Everyone is aware of that one one who’s manner too excited to nerd out about their dwelling theater system. The Sonos Beam 2 just isn’t for that individual.

The new Sonos is a soundbar for individuals who care about good sound however don’t really feel like doing a ton of analysis to get it. It’s for individuals who don’t thoughts if this isn’t the top of aural bliss as a result of it’s straightforward as hell to arrange and use. And that’s OK. The Beam 2 isn’t making an attempt to reinvent the wheel. Instead, it’s updating what was already a superb soundbar for the Dolby Atmos period.

Familiar Design, New Hardware

As the identify implies, the Beam 2 is an replace to the unique Beam. The Beam 2 really has the identical footprint as the unique, and visually, the principle distinction is Sonos has completed away with the unique’s cloth in favor of polycarbonate. Sonos says this was completed for sturdiness and makes the gadget simpler to scrub. Having needed to banish cat hair from one too many cloth soundbars, I agree. The contact controls are nonetheless up prime, and the rounded edges additionally haven’t gone anyplace.

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At 2.7 by 25.6 by 3.94 inches (HWD), the Beam 2 is tiny. That makes it a good selection for narrower consoles, or smaller TV units, although it really works with bigger TVs as nicely. I examined it with my 65-inch LG CX, and it didn’t look comically misplaced. The solely factor I’d be cautious of is the peak. My TV is low-profile and the Beam 2 juts out a smidge into the underside bezel. I used to be involved that’d be annoying whereas watching my exhibits, however as you’ll be able to see beneath it didn’t actually influence my view when watching The Mitchells vs. the Machines. 

But whereas it could not look all that totally different on the skin, the software program and {hardware} inside have been considerably upgraded. For starters, the Beam 2 has a shiny new processor. Sonos says that additional processing energy enabled it so as to add two speaker arrays for a complete of 5 to the unique Beam’s three. This issues as a result of it’s what permits Dolby Atmos, as the 2 new arrays are devoted to encompass sound and peak. In phrases of drivers, you will have the identical combine of 5 Class-D digital amplifiers, 4 elliptical mid-woofers, three passive radiators, one middle tweeter.

So it boils right down to Sonos’ software program. The firm has all the time prided itself on its software program, and in a briefing, Sonos stated the 2 extra arrays give the Beam 2 higher playback coordination in comparison with the unique Beam. That ought to translate to extra immersive sound, however extra on that in a bit.

Easy Breezy Setup

Soundbars aren’t laborious to arrange. It usually entails plugging the suitable cables into the suitable ports. But Sonos all the time likes to indicate off, so the Beam 2 has a barely totally different setup course of.

This time round, the Beam 2 has an NFC chip. So when you’ve discovered the place to put the soundbar, all it’s important to do is plug it into your TV’s HDMI port (eARC or ARC if you need larger high quality), plug it into an influence supply, and head to the Sonos S2 app. At this level, you’ll be prompted to hover your telephone over the world straight left to the contact controls, and you then’re completed. The course of sounds extra sophisticated than it’s—the entire thing took lower than 5 minutes.

From there, you need to use the S2 app to both group your soundbar with different Sonos audio system or join it to both Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. The latter is straightforward sufficient to do in case you already use these assistants, and it really works! But personally, I’ve one too many sensible audio system so I stored the microphone off as soon as I used to be completed testing.

If you’re an iOS consumer, you can too decide to calibrate the Beam 2 utilizing Sonos’ Trueplay characteristic. It entails strolling round your room whereas slowly waving your iPhone within the air because the soundbar performs a tone via the room. You don’t have to do that—the Beam 2 sounds nice with out Trueplay. However, I examined the Beam 2 with and with out Trueplay calibration and it makes a slight however noticeable distinction.

The straightforward setup does have its drawbacks. Mainly, in case you’re a gamer searching for a soundbar that helps 4K passthrough, sorry. As far as ports go, the Beam 2 has the naked minimal. There’s an influence button, an influence plug, one HDMI port, and an ethernet port. This isn’t a difficulty in case you simply need to maintain issues easy, however in case you’re trying to do extra or in case your TV has a restricted variety of ports, the Beam 2 isn’t your best option.

There’s additionally no Bluetooth on the Beam 2; the whole lot operates on wifi. Some of this has to do with the truth that you’ll be able to’t stream lossless audio over Bluetooth. But for everybody else, it’s one of many firm’s extra annoying quirks as a result of even with a revamp, the S2 app is clunky for music streaming. It’s not as dangerous when you’ve got an iPhone. The Beam 2 helps Airplay 2, and belief me, it’s manner simpler.

Great Immersive Sound

I’ll get straight to it. No, the Beam 2 doesn’t sound higher than a house theater setup the place you will have rears, ceiling audio system, and a subwoofer. But so far as a single soundbar goes, the Beam 2 is fairly rattling good—particularly for one thing so small.

For motion pictures and TV exhibits, the Beam 2 does an honest job of simulating a three-dimensional area. Even with out rears, it felt like I used to be listening to motion coming from proper subsequent to me. The clearest instance I can provide is the opening scene in The Midnight Sky that includes a grumpy George Clooney microwaving his tragic post-apocalyptic breakfast. When he shut the microwave door, it sounded prefer it was coming straight from my proper.

Like the Sonos Arc, nonetheless, peak is a combined bag. The opening minutes of The Midnight Sky characteristic helicopters flying overhead, however I by no means felt like they had been actually above me. Likewise, I didn’t get a superb sense of the place the evil drones had been height-wise throughout the chaotic mall scene in The Mitchells vs. the Machines. That doesn’t imply it by no means did peak nicely. I obtained a whiff of it in the identical scene when an evil merchandising machine launched a soda can towards the viewer. I observed it extra whereas watching motion sequences in blockbuster movies. While not each Tie fighter or X-Wing zooming overhead in Star Wars: The Force Awakens felt prefer it was above me, there have been a number of occasions the place I did really feel like they had been swooshing someplace above my head. It’s not excellent, however you get a style of what Dolby Atmos can do—and for many individuals, that’s adequate.

It does a superb job of making an immersive feeling with non-Atmos content material, too. Hometown Cha-cha-cha isn’t accessible in Atmos, however there’s a scene in episode 9 the place the principle characters are in a sparsely furnished room. Their voices echo as you’d count on in a big, empty area. I by no means observed that with my TV’s native audio system—despite the fact that these too are fancy audio system that additionally supposedly assist Atmos—so I used to be impressed. Regardless of style, the dialogue sounds crisp, even in probably the most hectic motion sequences or echo-y scenes like Rey and Kylo Ren’s Force Zoom classes in The Last Jedi.

Music additionally sounds nice on the Beam 2. Vocals are clear and vibrant, notably on mild acoustic songs. On bass-forward pop songs meant to be performed on the dance ground, you get a pleasant thump with out overpowering each different a part of the tune. Trebles additionally sound crisp, and the Beam 2 has no issues dealing with songs that go from quiet to loud and again to quiet (like Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”).

Should You Get the Beam 2?

The Beam 2 prices $449, which is $50 greater than the unique Beam. Even so, that is Sonos’ most inexpensive possibility for constructing out a easy dwelling theater. This is very true now that Sonos has jacked up the worth of all of its audio system. The Arc, for instance, now goes for $900. Having used each, the Beam 2 is nice sufficient for all however probably the most discerning audiophile.

The different advantage of Sonos’ system is that you would be able to construct it out step by step over time—as long as you’re okay with shelling out a lot of cash to take action. If you’re not able to decide to a subwoofer, you don’t should. If you do later down the road, you’ll be able to fork over an eye-watering $749 for the Sonos Sub. (Sonos additionally has dwelling theater bundles, that are barely cheaper.)

The Beam 2 is right for somebody who desires to dip their toes into the Sonos system or doesn’t have the area for a full dwelling theater setup. It’s additionally good for less complicated setups. Folks who care about passthrough or have quite a lot of consoles and a restricted variety of ports on their TV are additionally higher served by a soundbar with a couple of HDMI port. If the considered determining the place to put satellite tv for pc audio system horrifies quite than excites, you’re mainly the individual the Beam 2 is made for.