Verdict The Sonos Playbar and Playbase have always been the number 1 choice for home cinema offering an unbeatable combination of sound quality, usability and features. This is especially true when you turn up the volume higher. The bass, in particular, is likely to surprise you the first time you hear it. Design The design of each of these products is the most obvious differentiating factor. The Playbase has mixed reviews when it comes to customer satisfaction. Combined with the fact that the Beam is the newest, state of the art, and most feature-packed offering of the three Sonos Soundbars, the Sonos Beam becomes instantly attractive. Every speaker benefits from an ethernet port for an optional hardwired option, plus a power cove for mains power.
If you're in it for premium sound in your home theater setup, you'll probably want the Playbar. This is especially useful for Playbase owners, as it offers a small element of voice control. We even put the Sonos Sub under the sofa as an experiment, which yielded a powerful result. But of course, the truth is more complicated. But for films, the Beam is without a doubt the more spectacular choice.
Sonos Beam vs Sonos Playbar Sound Quality Both the and have amazing sound quality, and at low normal and high volumes they both preform great. Sound Quality - Beam Now for the exciting bit - how do they sound? We hope that Sonos will soon support Google Assistant, although in the short term this will only be handy in the Netherlands. The Playbar is meant to serve as the pretty-damn-good beginning of a full-on home theater sound system. The setting will keep dialog at a consistent level and reduce the volume of loud sound effects. However, the £699 price tag on both of these products was the primary barrier to purchase. The best option for setting up the Sonos Playbar is to wall-mount the soundbar several inches below the television.
Introduction Sonos Beam We have extensively tested the Sonos Beam in a shortly after the release of the compact soundbar. My personal preference is the. The Sonos Beam, on the other hand, strives for a more compact take on the soundbar formula, at only 25 inches wide, and with only five drivers and amps. The beam is packed full of features, and small enough to fit somewhere into every setup. Just like all the other Alexa devices the the also has an Alexa mute button if you need to turn off the voice services for any reason.
We also expect Sonos to have this planned. We've , but here we are focusing on the two Sonos sound bars. Winner: Sonos Beam Sound You already know that the Sonos Playbar is bigger, and has more drivers than the Sonos Beam, but what does that actually mean in terms of sound? Sonos App Support Another great feature with all Sonos speakers is access to the award-winning Sonos app. And finally, the will offer great sound, plenty of features, and an integrated subwoofer. However, there are added costs that can come with the additional bundles and accessories, and depending on your needs, the cheapest option may become just as expensive. It is several years older, resulting in a more dated design. .
Exactly the same speakers and subwoofer we normally use with the Playbar. Many buyers will also wonder how the small Beam is doing compared to the more expensive but now older Playbar soundbar. But you can also extend it with a Sub and rear speakers to build a surround setup. Both speakers can also be combined with a and two of the same Sonos speakers, such as two Sonos One or a Sonos One and , Play:1, Play:3 or speakers for a 5:1 surround sound setup. Each soundbar has its own unique design, and therefore its own unique traits. Or put differently: the Beam with Sub is superior to the lonely Playbar, but the Playbar with Sub is still slightly better than the Beam with Sub. I personally ended up sticking with the because I liked the form factor and it had Alexa built in.
Sonos Speakers are incredibly powerful and can fill a music with room. However, the total price of a Beam, Sub and two is quite high: around 1,600 euros. Sonos states that by stating that the Beam is intended for people who mainly watch via streaming services — and they mainly offer Dolby Digital 5. The sleek and minimalist design is going to work great if you need your soundbar to sit in front of your tv, and the small form factor will most likely never interrupt your infrared signal. And it will get smarter over time, not more dated.
On the rear, in the centre, there are two Ethernet ports, optical audio, and a power supply port. As you can see, the Sonos Playbar packs in far more audio hardware than the Sonos Beam. Now the Beam has entered the market at almost half the price, with today's most wanted features like voice control and Airplay 2, it makes it an irresistible package. Other than that, Sonos Beam and Sonos Playbar offer the same features. The Playbar is a full-fledged home theater soundbar. While the Playbar does lack Airplay 2 support, it will fill a larger room better than the Beam with deeper bass and wider soundstage. Via the app the subwoofer which is quieter tuning is almost always necessary.