![]() ![]() You'll want to add the services there - but you must have the Alexa or Google Assistant app installed on your mobile device to link the two and make that service work. You need to enable this in the app under Services, and then under Voice. That means you can start speaking to either of the virtual assistants, if you want, through the sound bar and use it to play music this way, or even pull up the weather. Sonos has baked Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa into Beam. Until then, we're largely ignoring the Sonos app. We're eager to see how it changes the experience. We don't know if that's going to streamline the way you run music, for example, through the Sonos speakers. Sonos is of course updating its app - the new Sonos app, S2, is coming in June. So while you need to app to absolutely set up and tune the speaker, you're probably not going to want to use it for running your music. The Sonos app is a wonky experience, and to use it to control outside music from Spotify, for example, you have to import those music apps into the Sonos main app. Dialog is far more clear, bass is bigger, sound is richer. Someone living in a large home, with a big family room, may want to spring for the Sonos Playbar, which has nine amplifier and three tweeters, as opposed to the Beam which has just four woofers and one tweeter.īut the Beam's sound is good - full and bright. We have a room that's about 300 square-feet - an open plan space that also includes part of the kitchen. But Beam was a definite improvement - and a big enough sound for our small apartment. Certainly, your set is able to play back any show or gaming experience you're playing. Sound is of course why you're buying an external sound bar for your TV. You'll manage the Sonos Beam through the Sonos app, and also set up connections to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant GearBrain You can now go back into the app, and customize your Beam, adding surround sound, or using the TruePlay feature to customize a sound for a specific room. ![]() This will tell the Sonos which remote signal to look for to control the sound. You'll do this by clicking on the remote you're using, and aiming at the sound bar. Then, through the Sonos app, you're going to want to set up the remote so it can connect to the Beam. Now, go into the audio menu on your TV and turn off the internal speakers on the set so it knows to route sound to the external speakers. Install the Sonos app to your iOS or Android device. Once you're connected to Wi-Fi this first time however, you can unplug Beam from the Ethernet cable. ![]() But this now seems to be a standard way to connect, at least it was for us. Sonos has traditionally called this an Alternative Setup, and it's a Sonos Wi-Fi setup another GearBrain reviewer had to take to reconnect Sonos speakers to a new Wi-Fi network. We did find this step to be a bit of a pain, and while certainly more secure than wirelessly linking, it was annoying to have to get a cable to do this. That's the only way you can get on the network with the password. When you first connect the Beam to Wi-Fi you're going to have to take a small extra step: physically connecting the sound bar to your router with an Ethernet cable. Then attach the HDMI cable into the adapter, and you're set. So, if you're like me, and you have an older TV, you'll use that adapter to plug into your set's optical audio plug. Ours, of course, did not because the set is 10 years old. You'll use the HDMI cable is for the ARC port in your TV. If you have another active Sonos speaker in the house you can wirelessly connect to your Wi-Fi and then to another Sonos. That's all you'll need to get the speaker connected to your TV. With Beam, you get the speaker, a power cord, an adapter and an HDMI cable. No judgment: it works, it's big enough and to date we haven't had any issues adding new gaming devices, entertainment add-ons or speakers. You can control the Beam sound bar through buttons on the top GearBrainĪs mentioned, we have an old Samsung TV - about 10 years old. The speakers have a nice matte finish, with a cloth covering on the outside, and they're heavy and feel substantial, as did the Beam. Sonos of course is also a well-designed brand. It's not that the app doesn't work - it's that the app, once you've set everything up, is really not necessary. The other is the Sonos app, surely the brand's Achilles heel. ![]() One of the downsides to Sonos is, as we mentioned, that they are more expensive. You can then build - easily - a surround sound experience. There are certainly cheaper sound bars on the market (we've had one.) But what's nice about Sonos if that if you buy one, the next Sonos speaker will work with it as well. The Sonos Beam's appeal is for those who lean towards the Sonos brand. ![]()
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