Sonos has added another product to its smart speaker lineup. Called the Beam, it is an offspring of the company's Playbase and the One speakers.
The audio manufacturer unveiled the Beam at an event in San Francisco, California Wednesday, June 6.
Billed as the "world's most versatile smart speaker for both TV and Music," the Sonos Beam is designed for the living room.
The Sonos Beam Comes With Alexa Integration
Similar to the Sonos One, the Beam comes with Alexa voice control and the company promises Google Assistant integration later this year.
Thanks to a built-in five far-field microphone setup, the speaker can be used not only to do the usual smart speaker things such as playing music or answering questions but also to command Alexa to switch the TV on/off or adjust the volume.
Sonos claims the device can also control Alexa-enabled video-streaming devices such as Amazon's Fire TV. For instance, users will be able to tell the Beam to find horror movies on Amazon Prime Video.
Sonos Speakers To Get AirPlay 2 Support In July
In July, Users will get Apple's recently released AirPlay 2 support on their Sonos speakers, including the new Sonos Beam, Sonos One, Playbase, and the second generation Play: 5 speakers via a software update. This will allow users to send audio directly from their Apple devices to the Sonos Speakers.
Apple users will also be able to enjoy support for Siri. Users can ask the virtual assistant to play any track, album, or playlist via Apple Music from their iOS devices and stream it on the Sonos speakers with AirPlay 2 support.
HDMI Port, Other Connectivity Options
The Sonos Beam also takes care of one of the biggest issues consumers had with the Playbar and Playbase speakers: no HDMI connectivity. It appears that the company has finally paid heed to its customers and equipped the Beam with an HDMI port to easily connect the speaker with the TV.
This is in line with Sonos's FCC filing in April, which revealed that the company plans to release a home theater speaker with an HDMI port.
Other connectivity options include an Ethernet socket and built-in dual-band Wi-Fi. It's no surprise that there's no Bluetooth feature, given that Sonos operates firmly in network-based audio when it comes to music streaming.
Pricing, Design, And Availability
Sonos has already started taking preorders for the Beam before it arrives in stores on July 17. The smart soundbar is priced at $399, which is considerably cheaper than the $699 Playbar speakers.
At 25.6 inches long, it is smaller in size when compared to the Playbar's 35.4 inches and the Playbase's 28.3 inches
The speaker has a fabric exterior with a matte finish, a touch-control top, and is available in two color options: black and white.
