Measuring 65cm wide, 10cm deep and 7cm tall, it's easy to find a spot for under or in front of your TV.Weighing just 2.8kg, the Beam will be less of a stress on your wall if you decide to wall-mount too.Not only is it smaller and lighter, the Beam also looks prettier than its bigger brothers.Minimalist styling is once more the name of the game, but the little speaker’s el… The Beam’s sleek and modern lines make it much easier on the eyes than the now outdated Playbar, and the fact that the Beam is available in white and black versus the Playbar’s single black and silver finish give it an obvious edge. The Sonos Beam has an … But keep in mind, you can’t expect it to sound as rich or full as its sibling. The Beam is the smallest of Sonos’s TV speakers by quite some margin. Very expensive. 1. If you want your blockbuster soundtracks to shake the room and have impact, the Beam can’t compete.The Playbar isn’t entirely left behind here, though. Bottom Line Sonos Beam and Sonos Playbar both are excellent products of brand Sonos. While the Beam manages to squeeze eight drivers into its petite frame, the Sonos Playbar has nine.One of the most attractive things about the Sonos Beam is the price. At £399, it does plenty for the money, and even though the Playbar ultimately sounds better, it costs a bit more.This is more apparent in larger rooms, which the Beam struggles to fill. While Sonos has two great products with the Beam and Playbar, the Beam is the overall better option for most people because of its size, sound quality, … Especially if it’s a bedroom, you might really appreciate and take advantage of its built-in smart speaker capabilities.The Sonos Beam, on the other hand, strives for a more compact take on the soundbar formula, stretching to just 25 inches wide and with only five drivers and amps.You already know that the Playbar is bigger and has more drivers than the Beam, but what does that actually mean in terms of sound? It isn’t particularly attractive, and looks far more functional than its stylish sibling.As for placement, the Sonos Beam has been designed to be used in one orientation only, whereas the Playbar has angled drivers that allow it be used in both flat and upright positions, without any sound degradations.
But does the larger sound of the Playbar make the extra outlay worth it?However, the Sonos Beam takes the smart side of stuff a little further with built-in Alexa and Google Assistant support, which allows the unit to double up as a fully fledged smart speaker too.This means the Beam has the ability to support HDMI CEC (Consumer Electronics Control), which allows you to control the TV and soundbar as one unit, rather than the two acting independently. That’s a solid argument in favor of the Playbar for people who put a high priority on getting the best sound for movies and TV.This one’s kind of a no-brainer. Larger size may require its own shelf or a wall mount setup. Alexa not built in. But while making this comparison, we conclude that if you have small rooms and cannot spend much money on an audio bar, then you should go with Sonos Beam. The Playbar is a full-fledged home theater soundbar. All rights reserved.What makes the Playbar better for movies and TV shows, also makes it a more accomplished soundbar for music.
Its concave top keeps the LED lights on the controls cleverly below eye line, allowing the Beam to be heard, but not seen.However, with its modern design and stealthy profile, it’s hard not to swoon over the Beam’s good looks.The bigger and heavier Playbar (35.4-inch long, 3.3-inch tall, and 5.5-inch deep) is much better suited for wall mounting, although its controls are even more unseen, found on the end panel of the soundbar. The Playbar comes in only a single black and silver finish and relies on physical buttons awkwardly placed on its side. If your TV and your room are on the small side, the Beam is ideal. If hearing every nuance in a high-speed car chase or combat scene isn’t your main concern, and if you’re buying a soundbar for a smaller room, the Beam might still be the better choice. If you have an Echo or an Echo Dot, you can download the Sonos skill and use it to control the Playbar with your voice – it just isn’t as smooth and straightforward as the Beam’s integrated experience.Just the one extra driver might not seem much more for all that extra bulk. But for most, the Sonos Beam will do just fine, offering better features and leaving your bank balance looking much healthier in the process.The Beam’s lines are also much sleeker, with softly curved edges and a much slimmer profile. It’s available in white … 651 x 100 x 68.5mm; 2.8kgWhile larger soundbars are moving towards offering Dolby Atmos (the 3D overhead surround-sound system) like the LG SJ9, or carry an integrated subwoofer like the Samsung MS650, some companies like Sony have been looking at boosting TV sound without taking over the whole room.The compact soundbar is something of an emerging trend. This is particularly important for voice control, and we’ll go into that in more detail below.The Sonos Beam takes an early lead thanks to its newer, more modern Sonos design.However, in order to accommodate HDMI, the Beam does drop one of its ethernet ports, which the Playbar retains.