Sonos Beam

£449 FROM Sonos, sonos.com

5 The Sonos Beam Gen 2 is a more entrylevel soundbar than the company’s Arc model but has a solid feature set and an excellent sound from its five-speaker array. Setup is via the slick Sonos app for iOS or Android and you can also use this to manage the built-in Alexa and Google Assistant features. On first run, you’re prompted to run the Trueplay setup that uses your phone to optimise playback for your space.

Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and HDMI eARC are available for connectivity and while it doesn’t have as many physical ports as some of the larger units on test, this should still be adequate for most of us. Sonically it performed very well both with movies and music, providing a surprisingly solid bass end even without a subwoofer. Dolby Atmos is supported, with the unit using DSP to simulate surround sound. Sending music to the bar via AirPlay 2 showed it to be a capable performer in that regard too.

VERDICT

Deep and rich soundstage Slick setup via app Good bang for your buck Slight high-end brightness