The second generation of Sonos’ soundbar boasts perfectly channeled audio with home sharing capabilities all the while maintaining a small, compact footprint.

Bringing the expertly crafted audio engineering that Sonos are known for, they have moved on the first gen soundbar (released in 2018) and produced what can only be described as a one-stop audio solution for a small to mid sized room.

First thing you’re likely to notice when you unpack one of these small beasts is that there is no remote.

You don’t need one.

All control is either the touch buttons on the soundbar or via the free smartphone app, including setup.

And a seamless setup it is. From integrating in to your home network, through to adding to your tele via HDMI (use the ARC / eARC port if your TV has one) through to adding your favoured smart assistant. It just works.

Literally in a few clicks throughout the process – you’re up and running.

The idea of soundbars in general is to replace the sometimes questionable audio from your TV speakers.

The Sonos Beam Gen 2 most definitely adds superior quality to your streaming binges – but the Beam Gen 2 also comes with a built-in DLNA application, effectively being a home sharing server for your media.

Connect up other smartdevices to your Sonos Beam Gen 2 and stream to and from the soundbar.

If you’re an Apple user you’re really in luck. Using Apple AirPlay 2 you can stream any AirPlay compatible media from your iOS device over to the Beam Gen 2.

Sonos have Sonos Radio within their phone app. Within this are differing genres and playlists. Add or create your favs and play… or ‘beam’ across your home (hence the name of the device).

Using your preferred smart assistant (I used Alexa) is an additional means of controlling the Sonos Beam Gen 2.

While you’re not going to rattle the fine china in your neighbour’s kitchen with rumbly bass – the clarity and detail to the audio that you will experience is second to none.

This said, the Beam Gen 2 does have HD Audio with Dolby Atmos.

The Sonos Beam Gen 2 is not designed to replace a full cinema setup but is excellent for use with smaller TV’s or smaller settings, such as bedrooms, studies and gaming dens.

Beam via voice, touch or smartdevice and experience optimal HD audio from the professionals – Sonos.

The post Sonos Beam Gen 2 Soundbar Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Sonos has today announced Beam (Gen 2), a new version of its industry-leading compact smart soundbar for TV, music, gaming and more.

The new Beam delivers an upgraded, more immersive sound experience with greater depth and clarity, as well as support for Dolby Atmos.

Sonos also revealed plans to offer both Ultra HD and Dolby Atmos Music later this year via Amazon Music, giving listeners the ability to experience the highest quality streaming music and immersive 3D audio.

“We often talk about ‘Hollywood at Home’ being a real catalyst for our business, and Beam has played a huge part in this as one of the top-selling soundbars in its category”, said Patrick Spence, Sonos CEO. “Taking what we’ve learned over the years about great listening and home theatre, we’ve found a way to bring new features and significantly better sound to Beam, all in the same compact size that has proven extremely popular with customers.”

Enjoy panoramic sound on the latest generation of Beam, now with support for Dolby Atmos, just in time for Australia’s footy finals and new year movie releases, the new Beam is upgrading the home cinema experience.

Compatible with more than 100 streaming services available in the Sonos app, fans can expect exciting improvements across sound, design and packaging, including:

● 3D Audio with Dolby Atmos: Immersive sound technology that places you in the centre of the action, whether it’s experiencing planes as if they were flying overhead, hearing footsteps moving across the room or feeling the score all around you.

● Enhanced Sound, Same Size: With more processing power and newly developed phased speaker arrays, Beam steers and localises sound around the room for a lifelike experience. The speaker is also now compatible with HDMI eARC on your TV, so you can experience your favourite movies and games in even higher definition sound with support for new audio formats.

● Sleeker Design: An updated polycarbonate grille that’s precisely perforated allows the speaker to sound great  and blend seamlessly into your home, just like Sonos Arc.

● Easy, More Secure Set-Up: With just two cables and new NFC capabilities, setup is seamless and will have you listening in minutes. Simply open the Sonos app, follow a few prompts and tap your phone to Beam.

● Sustainable Sound: The new Beam features sustainable packaging, including a premium uncoated kraft paper, a gift box made of 97% sustainable paper and no single-use foam.

Like all Sonos products, the new Beam was tuned with the input of the Sonos Soundboard – a collection of leaders across music, film and more – to deliver the best and most authentic sound experience. You can also fine tune Beam’s sound with Trueplay, which detects and adapts the speaker’s sound for reflections off of walls and furniture, giving you the best listening experience for your room and setup.

Place Beam in front of a standing TV, or easily mount to the wall with the existing Sonos Wall Mount for Beam. Beam can be controlled with the Sonos app, your existing TV remote, multiple voice assistants, Apple AirPlay 2, music service apps and more. Listeners can use Beam on its own or expand wirelessly with a subwoofer and pair of rear speakers for even more immersive entertainment.

Launching later this year in select markets, Sonos plans to support Amazon Music’s Ultra High Definition audio, which will allow listeners to hear tracks in lossless audio up to 24-bit / 48kHz on their Sonos speakers, as well as Dolby Atmos Music, an immersive audio format that breaks the boundaries of traditional studio recordings and puts you inside the song, revealing every detail of the music.

Available at no extra cost to Amazon Music Unlimited customers, Ultra HD will be available to listen on all S2 devices, except Play:1, Play:3, Playbase and Playbar, while Dolby Atmos Music will be available to listen on Arc and Beam (Gen 2). Sonos also announced plans to add support for decoding DTS Digital Surround

Sound later this year via the S2 platform on Playbar, Playbase, Amp, both generations of Beam and Arc. Beam (Gen 2) will be available starting 6th October 2021.

The post Sonos Unveils Next Generation Beam appeared first on Shane the Gamer.