Sonos has finally announced a successor to its Award-winning, Hall of Fame inductee Arc soundbar, and I for one couldn't be more excited. I have become well acquainted with the Arc, as it has served as the benchmark in many of our soundbar reviews; so a new model promising a plethora of audio upgrades is an encouraging sign. Sonos has had a rocky year thus far, thanks to a disastrous app relaunch and a lacklustre pair of pricy ANC headphones; still, I have high hopes for the Arc Ultra – it could serve as a turning point for the American audio brand.
However, as you should know by now, my inner AV geek is simply never satisfied, so I am already thinking about what the Arc Ultra could mean for the future of all Sonos soundbars. This led me to think about one of my favourite products in Sonos's current roster (and one of my favourite soundbars on the market in general), the Beam (Gen 2). This compact, charming soundbar sounds brilliant – and while it doesn't have dedicated height channels, it is still capable of reproducing Dolby Atmos effects convincingly. There is very little I would change about the Beam… except for maybe this one thing.
