Despite being £300 cheaper than Sonos’s other TV audio solutions, the Beam is expensive for just a soundbar. The thing is, it isn’t just a soundbar. It’s one of the most compact and aesthetically pleasing soundbars that still has full-range sound without needing a sub.

compact and attractive; great; room-filling sound whether TV or music; easy set up; Alexa; easy to add to with more speakers

relatively expensive; no room-shaking bass; takes up a port on your TV; no HDMI pass-through; no support for Dolby Atmos

If you don’t care to have Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri functioning in any way, then pay more for the Playbase or Playbar, or consider something comparable from another vendor.

Smaller form factor; Great sound; Alexa plus Google Assistant and AirPlay 2 coming

More bass would’ve been nice; No Dolby Atmos support; Still pricey

Sonos’ home cinema gear has always been a little expensive, but with Beam, it’s created a great value soundbar. It sounds ace, comes with loads of features, and is compact enough to fit into the average living room AV setup without taking over. If you want the best sounding system then Playbar or Playbase are still the products to go for, but they’re a lot more money, they don’t have Alexa, and they don’t control your TV in the same slick way as Beam does. As it stands, Sonos Beam is easy to recommend for anyone who loves watching TV, and a high-value intro to the brilliant world of Sonos home audio. READ MORE: Which Sonos should you buy?

Looks good and sounds great; Alexa and AirPlay 2 integration; HDMI ARC support; Cheaper than Playbar and Playbase;

Not as punchy as Playbar; Only one ethernet port; Not all Alexa skills work;

Looks good and sounds great; Alexa and AirPlay 2 integration; HDMI ARC support; Cheaper than Playbar and Playbase;

Not as punchy as Playbar; Only one ethernet port; Not all Alexa skills work;

Exactly what it says it'll do

Great upgrade for TV sound; Alexa works well; Simple to set up and use

Google Assistant support turning into a shadowy promise; made in whispers; Average music sound quality; Upgrading to full home theater system is very expensive

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

If you want lots of rumble for a little more money, and don't mind losing the voice assistant, the JBL Bar 3.1 includes a subwoofer and can put out even bigger sound thanks to its bigger size.

Powerful sound for its size; Built-in Amazon Alexa voice assistant; Easily expanded with additional Sonos speakers

No Bluetooth; Optional subwoofer is expensive

The Sonos One was one of the first third-party smart speakers to support Amazon's Alexa voice assistant, letting you treat it like a bigger, better-sounding Echo. The $399 Sonos Beam takes that voice assistant experience and puts it in front of your TV. This small soundbar offers hands-free Alexa, can play audio from your TV or wirelessly stream from the 50 different services Sonos supports, and gets surprisingly loud for its size. It's an ideal one-piece sound system for anyone looking to add audio power and a voice assistant to their living room without dealing with lots of different devices at once, earning it our Editors' Choice. A Small, Streamlined Soundbar The Sonos Beam is downright puny compared with the company's previous home theater speaker systems like the Playbar and the Playbase. It's a 2.7-by-25.7-by-4.0-inch (HWD) bar that combines stark right angles and flat surfaces for the front, back, and top with semicircular curves on the left and right sides. It's available...

The Sonos Beam packs multi-room, multi-service audio streaming and Amazon's Alexa voice assistant into a deceptively small soundbar.

Powerful sound for its size; Built-in Amazon Alexa voice assistant; Easily expanded with additional Sonos speakers

No Bluetooth; Optional subwoofer is expensive

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

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