I don’t know if this was the thinking at Sonos when it decided to replace the first-gen Beam’s fabric grille with a perforated plastic version, but I’m a fan. But as the owner of two cats, I can attest to the fact that fabric grilles tend to be dust and fur magnets that require pretty constant cleaning. I like the traditional look of fabric grilles on a speaker. Great grille Simon Cohen / Digital Trends ![]() Inside the box, you’ll find the Beam, color-matched power and HDMI cables, that adapter I mentioned, and some printed material for warranties, etc. If Sonos can find a way to delete these bags, it will have one of the most sustainable packages in the industry. The new Beam comes in a plainly printed, fully recyclable box, and the only plastic you’ll find are the two small poly bags that protect the included HDMI cable and optical-to-HDMI adapter. Sonos always has been the king of simplicity, and that extends from its setup and software to its packaging. What’s in the box? Simon Cohen / Digital Trends It’s worth noting, however, that even though I’ll be discussing the changes Sonos has made to the Beam, this isn’t an attempt to determine which one is better, because barring any remaining Gen 1 inventory, the second-gen Beam is now the only one you can buy. The biggest change is to the sound, which I’ll cover in a moment. Some of these changes are relatively minor, like the decision to replace the fabric speaker grille with one that is made from rigid plastic. It’s way easier to clean and doesn’t attract as much dust in the first place. It’s easily one of the best soundbars under Rs 50,000 and a great accessory for your flat screen TV or projector.I’m a fan of the grille. The Sonos Beam has enough to fill even a large living room for an impromptu house party. The app also offers the convenience to adjust bass and treble controls you can customise your sound by individual room or groups of rooms. But if you need some serious thump, you might still need to add that extra sub-woofer. The bass gets a boost from three passive radiators. This is an area where the Sonos Beam really delivers, I was able to pick up sounds and dialogues better than many other soundbars that I’ve checked out recently. There’s also a tweeter for crisp and clear dialogue. This device is knitted with Four full-range woofers that ensure you’ll hear the faithful playback of mid-range vocal frequencies plus deep, rich bass. There’s no remote with the unit but you’re good with your TV remote or your smartphone. It’s not just Music streaming services, the Sonos Beam also allows you to connect with digital assistants like Amazon Alexa, if you’d like to use voice based commands. I also encountered the occasional disconnection between the soundbar and the phone’s Wi-Fi connection. While the Wi-Fi connection offers a wider range than Bluetooth, the lack of Bluetooth connectivity is a tad inconvenient especially when you just want to play a track that’s stored on your phone as a media file. Your music doesn’t stop when you receive a voice call on your phone. I could access my playlists directly from the Sonos App as long as I was connected on the same Wi-Fi network. I paired it with an iPhone 12 Pro Max and added Apple Music as my default option. The Sonos App is quite intuitive, you can add the music streaming option of your choice via the app. ![]() There’s also an HDMI port that allows you to connect with your TV with an HDMI Arc port. It’s easiest to download the Sonos companion App and then set it up using a Wi-Fi connection. There’s a pairing (or what Sonos likes to call a ‘join’ button) button on the rear along with slots for an HDMI cable, AC power port and an Ethernet port. There are just a couple of physical buttons on top of the soundbar – volume controls, play/pause and a mute microphone. We dig the minimalist design (we checked out the black colour option). This long, capsule-shaped soundbar is just above two feet long and slim enough to fit into your den or living room. There’s no battery back-up, you will need to connect to a power source at all times. It’s under 3 kg, easy to cart around the house. The Beam is surprisingly compact for a heavy duty soundbar. Sonos’ Beam makes a play in this segment, this pitch is mainly centred around its sound credentials. Soundbars certainly can’t match the surround sound skills of a home theatre system but many premium soundbars have upped their game especially for consumers hooked on to OTT platforms like Netflix. ![]() Purists might disagree but the sheer convenience of soundbars has seen them elbow out conventional home theatre systems in many modern homes especially compact apartments where space is always a premium. home theatre system has been settled at least a couple of years ago.
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