If you’ve been tempted to get into Sonos, but weren’t sure where to start, the Beam is for you. Not only is it a relatively affordable, solid speaker in its own right, it is a capable soundbar and Alexa assistant rolled into one.

Excellent overall sound; HDMI port for TV control; AirPlay 2 support; Reasonably priced

Sound is less impactful in bigger rooms; No support for other smart assistants (yet); No auxiliary input

“The Beam is a home theater sound bar for the smart home era -- at a price that won’t break the bank.”

Great sound; Elegant; simple design; Reasonably priced; TV voice control with Alexa on-board; AirPlay 2; Google Assistant coming

Still no HDMI pass-through; No Dolby Atmos support

Sonos recently announced a new soundbar they call the Sonos Beam . I’ve had some time to test it and simply to use it, and the Beam might be the most impressive speaker I’ve tested from Sonos yet, especially considering its US$399 price tag .

Easy setup; great, full sound; lower cost-of-entry than other Sonos home theater speakers; better sound and more flexible than Apple’s HomePod.

Only works with other Sonos speakers for surround sound and subwoofer; With a $699 Sonos SUB as the only subwoofer option, that’s a pricey step.

Sonos’ compact, Alexa-enabled soundbar offers impressive performance for the price. All in all, a smart value.

Affordable price; Alexa voice control; Links with other Sonos speakers

More optimized for TV sound than music; Requires HDMI ARC for voice control of TV

The Sonos Beam is a compact soundbar with expandability that makes it a perfect companion for Apple users. AirPlay 2, Apple Music, and a big bag of tricks make this great sounding speaker a must-have.

Sonos’ vision of entertainment has always been more open house than invite-only, and with Amazon Alexa, Apple AirPlay 2, and the Google Assistant on the horizon, the new Sonos Beam epitomizes that ethos more than ever.

Sounds great in a small to mid-sized room; Assistant-agnostic approach is admirable; Affordable; Does a good job of handling multiple services

Very expensive in a 5.1 surround configuration; Takes up an HDMI port; Not every assistant works in the same way

Sonos has always gone its own way. The speaker manufacturer dedicated itself to network-connected speakers before there were home networks and they sold a tablet-like remote control before there were tablets. Their surround sound systems install quickly and run seamlessly.

I’m usually not a fan of soundbars because of their limited audio quality, but Sonos has been putting out some decent ones like the Sonos Beam that was first out in Singapore back in July.

It combines a smart speaker with TV control, plus the terrific multiroom sound that Sonos is revered for.

The feature-packed Sonos Beam delivers very good sound for a small soundbar, and comes with Alexa voice controls.

Easy set up; Alexa inside; Wide soundstage

Bass lacks detail; No Bluetooth audio