As this is a soundbar, there are two steps to go through.įirst, there’s the cinema set-up, where you sit in the position you’re most likely to be in when watching TV. This uses your phone’s microphone to listen to the audio coming from the speaker, fine-tuning it for both the room and your position. To get the tech to work, you need to run through the Sonos TruePlay routine in the app. Atmos is delivered virtually with clever software adapting the sound output to trick your ears into hearing where the sound comes from. Here, you have one tweeter for high-frequencies, four mid-woofers to deliver the mid-range and three passive radiators which is a similar layout to the original Beam. While the Sonos Arc has upwards firing speakers for the overhead channels for Dolby Atmos, the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) does not. If you prefer, you can tune your remote to work via IR with the Beam directly. Once connected, the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) can then have its volume adjusted using your TV’s remote, with the signal sent down the HDMI cable. My guide on fixing HDMI CEC issues can help: I rebooted my TV, cycling the power, and then set the TV’s input as the HDMI ARC input, which kickstarted the connection. This can be hard to do, as HDMI CEC (the control protocol that makes it work) is a little flaky at times. I was connected via HDMI ARC to start with, which requires the soundbar to detect the incoming signal. Once connected, Sonos then takes you through a configuration phase to get your speaker working. From start to finish, including a firmware update, my Bean (Gen 2) was installed and ready to go in a few minutes. Set-up is super-easy: just place your phone near the speaker, tap the join button, scan the NFC chip and the Beam joins your existing system. Four mid-woofers, one tweeter and three passive radiatorsĪs with more recent Sonos speakers, such as the Ikea Symfonisk Picture Frame, the Beam (Gen 2) is only compatible with Sonos S2.HDMI CEC lets you control the soundbar through the TV.This further reduces your options and rules out Dolby Atmos, so use only if you have to.įinally, there’s an Ethernet port for hooking the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) up to a wired network, although most people will find it easier to connect the soundbar to their wireless network. Should you not have eARC or ARC on your TV, then there’s an optical adaptor in the box so that you can use your TV’s optical S/PDif output instead. HDMI eARC is backwards compatible with HDMI ARC, although if your TV has this kind of output only you’ll have a more limited choice of sound formats (more of that later). Rather than the HDMI ARC input the older Beam used, this model uses HDMI eARC, which has higher bandwidth and supports lossless audio formats such as Dolby Atmos delivered over Dolby TrueHD. On top, you get the standard Sonos touch controls, which you can use to play/pause, skip tracks (in music playback) and adjust the volume.Īround the back, it’s a similar story to other Sonos soundbars, with just a single HDMI input. With this model, you can use the official Beam wall mount to put the soundbar on the wall, although it is low enough to place on a TV cabinet without blocking the view of the TV screen. At this kind of size, the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is better paired with a smaller TV, say anything up to 49-inches max go larger than this and the Sonos Arc is a more suitable companion. The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is a few millimetres wider than the original, so there’s practically no difference here, either. Again, this model is available in black or white. Not massively changing the design isn’t a huge problem: the Beam hadn’t aged much from a looks perspective, and the design still fits in Sonos’ other newer speakers. Sonos has deviated much from the original Beam’s design, with a few tweaks including a new front grille that looks similar to the one on the Arc. It’s not quite as accomplished as the Arc, but poised and well-balanced audio combined with Sonos’ multi-room expertise makes this a great add-on to smaller or secondary TV. Maintaining the original’s size (give or take), the Beam is a smaller, easier to place soundbar than its big brother, the Sonos Arc. Today, soundbars have moved on, and the expectation is 3D sound via Dolby Atmos, which is what the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is here for. Upgrade Add rear speakers or a Sonos Sub for extra bass.īack when the original Sonos Beam was launched in 2018, soundbars were largely about boosting the quality of your TV’s sound using flat stereo.Voice assistants You can add Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant to this soundbar.TruePlay Sonos TruePlay balances the sound automatically both for films and music.
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