TV speakers have a talent for being just good enough to never get fixed. You watch a movie, hear the dialogue clearly, and quietly accept that explosions sound like paper bags and the score is a thin ribbon of sound. A soundbar solves that, but the best ones bring a bill of size and price that makes a modest living room flinch. The Sonos Beam Gen 2 makes a different argument: a compact soundbar that fits under most TVs, carries Dolby Atmos support, and sounds far bigger than its footprint suggests. As someone who reviews entertainment gear and has set up soundbars in rooms of every size, I spent a month with the Beam Gen 2 in front of my TV to find out whether it is the right upgrade or a compromise on both ends.
Before the details, a disclosure. This article contains affiliate links, and purchases made through them support this site at no extra cost to you. My testing is independent, and I accept no payment for coverage.
Design and Build
The Beam Gen 2 keeps the elegant cylinder with flattened ends that made the original a fixture of living rooms everywhere. It is wrapped in a black fabric that looks and feels premium, with a subtle grille texture that hides the drivers behind it. The build quality is excellent, as you expect from Sonos, and the bar is heavy enough to feel substantial without being difficult to lift. A strip of white LEDs on top shows status, and the touch controls for volume and playback are responsive and quiet.
At just over two feet long, the Beam Gen 2 fits comfortably beneath a 55 inch TV with room to spare. It sits flat on a media console or mounts to the wall with a separately sold bracket, and the low profile means it will not block the bottom of your screen. The fabric finish resists dust and fingerprints well, though it will show the occasional scratch if you slide things across it.
The connection panel is minimal and clean. On the rear you get a single HDMI eARC port, which is the primary connection, a power input, and a button for the setup process. An optical adapter is included for older TVs that lack eARC, which is a thoughtful touch for a soundbar aimed at upgrading an older living room. Everything else, from Wi-Fi to control, happens through the Sonos app.
Key Features
The headline feature is Dolby Atmos support. The Beam Gen 2 decodes Atmos soundtracks and uses its five drivers to virtualize height channels, creating a sense of sound coming from above without physical upward firing speakers. It is not a replacement for a full surround system, but for a compact soundbar it is genuinely impressive, and it makes the difference between a movie that plays and a movie that surrounds you.
Inside sit a center tweeter, two racetrack woofers, and two passive radiators, driven by a processor that Sonos redesigned for this generation. The result is a soundbar that is far better at music than most, which is a signature Sonos strength. AirPlay 2 support means you can send Audio From an iPhone directly, and the bar can be grouped with other Sonos speakers for whole home playback, tying it into the broader Sonos ecosystem that has made the brand a household name.
The Beam Gen 2 also has four far field microphones, which let it work with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant as a smart speaker. You can ask for the weather, control smart home devices, or pause the TV with your voice, and the mics handle the job from across a room. Sonos keeps refining this feature set, and the integration with the app, which manages every speaker in your home, is the smoothest in the business.
Real-World Performance
Set up took about five minutes through the Sonos app, which found the bar, connected it to my TV's eARC port, and confirmed the Atmos signal immediately. From the first movie, the difference from TV speakers was obvious. Dialogue came through with a clarity that made subtitles feel optional, and action scenes had a weight and depth that the built in speakers never hinted at. The virtualized Atmos effect is subtle but real; rain and overhead effects felt like they came from above rather than from a bar sitting on a shelf.
Music is where the Beam Gen 2 separates itself from most soundbars. Streaming through the Sonos app or AirPlay, it produces a balanced, articulate sound with surprising low end for its size. Voices and instruments are separated cleanly, and the soundstage is wide enough to fill a medium living room. It will not shake the walls like a dedicated subwoofer, but for a soundbar alone it is well above average.
The voice assistant worked reliably in daily use. Commands were heard from across the room even with the TV on, and the mute button on top gives you a quick way to silence the microphones when you want privacy. In practice the Beam Gen 2 turned my TV into a device that also happened to be a competent smart speaker, and that flexibility is a real part of its value. The one limitation is that true 5.1 surround requires adding Sonos One speakers and a Sub later, which is a path you can take over time.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Genuinely impressive Dolby Atmos for a compact bar
- Excellent music performance, rare among soundbars
- Compact design that fits most TV setups
- Works with Alexa, Google Assistant, and AirPlay 2
- Easy, polished setup through the Sonos app
- Can expand into a full surround system over time
Cons:
- Height effects are virtual, not physical speakers
- Requires eARC for the full Atmos experience
- No subwoofer included for the deepest bass
- Premium price for a two foot soundbar
How It Compares
The Beam Gen 2 sits between the budget Sonos Ray and the larger Sonos Arc. The Ray costs less and sounds decent for TV, but it lacks Atmos and skips the microphones and smart assistant support. The Arc is bigger, louder, and delivers more convincing Atmos with a wider soundstage, but it costs considerably more and needs more room. Against the JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam, the Beam Gen 2 wins on music quality and ecosystem integration, while the JBL offers a similar compact Atmos experience at a slightly lower price. For most living rooms, the Beam Gen 2 is the balanced middle.
| Feature | Sonos Beam Gen 2 | Sonos Ray | JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dolby Atmos | Yes, virtualized | No | Yes, virtualized |
| Smart assistant | Alexa and Google | No | No |
| AirPlay 2 | Yes | Yes | No |
| Music performance | Excellent | Good | Good |
| Connection | HDMI eARC | Optical | HDMI eARC |
| Typical price | Mid range | Budget | Mid range |
If you want the best sound and ecosystem in a compact size, the Beam Gen 2 wins. Choose the Ray to save money, or the Arc if you have the room and budget for the flagship.
Who Should Buy It
Buy the Sonos Beam Gen 2 if you want a major TV audio upgrade without rearranging your living room, if you care about music as much as movies, or if you are already in the Sonos ecosystem and want your TV to join it. It is the right soundbar for a medium room, an apartment, or anyone who wants genuine Atmos on a small budget. Check the current price of the Sonos Beam Gen 2 on Amazon before you decide.
Skip it if you have a very large room that demands the Arc's power, if you refuse to use the Sonos app, or if you want a subwoofer included in the box. For the vast majority of TV owners, this is the sweet spot of the whole category.
How We Test
I used the Sonos Beam Gen 2 for a month in a medium sized living room, connecting it to a 55 inch TV via eARC. I watched movies and series with Atmos soundtracks, streamed music through the Sonos app and AirPlay, tested the voice assistant from across the room, and compared it directly with the Sonos Ray and a JBL soundbar to evaluate the differences in music and movie performance.
For a broader ranking of soundbars in this class, the reviewers at What Hi-Fi keep a list of the best soundbars that places the Beam Gen 2 in context. The Sonos Beam Gen 2 listing on Amazon shows current pricing and color options.
Sonos Beam Gen 2: Questions People Ask
Does the Sonos Beam Gen 2 support Dolby Atmos?
Yes, it decodes Atmos soundtracks and virtualizes the height channels through its compact driver array, delivering convincing overhead effects without physical upward firing speakers.
Do you need a Sonos Arc instead of the Beam Gen 2?
Only if you have a very large room and a larger budget. The Arc is louder with a wider soundstage, but the Beam Gen 2 delivers the same Atmos technology in a smaller, cheaper package.
Does the Beam Gen 2 work with Alexa and Google Assistant?
Yes, the four far field microphones let it respond to both Alexa and Google Assistant, and it also supports Apple AirPlay 2 for direct streaming from Apple devices.
Can the Beam Gen 2 connect to a TV without HDMI?
Yes, an optical adapter is included for older TVs. You will get good sound through it, though the full Dolby Atmos experience requires an HDMI eARC connection.
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