Review | Sonos Beam 2: A soundbar thats a winning bet, no matter the context
Santiago, April 2024. In the age of home theater, where televisions have been thinned down to look like high-definition canvases hanging on our walls, one critical element of the audiovisual experience has been relegated: sound. Thatâs why soundbars have become more popular, even over classic portable speakers, because they deliver the depth and richness of audio that ends up being the final link to total immersion.
Today weâre looking at the product of one of the best-positioned high-end audio brands: the Sonos Beam 2 (or generation 2, or G2, depending on how you want to call it). Does it fulfill its place? Weâll take a look at that below.
Going to the technical aspects, we can mention that the bar is about 65 centimeters long and 7 centimeters high. Nothing too out of the ordinary, so it allows almost any rack or seat to be compatible. Its appearance is sober and minimalist, available in two colors: black and white. And in terms of construction, from the packaging to its appearance from far and near, it is always giving the impression that you are looking at a high-end product.
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Inside, the Beam Gen2 features five Class-D digital speakers, a center tweeter to respond to high frequencies, four elliptical woofers to maximize mid and bass frequencies, three passive radiators to further boost bass, and a long-range microphone array for voice functions. On top of all this, itâs integrated with the virtual surround sound experience of Dolby Atmos.
And we could go on and on with the technical details, but the important thing is to settle how those specs on paper play out in reality. Luckily, you could say that the experience goes beyond that.
First, the obvious: installing a soundbar on a TV makes a difference right away. In a matter of seconds, that flat, latent sound becomes a resonance that dresses the space. But what makes a soundbar a good soundbar?
Having had experience with other integrated sound systems on TVs, the highlight in the case of the Sonos Beam G2, at least in our experience, was the vocals. Yes, it doesnât seem like the essential thing when it comes to a sound device, as they all focus on bass and high frequencies, but something especially enjoyable about the Beam was the dialogues of the characters when watching series and movies. They were clear, with a natural projection, and within the surround sound, it felt like they were âcoming from where they were meant to come from.â
Generally speaking, the sound is balanced. It offers appreciable bass, but it doesnât go over the top like other products where the bass ends up messing up the sound. Correspondence is also appreciated when a scene forces you to go to a higher spectrum. For example, when in a movie you go from a scene of tranquility to gunshots, or explosions, or crashes. In a direct-to-TV sound system, or with low-end equipment, that change becomes annoying, like a squeal straight in the ear. Not here, itâs a forceful but measured sound.
For large rooms, the manufacturer recommends the ARC soundbar, although the Beam G2 is quite solvent for medium and small rooms (it was tested in a 2.5Ă6 meter room), even without the need to add a subwoofer. Luckily, the Sonos ecosystem is committed to component scalability, so itâs very easy to complete the audio system by connecting the subwoofer and two independent speakers.
Either way, the Sonos Beam performs with dignity on its own. In that vein, playing content compatible with Dolby Atmos is a total enjoyment. Advanced spatial audio processing creates phantom height channels so that content envelops the listener in a multi-dimensional sonic space. Physically, itâs hard to explain how it happens, beyond the fact that the internal speakers point in different directions, but itâs a fact, itâs noticeable.
Hence, the app, Sonosâ mobile add-on, offers features that are appreciated a lot, such as configuring the Sonos Beam G2 according to the space in which it is installed, or two special modes (Night Sound and Voice Enhancement), which favor soft sounds and nuance loud sound effects, and also calibrate the sound to give more relevance to dialogue.
Installing the device for the first time is simple, after installing the app on your phone, which also allows you to control it from your cell phone and adjust the equalizer as well.
In its upper casing, the soundbar has a touchpad that allows you to manipulate the volume, stop songs or enable the microphone for voice commands. Its touch sensitivity is very good and it helps a lot when using the speaker to listen to music, whether on Spotify or another app.
Finally, it should be noted that Sonosâ big bet is on linking with high-speed Wi-Fi protocols, and not Bluetooth. It seems like a minor detail, but when it comes to daily use it is noticeable. For many, it will be common to connect to a speaker and go with the emitting cell phone to another place in the house, which ends up causing interference in the signal, cuts off sounds or outright interruptions. This is not the case: regardless of where you have the cell phone that controls the bar, the sound will always be heard in a stable way and in high quality.
Not much else to say about the soundbar. At the brandâs official distributors, such as AudioMĂșsica and EBest, the Beam G2 is around $650,000. It is a considerable amount for any pocket, yes, but understanding the general panorama of audio devices and that there are many people willing to invest in a good high-end sound system, for the price it rises, perhaps, as the most solvent sound bar at that price. Recommending it is easy, because it involves betting on a âwinning horseâ, no matter the context.