The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is, for us, the best all-round soundbar you can buy right now: outstanding speech clarity, a clean and musical sound, and the simplest setup in the group. Here is what it does brilliantly, and where its limits lie.
Sonos built its reputation on speakers that sound great and just work, and the Beam (Gen 2) distils that into a compact soundbar most people can fit under any TV. It is not the most powerful bar here, nor the most cinematic, but it is the one we would recommend to the widest range of homes — and that balance is exactly why it is our best overall pick.
| Model | Price | Channels | Connection | Best for room size | Rating | Link | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ★ Top pick Sonos Beam (Gen 2) Compact Smart Soundbar | £1,148.00 | 5.0 (virtual Dolby Atmos) | HDMI eARC, optical, Wi-Fi | Small to medium | ★ 4.6 | View → |
£1,148.00
5.0 (virtual Dolby Atmos) · HDMI eARC, optical, Wi-Fi · Small to medium
The verdict from Liam O'Connor, home cinema and audio tester
Our best overall pick. The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is the soundbar we'd put under most TVs without a second thought: it makes speech crisp and easy to follow, the Trueplay app tuning adapts it to your room, and it plugs into the wider Sonos ecosystem if you ever want more speakers. There is no physical sub or up-firing driver, so the Atmos effect is simulated rather than overhead, but for a compact all-rounder the balance of clarity, music quality and ease of use is hard to beat.
Dialogue cuts through cleanly and music sounds full without a separate sub.
The Beam is the right bar if you want a clear, refined sound from a tidy unit that sets up in minutes, and if you value music as much as TV. It suits small to medium living rooms, bedrooms and flats especially well, because its compact body never dominates a TV unit. For renters and anyone who moves often it is ideal: a single power lead and one HDMI cable, and you are done. It is also the obvious choice if you already own, or might one day buy, other Sonos speakers, because the Beam slots straight into the same app and multiroom system.
It is less suited to a large, open-plan room or to a buyer who wants the most physical, room-shaking film sound out of the box. There is no separate subwoofer included and no up-firing driver, so for a big space or for serious film nights you would be better served by the Samsung HW-Q800C or the JBL Bar 1000. For a normal room, though, the Beam has all the clarity and warmth most people need.
This is where the Beam shines. Speech is exceptionally clear and easy to follow, lifted cleanly above music and effects, and there is a dedicated speech-enhancement mode for late-night viewing or hard-to-hear films. Across TV, films and music the sound is balanced and natural rather than artificially boosted, and it stays composed at volume. For a compact bar it produces a surprisingly full, room-filling sound, and it is genuinely enjoyable to listen to music on, which cannot be said of every soundbar.
The Beam supports Dolby Atmos, but it creates the effect virtually rather than with physical up-firing drivers, because the slim body has none. The result is a convincing sense of width and openness, but it cannot place sound clearly overhead the way a bar with up-firing drivers can. If real height effects are your priority, the Bose Smart Soundbar 600 manages genuine up-firing Atmos in a similarly compact size. For most viewers, the Beam's wider, more spacious sound is more than enough.
Setup is the easiest here. You connect the bar to your TV over HDMI eARC, open the Sonos app, and the Trueplay tuning feature measures your room and adjusts the sound to suit it. The app is mature and reliable, gives you easy access to streaming services, AirPlay 2 and voice assistants, and lets you add more Sonos speakers later. It is the most polished, fuss-free experience in the group by a clear margin.
The Beam feels like a premium product. The casing is solid, the grille is neat, and the understated design looks at home under any TV without drawing attention to itself. It is small enough to sit in front of a TV without blocking the screen on most stands, and the minimal control surface keeps things clean. This is a bar built to last and to look good for years, not just to tick a spec sheet.
The Beam's only real limitations are the flip side of its compact design. There is no separate subwoofer in the box, so while the bass is good for the size, it cannot match the deep, physical low end of a bar with a dedicated wireless sub. And because there are no up-firing drivers, the Dolby Atmos effect is simulated rather than truly overhead. Neither is a flaw so much as a deliberate trade-off for a small, tidy bar, and both can be addressed later by adding a wireless Sonos Sub or Sub Mini. If you want the deepest bass and real height out of the box, look at a larger system; if you want clarity and refinement in a compact unit, the Beam is hard to beat.
No, there is no separate subwoofer in the box. The Beam produces a full, balanced sound on its own and handles bass well for its size, but if you want deep, cinematic low end you can add the wireless Sonos Sub or Sub Mini later — that is the beauty of the system being expandable.
It supports Dolby Atmos, but the effect is virtual rather than from physical up-firing drivers, since the compact body has none. It creates a convincing sense of width and space, but it cannot place sound overhead the way a bar with up-firing drivers, such as the Samsung HW-Q800C, can.
Yes, that is one of its strengths. With Wi-Fi streaming, AirPlay 2 and the Sonos app it works as a proper music speaker, not just a TV bar, and the sound is clear and full enough to enjoy on its own. It is one of the more musical compact soundbars you can buy.
The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is our best overall pick because it gets the things that matter most exactly right: superb dialogue clarity, a clean and musical sound, the easiest setup in the group, and a clear upgrade path into a full Sonos system. It is not the most cinematic bar here, but for a standard living room or bedroom it is the soundest, most enjoyable choice. If you want deeper bass and genuine height effects, consider the Samsung HW-Q800C for film nights or the Bose Smart Soundbar 600 for compact Atmos. Before you decide, it is always worth reading our buying guide and our take on whether you need a soundbar with a subwoofer.