What made me decide to do this Sonos Beam vs Bose TV Speaker showdown was the fact that I have been looking at a lot of higher end and expensive soundbars lately. These are two classics from two of the best around and you can still find these in some stores and at many places online. It is the original Sonos Beam that I am looking at today by the way, not the recently released Sonos Beam Gen 2. I think that is a much fairer and more interesting matchup against the Bose TV Speaker as they are more similar in what they are offering.
The Price:
As these have been out for a while the price for both of these is all over the place and there are certainly some great deals to be had if you are willing to shop around. Price is going to be a very interesting round for us to look at in this Sonos Beam vs Bose TV Speaker contest!
Sonos Beam:
The original Sonos Beam is actually getting kind of hard to find these days. When it was released, I am sure the price was around the 400 bucks mark, but on Amazon, it is currently only available via a 3rd party seller and they are asking $569 for it! This is a good soundbar, but in no way is it worth that amount of money. You can get the Sonos Beam Gen 2 for roughly the same amount of money! However, if you look on eBay there are many great deals for the original Beam on there. There are more than a few that are brand new for under 300 bucks and there are also a ton of refurbished and pre-owned models that come closer to the 200 bucks’ mark.
Bose TV Speaker:
While I would usually say that Amazon is the best and easiest place to go, the Bose TV Speaker has managed to keep it’s $279,99 asking price on there for quite some time. To be fair that is not the worst price and it is much cheaper than something like the Bose Smart Soundbar 900. However, if you look around there are some amazing deals to be had with the Bose TV Speaker. You can get it brand-new on eBay from many different sellers for under 200 bucks! That is a freaking steal for a soundbar of this quality. You can even get it for under 100 if you are ok with buying a used one. Make sure you take your time before buying this as you can get a truly awesome deal.
The Verdict:
If you are looking to buy one of these brand-new then I would have to say that the Bose TV Speaker is the best value for money here. The price some people are asking for the original Sonos Beam is just crazy to me. There are deals to be had with both of these so the best advice I can give you is to be patient and shop around.
The Design:
I love putting Sonos and Bose together when it comes to their respective design. This Sonos Beam vs Bose TV Speaker fight has just been kicked up a notch, kind of like when Chong Li throws salt in Frank Dux’s eyes in Bloodsport.
Sonos Beam:
As far as compact sized soundbars go the Sonos Beam is one of the more eye-catching ones around. It is available in black and white, but it is the black version I am talking about today. Have a look at this Sonos Beam Smart Speaker / Soundbar (White) Unboxing and Setup! video if you want to learn more about the white version. If you do want a more compact soundbar, the 25.6” x 2.6” x 4.0” dimensions of this soundbar will be great for you. This has a very rounded and curvy design to it which is a trademark of Sonos. I love the way it just wraps around instead of being more rectangular. I can see why so many people do love the design of the Sonos Beam. It has a fabric grill that looks cool and stylish, however, it is also something that can be easily damaged and is a magnet for pet hair and dust so you will have to be careful with it, especially if you have kids and pets!
For such a small soundbar, the Sonos Beam really does make quite the impression. It has a very solid build to it and it still is impressive to look at and hold to this day. On the back, we have a single HDMI port which is another Sonos thing that they do with their soundbars. They do also give you an HDMI to optical cable converter which I think is a nice touch. As this is not a Dolby Atmos soundbar, you could connect it to your TV either way. There is no remote control here! This is another thing that Sonos does, instead, you have to use their app. Look the app is great and all, but I really wish that Sonos would include a remote control with their soundbars. I do not like to have my phone around when I am watching a movie, but with this, I would have no choice.
Bose TV Speaker:
There is no denying that the Bose TV Speaker is a very cool and sleek looking soundbar. It is a little bit smaller than the Sonos Beam as the dimensions of this are 23.4″ x 2.2″ x 4″. The size of this makes it perfect for those that do not want a massive soundbar taking up a ton of real estate, something like the Bose TV Speaker is perfect. It has a very solid feel to it and it truly is impressive how Bose keeps their Bose quality at this smaller scale. The grill on the front and the sides of the soundbar are metal which is something I am a massive fan of, a metal grill is always what I prefer actually. I just love the style of this and my only complaint is that it has a bit of shine to it which will mean fingerprints and dust will love this thing, but a wipe down with a cloth will take care of that.
Nose make sure that you are well and truly taken care of when it comes to your connectivity options. You have both an HDMI and an optical port for connecting it to your TV. They also give you an AUX port as well as a USB port too. The bass port is for connecting this to a soundbar, with their intent being you will use something like their epic, Bose Bass Module 500. You get a credit card style remote control with the Bose TV Speaker. It is basic, but it is easy to use and it gives you all the control you need over the soundbar. However, it is probably the most basic of all the remotes Bose has made in recent years.
The Verdict:
I like the style of both of these soundbars, but the Bose TV Speaker is the clear winner here. From the metal grill to just the overall feel, it just ticks all the boxes of what I want in a soundbar when it comes to the way it looks. However, I can also see why some people may prefer the design of the Sonos Beam.
The Sound:
Looking at the sound capabilities of these two soundbars is a lot of fun, actually, this whole Sonos Beam vs Bose TV Speaker article has been a lot of fun to put together. You are not going to get the same kind of sound as you do with an 800 to 1000 bucks Dolby Atmos soundbar here, but these two provide some seriously impressive sound considering their size.
Sonos Beam:
One of the most impressive things about the Sonos Beam is just how much power it has. It packs way more of a punch than its small size suggests. I watched Batman: Under the Red Hood with the Sonos Beam and was very impressed with what I was experiencing. It offers you a very balanced kind of sound and while I could not put my finger on what it does great, it is the overall balance that impressed me the most. It manages to fill a decent sized room with sound and I found that if you sit center on to the soundbar, it does give you a kind of cinema effect with the sound. It has some serious bass too, another movie that springs to mind is Edge of Tomorrow during the action scenes, I kept turning it up and the sound never once let me down. It was quite amazing how good it was actually, especially considering I have used many other higher-end soundbars recently.
One of the things that the Sonos Beam does incredibly well and this is something that Sonos has built upon with their follow up soundbars is vocal clarity. What I like here is that even if you watch a movie with a lot of stuff going on like Dumb and Dumber, for example, you never miss what is being said, no matter what kind of crazy antics are going on in the movie. Even though I have to admit that the original Sonos Beam has been surprised by the Sonos Beam Gen 2. I was still impressed at how well this thing sounded and I feel that for someone who is not in need for Dolby Atmos or room filling 3D sound, it would be a perfect soundbar for them.
Bose TV Speaker:
For the price that the Bose TV Speaker is going for, you really are getting some fantastic sound for your money here. I found that this offered quite a similar kind of sound experience to the Sonos Beam. I suggest that you check out this Bose TV Speaker – With Sound Demo! video if you want to hear more about the sound capabilities of the Bose TV Speaker. It has a pretty well balanced kind of sound to it and one movie in particular that I remember being impressed by was The Never Ending Story. The part of the movie when Atreyu has to be judged by those two statues was very impressive and showcased that there could be a lot of loud noise going on, but not at the expense of being able to hear what is actually being said. I can tell you right now, that this is a massive upgrade from your TV’s speakers that is for sure.
Clearly, the Bose TV Speaker is not the most powerful soundbar in the world, but the level of bass and power that it provides is decent enough. Most rooms will be filled with sound and even when cranked up, I never noticed any lowering of the sound quality. My son and I watched Teen Titans Go to the Movies with this soundbar and we had it very loud and we both thought that it sounded great. I think that for the kind of person the Bose TV Speaker is aimed at, the sound quality it provides is going to be pretty mind blowing, to be honest with you.
The Verdict:
While the Sonos Beam and the Bose TV Speaker are both huge upgrades to the kind of speakers you get on a modern 4K TV. I have to say that I feel in the sound department, the Sonos Beam is a tad better. It just offered a bit more bass, a bit of a richer sound, and a slightly better-balanced sound. Truth be told, there was not a ton in it and most people would probably not notice a difference, however, even though it is very small, there is a difference between the two.
Which Is The Better Soundbar?
As we bring this Sonos Beam vs Bose TV Speaker fight to an end, I have to say it has been a lot of fun to look at these two “classic” soundbars from two of the best in the business. There is not much in this at all which makes it such a tough choice for me, I have to say that I feel the Sonos Beam is the better soundbar when it comes to the sound. However, as far as the style of the soundbars go, the Bose TV Speaker is the one I would rather have in my living room. To be brutally honest with you unless you can get either of these for under 200 bucks, I would perhaps suggest you might be better off saving up a tad longer and getting the Sonos Beam Gen 2. It offers what the original Beam does, but you also get modern features such as Dolby Atmos.
