Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Sonos Beam Compact Smart Soundbar with Alexa built-in in White

There are 0 reviews and 0 ratings from the United States

James R

Amazing sound, really transforms the TV watching experience

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 25, 2019

The look of the Sonos Beam is quite unassuming, just a reasonably sized, clean looking soundbar. A few touch controls and a couple of LEDs on the top and a handful of ports on the back. It's simple to set up, like all Sonos products and now works with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

When configured to use Alexa, it couldn't identify the TV and therefore couldn't switch it on or off, but it works fine (for us) with Google Assistant. I suspect this is a minor bug and probably won't happen to others. The far field microphone array works perfectly and I can select music to play with ease by talking to either of the available assistants. Unfortunately, it doesn't support two assistants simultaneously, but it is easy to switch between the two via the Sonos app, which is very good.

The sound quality is awesome. It makes such a difference when watching something with background noise or music. The clarity also makes it ideal for a great sporting experience; in a cricket match you'll hear every nick. It is incredible how much of a difference it makes. It feels much less like the sound is just coming from a single point in the room, and adding a pair of rear speakers will of course improve this even more. I sometimes find it off-putting, I just don't expect the TV to sound so good. Until you try something like this, you don't know what you're missing!

Having tried Trueplay with a Play 1 in the past, I wasn't expecting a great difference. Could I be more wrong? A couple of minutes waving an iPad round the room with the Beam making some slightly odd noises and my viewing experience was transformed even further. The difference is staggering! Make sure you use it (you may need to ask a friend around as it's only supported by iOS devices (iPhones and iPads)), it really is so worthwhile.

Whilst it is designed for TV audio, it is perfectly at home playing your favourite music. I really cannot fault the sound; it is awesome. When Sonos say it is for "small to medium rooms", I'm sure it is perfectly adequate for any rooms that aren't considered huge. I've never felt the need to push the volume much beyond halfway, and the room ours is in is a good 5x8m. If you really want loud sound, maybe a playbase or playbar would be better, but this is truly awesome for the price. I really can't see what benefit apart from better bass at louder volumes those products could bring that are worth paying nearly double the price for.

One person found this helpful

Kara-Anne Cheng

Love the upgrade

Reviewed in Singapore on June 26, 2020

Verified Purchase

I've been surviving on my TV's speakers for a while since my problematic Pioneer's gave out a few months ago. Couldn't decide on a new one, was so close to getting a Samsung Q60R when it was on flash sale on Shopee for $449. Just couldn't bring myself to spending so much on a soundbar.

But I have a Sonos One for more than a year now and enjoyed it, so I thought the Beam would be a perfect fit for my small living room. Honestly, we couldn't be happier! Grabbed it at a sale price of $599, which is still pricey but honestly, after trueplay, we tried out various Dolby tester sounds and watched Spiderman on Netflix. For such a small speaker, it made truly decent bass and sounds. Even sounded decent for music, and we had to tone it down to not affect our neighbours at night. Would I love to have a sub? Sure. But it sounded better than my $500 Pioneer set with a sub.

I think the small living room works with it, but we're really happy. Setup was a breeze, took me no more than 10 minutes, and that's considering I had to hide cables and stuff. Overall, love it and would probably buy again. Though the fabric cover isn't my favourite because I'm terrified of getting it dirty, but I lint roll it every week.

Super fast delivery from Amazon as well, and on time and flawless. Thank you!

3 people found this helpful

DNS13

Great addition to the TV

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 2, 2024

Verified Purchase

As usual, the Sonos Beam did not disappoint. Great sound quality, especially after the true tuning it to the room. Does improve the sound quality dramatically compared to the TV audio. One thing to note when using HDMI arc with certain Samsung TVs, there seems to be a slight issue with the status light on the TV flashing due to the Sonos beam connection. I haven't had any further issues with this, but just thought I would leave this here.

All in all, a great addition to the bedroom TV and the Sonos system.

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Brilliant!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 22, 2019

Verified Purchase

Ok, so I'm a Sonos convert, so bear that in mind when reading this. I recently bought a projector for the bedroom and chose the beam to compliment it sound wise. The result is extremely good to my admittedly slightly battered hearing.

This fills a room of 8 feet by 16, and probably would a bigger one still. I've paired with play:1s for a superb surround sound. Really wide sound if that makes sense, and clarity of individual sounds like musical instruments.

Setup is easy via the Android App, and if you have an ARC out put from your tv/projector it will control the volume. You can also control volume by voice using Google or Alexa.

Using this with Google assistant enabled. Not experimented much yet. But works well for "play (insert obscure song name here) in bedroom". One bonus is that this type of command works equally well for other Sonos devices in other parts of the house. So basically having one assistant enabled device makes all Sonos devices enabled too. The microphones are very powerful so in a bungalow the beam will respond to commands "ok Google" from another room down the end of a corridor. Love it!

As most modern Sonos devices, this feels solid and very well made. I can really recommend this.

Cons: no line in or out for 3.5 jack, no physical remote control perhaps. However that's the Sonos ethos, so may not be of concern to you.

One person found this helpful

Adriel

Great sound for the living room

Reviewed in Singapore on December 28, 2019

Verified Purchase

Bought this for the living room and have been very happy with how it sounds. I have been using it for music and occasionally for watching movies on my TV. The bass from this is great considering that it does not have a real sub woofer, you can still feel the oomph. For movies, there is a definite improvement over the TV speakers and there is some spaciousness to the sound. Really happy overall

One person found this helpful

Mr. K. Evans

Wow, just WOW!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 23, 2019

Verified Purchase

I recently upgraded my TV to 4k Samsung QLED and also decided to upgrade my soundbar (Samsung HW-K450 which included a sub woofer) as I felt my new TV needed better sound to compliment it . After reading many reviews I opted for the Sonos Beam and I'm so glad I did. Once I'd completed the initial setup, which was very simple to do, and adjusted the sound via the Sonos App, I was blown away by the overall sound quality. It's so good it has literally transformed my listening experience. The look, feel and design of the speaker is also top notch and looks amazing in front of my TV. I'm now a Sonos convert and plan to add a Sonos Sub in the near future.

Edit: I just had to purchase the Sonos Sub to go with my Beam as I was intrigued to see (hear) how much the sound would improve over the Beam alone. Well, I’m happy to report that together they sound PHENOMENAL! Granted, it’s a pricey bit of kit but with the Sub added, the overall improvement in sound quality you get is well worth the investment.

12 people found this helpful

Yong Kwang Yeow

Happy with purchase

Reviewed in Singapore on May 11, 2020

Verified Purchase

nice addition to my living room - help project the audio from my digital tv. great for movies ... as advertised. Now to consider to add the bass from Sonos ...

2 people found this helpful

An Amazon Customer

Sonos sounds good

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 23, 2019

Verified Purchase

My old Panasonic 5.1 surround sound system never really blew me away and its connectivity is very outdated now (scarts etc) so I thought it was time for a new bit of kit. I wanted a simple, clean looking solution and in my living room I'm prepared to sacrifice a bit of sound quality for something minimalist, as 5 speakers and a sub woofer in a small space can be a bit of overkill. After reading a few reviews (mostly 5 star) I went for the Sonos Beam. I am entering the 21st Century!

First impressions, it sounds clear, solid and it has enough bass for my living room without being 'thumpy', although I realise people often judge these things on how much thud they can give out, whether it is realistic or not (car stereos being a prime example...). You won't rattle windows with the Beam, but that isn't always a bad thing. I like the fact that you don't need yet another remote to use it, but changing from one source to another eg. internet radio to tv takes a bit of getting used to. Alexa is fine with 'Play Radio 2', but 'Play sound from tv' doesn't work for some reason.

Something like a soundbar is never going to give the separation of a couple of speakers ten feet apart, but many reviews suggest it actually spreads the sound out quite far either side, but so far I have not found this the case, in fact its not much better than mono to my ears. I'm planning on splashing out on a couple of Sonos Ones as rear speakers and hopefully this will help to spread out the sound a bit more.

Is the Beam worth over £300? Its a box with some fairly decent electronics and a few small loudspeakers, so probably not really, but it is a great improvement on tv speakers and your tv and music will sound pretty good through it, also Alexa is a great novelty!

Update. I did buy some Sonos One Sl's as rear surrounds. Despite a bit of hassle setting them up (tv needed a reboot and Alexa disappeared which was a pain to find the cause but easy to fix in the end) - it should have been a doodle according to the hype! Nevertheless the Sonos Ones have made a massive difference. Surround sound is amazing and far better than my old Panasonic system which was always very weak from the rear surrounds no matter how I set up the balance. Brilliant surround with 5.1 sources, (can't see how Dolby Atmos or DTS could be any improvement), I love it. I'm not planning to buy the £700 Sonos sub as there is enough bass for my needs. And I am using Alexa so much, setting timers, asking for news and weather, playing all sorts of different music and radio channels, and how often do I ask Alexa 'how old is so-and-so' when watching a movie? Every 5 minutes!

Overall, Sonos is a nice sounding system which will look a million times better in a modern living room than a cluttered av amp, cables and boxy speakers. Easy to use once set up and no need for extra remotes. But don't believe the hype, its not the best sounding thing since sliced bread. The depth, clarity, control and separation of a good hifi blows Sonos out of the water, and soundbars especially will always have limitations, but their convenience factor usually outweighs that.

Unfortunately have made a big PR mistake recently in putting out a statement that they will no longer support older devices with updates. I expect the massive backlash will have greatly hurt sales, but I am not too worried, as long as the speakers still work as speakers then it may not be a big issue, and in 10 or 15 years it may be time for a new system anyway. Although as a daily user of a hifi system purchased in 1980 I am not totally convinced!

4 people found this helpful

Adrian Wong

Plug and play sound solution for your TV

Reviewed in Singapore on December 22, 2019

Verified Purchase

Great sounding unit that works perfectly with my existing Play:1s for surround sound. Works seamlessly and perfectly with Netflix through HDMI arc.

bocalimones

Great sound, great looking and with Alexa

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 8, 2019

Verified Purchase

This sound bar is great looking, easy to set up and great sounding. It connects though a single hdmi cable to the tv (and Wi-fi for general Sonos use) and providing your TV supports hdmi arc just works. Most TVs bought after 2016 support this and many before - just check on the internet or behind the TV to see if it says ARC. I paired this simply with a couple of play speakers which I already had with a pair of flexson stands, and after a day of great audio took the plunge and went for the Sub too to get the whole package. The Sonos app makes it simple and all the levels are automatically optimised by the TruPlay built into the app. Great TV sound, I can now stream Netflix in Dolby digital, and I get to use it for music with Spotify too. It also has Alexa built in which I use for controlling my thermostat and lights. Wouldn’t hesitate to buy again.

One person found this helpful

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