Sonos Beam Gen 2 gets Dolby Atmos and DTS

Earlier this year, I checked out the Sonos Beam soundbar. Today, the firm follows up with a second-generation Beam. The new model fixes a big shortcoming of the original; it finally adds support for the lossless Dolby Atmos and DTS audio formats. Other than this, the Gen 2 Beam promises better audio quality and a more refined design. It will ship on October 5 in white and black versions for 499EUR ($449).

Sonos (Nasdaq: SONO) today announced Beam (Gen 2), a new version of its industry-leading compact smart soundbar for TV, music, gaming and more. The new Beam delivers an upgraded, more immersive sound experience with greater depth and clarity, as well as support for Dolby Atmos. Beam (Gen 2) will be available globally starting October 5 for $449, with pre-order open now on Sonos.com. Sonos also revealed plans to offer both Ultra HD and Dolby Atmos Music later this year via Amazon Music, giving listeners the ability to experience the highest quality streaming music and immersive audio.

“We often talk about ‘Hollywood at Home’ being a real catalyst for our business, and Beam has played a huge part in this as one of the top-selling soundbars in its category,” said Patrick Spence, Sonos CEO. “Taking what we've learned over the years about great listening and home theater, we've found a way to bring new features and significantly better sound to Beam, all in the same compact size that has proven extremely popular with customers.”

Enjoy panoramic sound on the latest generation of Beam, now with support for Dolby Atmos Just in time for Fall’s most anticipated movies and shows, the new Beam is upgrading the home theater experience. Compatible with more than 100 streaming services available in the Sonos app, fans can expect exciting improvements across sound, design and packaging, including:

Dolby Atmos: Immersive sound technology that places you in the center of the action, whether it’s experiencing planes as if they were flying overhead, hearing footsteps moving across the room, or feeling the score all around you.

Enhanced Sound, Same Size: With more processing power and newly developed phased speaker arrays, Beam steers and localizes sound around the room for a lifelike experience. The speaker is also now compatible with HDMI eARC on your TV, so you can experience your favorite movies and games in even higher definition sound with support for new audio formats.

Sleeker Design: An updated polycarbonate grille that’s precisely perforated allows the speaker to sound great and blend seamlessly into your home, just like Sonos Arc.

Easy, More Secure Set-Up: With just two cables and new NFC capabilities, setup is seamless and will have you listening in minutes. Simply open the Sonos app, follow a few prompts, and tap your phone to Beam.

Sustainable Sound: The new Beam features sustainable packaging, including a premium uncoated kraft paper, a gift box made of 97% sustainable paper, and no single use foam.

Like all Sonos products, the new Beam was tuned with the input of the Sonos Soundboard - a collection of leaders across music, film, and more - to deliver the best and most authentic sound experience. You can also fine tune Beam’s sound with Trueplay, which detects and adapts the speaker’s sound for reflections off of walls and furniture, giving you the best listening experience for your room and setup.

Place Beam in front of a standing TV, or easily mount to the wall with the existing Sonos Wall Mount for Beam. Beam can be controlled with the Sonos app, your existing TV remote, multiple voice assistants, Apple AirPlay 2, music service apps, and more. Listeners can use Beam on its own or expand wirelessly with a subwoofer and pair of rear speakers for even more immersive entertainment.

More Ways to Play: Sonos Adds Support for New Services and Audio Formats
Launching later this year in select markets, Sonos plans to support Amazon Music’s Ultra High Definition audio, which will allow listeners to hear tracks in lossless audio up to 24-bit / 48kHz on their Sonos speakers, as well as Dolby Atmos Music, an immersive audio technology that breaks the boundaries of traditional studio recordings and puts you inside the song, revealing every detail of the music. Available at no extra cost to Amazon Music Unlimited customers, Ultra HD will be available to listen on all S2 devices, except Play:1, Play:3, Playbase, and Playbar, while Dolby Atmos Music will be available to listen on Arc and Beam (Gen 2). Sonos also announced plans to add support for decoding DTS Digital Surround later this year via the S2 platform on Playbar, Playbase, Amp, both generations of Beam and Arc.