I would like that the voice assistants computation power comes to the point that you literally can have a dialogue with Alexa/Siri etc..
Just got one today. To be honest... I didn't hear the sound coming from it much different than a LG or Samsung soundbar. In fact, I found it annoying that I need an app to lower or raise the volume or having to speak to it in order to control volume. I was expecting the sound to blow me away. It didn't. Maybe I'm missing something. I don't know. But, so far it doesn't merit $300 more than the regular $150 soundbar. Not in my book.
When connected to your TV through HDMI ARC you can use your TV remote to control the volume on Sonos Beam.
It’s a beast I dint know why yours sucks
when my alexa said goodbye i almost shat myself
People actually waste their money buying an Alexa knowing that Amazon record and monitor everything they do at home?!?! Why don't you just call a marketing company and have them have a representative live in your home 24/7 and listen to everything you do instead. It would be cheaper!
What TV do you have?
Is sonos really going to have Siri?? Highly doubt so
zerocurry You’re wrong. 9to5mac.com/2018/06/06/sonos-airplay-2-support-siri-control-july/
Jocko through an iPhone not the speaker
Sonos are open to both Android and Apple he's got that wrong
2019 and still no Google assistant
So the weird ROBOTIC sound belongs to you🤨🤨🤨 Busted!!!
No actual sound?
UA-cam compression would ruin the sound anyway
I thought it sounded better than the Bose 700
UA55KS8000?
Why don’t you try to answers any question from your viewers ?!?!?!
You can't hear the voices half the time even when you turn loudness off and night mode don't bother
Since when was $400 the same as £400???
Since apple started selling things like that to rinse the British. Everyone else seems to have followed suit.
Since brexit
hehe - 'you can shout at' NARF !!!
I sneezed and it fell off.
never said a word about how it sounds..wtf
Not user friendly lots of unwanted info
£400 or 450 euro is $545. Yet the americans pay $400, which is about £300 or 330 euros...
Rip off every non-american it seems.
too much talking, not enough sound review 💩💩💩
People wanna hear sound man !!
So we go from dedicated surround systems which can play everything to this 1 hdmi no dts no hd audio piece of shit. The regression is complete. The revival of the optical output is a joke.
Sonos is overpriced products, which doesn’t support future sound like Atmos which I think is bad for movie lovers
Your best is not good enough
I stated a fact he is giving his opinion on the SONOS!
It is amazing tech within its footprint but just way to expensive for that price.
Yup, No Athmos and No DTS....come on really
You can´t even spell Atmos... No one uses it.
Danjon1235 and DTS?? Lol
This guys voice is full of pauses, the lack of flow and robotic delivery needs some work dude
I heard it. I work in the Hi-Fi Section of an electronic store. It's a peace of shit when it comes to sound quality! as if you put a blanket on a speaker.
The Bose Solo 5 still has waaaay better clarity than the beam. And the design of the beam is also awful. It's disturbing to see that people actually buy Sonos despite the dull sound. No one liked it at our store. It's just Sonos what did I expect... dull sound as ever...
Your review is also disturbing.
Light Emerging soundbars in general are junk. They offer no real audio separation unless you stand 2 feet away from it (which is how they display these unites in stores) once you bring it home and sit a more reasonable distance from it, you feel cheated
Guy Stevens I absolutely agree! The only really good Soundbar that I or we at our store ever heard is the Bose Soundtouch 300. I installed it for customers and it's really a crazy good mashine! The only Soundbar that ever impressed me! But only with the Subwoofer! We always play music on it at our store and everyone loves it.
I have 1000$ to spend, I wanted to buy Sonos beam+ 2 sonos one to place near the sofa but now , reading your comment, I'm a Little afraid of buying them. Can you help me? I need something like Sonos, so Alexa/Google assistant, easy to install and good looking
@@aless0889 you can go with soundtouch 500 bose
I thought it sounded better than the Bose 700
Can you deactivate Alexa on the speaker?