Sonos introduce cheaper, smarter Sonos Beam soundbar

Sonos have introduced their third home entertainment-focused speaker, the Sonos Beam.

"In a smart speaker category increasingly filled with tech clutter, poor audio quality and ulterior motives, Beam is the best example yet of what makes Sonos different," said Sonos CEO Patrick Spence.

"Our open approach, obsession with design, maniacal focus on quality and commitment to building a system that's easy to use and gets better over time are at the heart of everything we do. We believe we've created the best, most versatile, smart speaker in the world."

With the Beam, Sonos have combined two products into one. Like the recently-revealed JBL Link Bar, it's both a smart speaker (powered by Amazon Alexa) and a soundbar designed to hold up the center of your home entertainment experience. The Beam incorporates four woofers, three passive radiators and a single tweeter.

Like all Sonos speakers, the Beam can be easily integrated into existing multi-room set-ups. And like the Sonos One, its pretty agnostic when it comes to services. The Sonos Beam supports over 80 music services and, eventually, will offer support multiple voice assistants too.

Sonos say that "out of the box, Beam comes with Amazon Alexa in the US, UK, Germany, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and soon, in France. Beam will support additional voice assistants as they become available on Sonos around the world and won't lock owners into specific streaming boxes or services."

Sonos have previously pledged to bring Google Assistant to the Sonos One sometime in 2018.

The $599 Sonos Beam will start shipping globally starting July 17 and is available for pre-order today on www.sonos.com. In Australia, the Beam is available through Amazon, Sonos and JB Hi-Fi