Gadget

Sonos has ruled the multi-room audio space for years – but it’s facing a threat from so-called smart speakers like the Amazon Echo.

Rather than come up with its own digital assistant and shoehorn it into the market, Sonos has opened up its new soundbar to incorporate Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri.

Set to hit stores on July 17, the Beam is a more affordable alternative to the Playbase. It measures 651mm long, 100mm deep and 68.5mm wide. The speakers include a tweeter, four elliptical fullrange woofers and three passive radiators.

I was pretty blown away by the switch from my TV’s treble-heavy built-in speakers to the throaty resonance that came from the Beam. The roundness of the output belies the Beam’s smaller dimensions.