The consumption of multimedia content has exploded at home. The establishment of platforms such as Netflix, HBO Max or Disney + has made each time we enjoy more movies and series from the couch . A trend that has also been accentuated during the pandemic to which we began to say goodbye.
Investing in equipment that reproduces this content in good quality has therefore made more sense than in previous years. And in that equation we must not only consider the weight of a good television, which is what everyone usually pays attention to, but also a good sound.
The problem with sound-focused products is that they are usually complicated. And not only the choice of it. Correct calibration also requires a series of knowledge and intermediate steps that remove this type of simplicity that they should have.
Sonos, aware of this situation, launched in 2018 the Sonos Beam, a soundbar that combines the good work of the brand with a great design and, above all, an ease of use and installation that astonished . Its price, moreover, was correct considering the benefits of the product and the competition that we could find in the market.
That product, however, is three years old. It was officially presented in mid-2018. And, although audio products tend to have longer life cycles than other technological products, it is true that in that period of time some technologies have emerged – or have become popular – that enrich the user experience. . For this reason, Sonos has recently launched the Sonos Beam 2 , a second generation of this great product whose main novelty is the compatibility with Dolby Atmos sound that owners of the Sonos Arc already enjoyed, the brand's most advanced soundbar.
What has changed in this Sonos Beam 2?
The changes compared to the previous generation are mainly the following:
A 40% faster processor A new speaker matrix It is capable of reproducing sound in Dolby Atmos The outer part of the speaker is coated through a polycarbonate grille. It incorporates an HDMI eARC port.
What is the Sonos Beam 2 like?
The Sonos Beam 2 is moderately sized, unlike models like the Sonos Arc, which are almost twice the length. This makes it perfect to accompany medium-size televisions – for example, 50 or 55 inches – located in medium-sized or small rooms.
The new perforated polycarbonate coating facilitates cleaning while contributing to better aging . This change adds to the usual aesthetic line of the American brand, homogeneous in all its products and characterized by good taste, simplicity and, above all, attention to detail.
At the top, the Sonos Beam 2 has various elements: an LED that indicates its status, a pair of touch buttons that allow you to adjust the volume, another touch button that allows you to control the behavior of the microphone and, next to them, a set of microphones that allow you to invoke Alexa or Google Assistant – once they have been configured -.
On the back we find an HDMI connector, a power port, an ethernet connector and a button that serves to link or reset the sound bar. A set that differs from other proposals full of connectors in search of ease of installation.
In the box, Sonos includes everything you need to power this Sonos Beam 2: a power cord, an eARC-compliant HDMI, and for whoever needs it, an HDMI-to-optical cable adapter. Once out of the box, you just have to place it under your TV, connect the HDMI cable to the TV and do the same with the power cable.
To start it, it is essential to download the Sonos application , create an account if you don't have one, and follow a few simple steps. At some point it will ask you to approach the bar and, with your phone, touch the top of it, where there is an NFC chip that helps with the configuration process. The steps to follow in the app, I insist, are super simple. They don't make you dizzy with complex EQs or settings. Sonos takes care of everything.
The differences between ARC, eARC and how this influences the experience with Dolby Atmos
One of the main novelties of the Sonos Beam 2 is the inclusion of an eARC port , a more advanced version of the usual ARC connector used to connect these sound bars to televisions. The eARC port, for simplicity, has a higher bandwidth, allowing higher quality audio to be transferred to the soundbar. The problem is that not all televisions of recent years have an eARC port, especially those that are not high-end.
Does this mean that if your TV does not have an eARC port you cannot or should not use this Sonos Beam 2? Absolutely. But, to understand how this difference in ports affects you, before we must talk about how Dolby Atmos and audio signals work.
Dolby Atmos is not an audio codec per se. They are metadata that accompany a specific audio track . This track, yes, must be Dolby Digital Plus (slightly compressed) or Dolby True HD (lossless audio).
To reproduce Dolby Atmos with Dolby True HD, you absolutely need an eARC port , because, being a lossless audio track, the bandwidth required for its transfer is higher. On the other hand, to transfer Dolby Atmos through Dolby Digital Plus, all you need is an ARC port, available on many more televisions.
That is to say: to get the most out of the sound bar you will have to have a television that has an eARC port . But, if that's not your case, don't worry at all. You can also enjoy extremely good audio, with Dolby Atmos, through an ARC connector using Dolby Digital Plus.
You are probably wondering: How noticeable is the difference between Dolby Atmos through True HD and Dolby Atmos through Dolby Digital Plus? For the vast majority of ears it is almost imperceptible. And to this equation we must add another component: streaming applications, which is where we reproduce most of the content, do not transmit audio in Dolby True HD. In fact, the vast majority of the content available on these platforms is not even in Dolby Atmos.
What conclusion do we draw from all this? Easy: Unless you are an audio nerd, you should not worry at all about the difference between the ARC port and the eARC . First of all, because the difference between True HD and Digital Plus sound is negligible for most people. And, secondly, because the contents in Dolby True HD are not exactly abundant.
More things you should know about Dolby Atmos
Beyond what was mentioned about the ARC and eARC port, you must take into account other things about the Dolby Atmos sound of this Sonos Beam 2 . These are details that do not depend on Sonos itself, but on the protocols and products that accompany this soundbar.
The source from which the content is reproduced – be it a TV, an Apple TV 4K or another product – must support, at a minimum, working with Dolby Digital Plus audio. Many products are, even in cheap price ranges. It is advisable to activate the passthrough mode on your TV, which avoids any possible recoding in the process of transferring the audio to the soundbar. Not all content is in Dolby Atmos. In fact, the proportion is quite low on streaming platforms such as Netflix or Disney +. On many occasions, those that are qualified as Dolby Atmos, actually only enjoy this sound if you play them in their original version. If you enable dubbing, it often switches to non-Dolby Atmos sound. To find out if the Sonos Beam 2 is receiving audio in Dolby Atmos or another format, simply access the Sonos app and enter the playback controls. There you can see if it is Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital 5.1 or any other type of sound.
How does the Sonos Beam 2 perform?
In a word: excellent. The Sonos Beam 2's speaker array, working in conjunction with the new processor, delivers incredibly good sound considering both the product range and its size. The audio is super well balanced throughout and when playing well produced Dolby Atmos content the immersive experience is quite good despite not having upward pointing speakers (used to recreate the characteristic altitude of Atmos) .
To refine the settings, Sonos incorporates in its application a function called “TruePlay” that adapts the behavior of the bar to the acoustics of the room in which it is located. The process is super simple: you just have to walk through it with the phone in hand for a few seconds. With that information, the bar will automatically determine how to adapt to the space it is in. The only “but” about this TruePlay system is that it only works with certain phones. For example: with an iPhone 13 it was impossible for me to configure it, but with an iPhone XR I had no problem.
The bar, by the way, has two interesting options that modify the sound in certain situations . One of them, easily activated from the application, reduces the intensity of the loudest sounds, which is super practical to watch content at night without disturbing the neighbors. The other, for its part, increases the clarity of the voices.
The Sonos Beam 2, let's remember, is not just a soundbar . It can also be used to play music, either through AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect or the company's application. And the experience is also excellent.
By the way: this Sonos Beam 2 is not capable of playing Dolby Atmos audio from platforms like Amazon Music . But luckily that's something the company is working on, so it will come hand in hand with a future software update. And yes, the Sonos Beam 2, unlike other bars, is connected to the internet and receives software updates.
And, finally, you should know that you can link this bar with other Sonos products or those compatible with AirPlay to work together or configure voice assistants such as Google Assistant or Alexa, which are available even if the TV is turned off.
Is this Sonos Beam 2 worth buying?
Undoubtedly. As a sound bar, it is an excellent product that also allows you to enjoy Dolby Atmos without complicated or excessively expensive setups. But the thing does not stop there: the Sonos Beam 2 is also an excellent speaker for playing music that is also compatible with voice assistants such as Alexa or Google Assistant. Therefore, if you are interested in such a product, do not hesitate: the Sonos Beam 2 is probably your best option.
