Today I have this Sonos Beam and Bose Soundbar 700 battle for you guys. I decided that it was best to go for the original version of the Sonos Beam. I think that is a more even kind of match against the Bose Soundbar 700. I think if we were going to look at the Sonos Beam Gen 2, it would have been much fairer to put it up against the Bose Smart Soundbar 900 as they are both more recent soundbars and they both offer Dolby Atmos. Still, we are in for some fun today as these are two soundbars that I like a great deal.
The Price:
These are two popular soundbars so the price round in this Sonos Beam and Bose Soundbar 700 contest is quite an interesting one. The reason I say this is because even though both Bose and Sonos have released newer and better products, these have managed to keep their price very well and in some cases even go for more than their RRP!
Sonos Beam:
The current price for the Sonos Beam on Amazon is just crazy and in all honesty a flat out bad deal. It is going for way over 500 bucks and that is over 100 bucks more than when it first came out! This is just insane to me. I have to be honest and say that I am not even sure that in 2022 I would recommend you spend the $399,99 RRP for an original Sonos Beam. You can get the Sonos Beam Gen 2 for $449 on Walmart right now and that is a superior soundbar. If you look on eBay, you can find some good deals, but unless you are getting this for like half the price of the Gen 2, you are better getting the Gen 2.
Bose Soundbar 700:
I know that at $799,99, the Bose Soundbar 700 is considerably more expensive than the Sonos Beam, even with the Beam’s inflated price on Amazon, but for a long time this was the flagship soundbar that Bose offered. If you look on eBay, you can find some decent deals for the 700 on there as I have seen some on there for under 600 bucks brand-new. Also, while I would not personally go for a pre-owned unit, I have seen those on there for under $400! At the time this was released I had zero problem in putting down my 700 bucks for this. However, in 2022, I think that you are much better paying the extra 100 bucks and getting the Bose Smart Soundbar 900. I thought that the price of the 700 would have dropped by at least 100 bucks when the 900 was released.
The Verdict:
I think that the current asking price for the original Sonos Beam is not a good deal, even places like Walmart have it overpriced in comparison to the Gen 2. I know that the price on the Bose Soundbar 700 is not exactly great right now either as the 900 is what you are better off spending your money on. However, I would have to say that side-by-side, I think the price of the 700 is better, even though it is more expensive. People are getting flat out ripped off by the price for the original Beam on Amazon.
The Design:
I do not want to hype the design category of our Sonos Beam and Bose Soundbar 700 fight up to much, but these are two of the most iconic looking soundbars on the market. Even now when they have both been surpassed. The soundbars that surpassed them kept the same kind of style that was here!
Sonos Beam:
Sonos is one of the top companies around when it comes to making great looking soundbars and I think that the design they have here with the Sonos Beam original is very cool. Most soundbars on the market have a rectangular kind of shape to them, but the Beam is rounded and it gives it a very modern style which I am sure many people will fall in love with. Even though it is quite small with the dimensions being 25.6” x 2.6” x 4.0”, this is a soundbar that has a very high-quality feel to it and you can tell as soon as you take it out of the box that it is well made. You can get this in white, but for this review, it is the black version I am talking about, which you can see more clearly in this Sonos Beam Unboxing and Testing video. I think the smaller stature of this soundbar will make it appealing for many people, my folks have this under their TV and they are very happy with it and they would not want a larger soundbar.
The Sonos Beam has a fabric grill that covers the front and then wraps around the sides of the soundbar. It is a very cool effect and something that I like. However, fabric grills can be easily damaged and if you have pets, you can get pet hair will get all over it. Of course, a bit of a wipe down once a week will take care of this, but as it is fabric, you have to be careful when you are cleaning it. On the back of the soundbar, you will find a single HDMI port and before you start yelling at the Beam, I can tell you they do also give you this neat HDMI to optical cable so those who want to connect the soundbar to their TV via an optical cable can do so. There is no remote control included here, instead, you use the Sonos app which is a good app, but the lack of a remote is something that bothers me about Sonos products.
Bose Soundbar 700:
I love the design of the Bose Soundbar 700. I had it in a place of prominence in my home theatre for a long time. It is much larger than the Sonos Beam, well longer as this comes in at 38.5” x 2.25” x 4.25” which means it will take up considerably more space than the Beam. The soundbar is made from a very solid plastic that has a very premium feel to it. Bose has used a metal grill that covers the front and then wraps around the side, it is a design that I think is just so cool and no other soundbar has matched it in my eyes. It is the top of the Bose Soundbar 700 that really captures your attention however as it has a glass covering! This first of all looks amazing, even if it is a pain in the butt (I am speaking from personal experience here) to keep clean from dust and the kid’s fingerprints. Bose knew this would be an issue as they include a cleaning cloth in the box.
The Bose Soundbar 700 well and truly has you covered when it comes to connectivity options. You have an HDMI and an optical port for connection to your TV. There is also a USB port on here to. There is also a “sub” port that is there in case you want to hook this up with one of Bose’s amazing subwoofers like the Bose Bass Module 700. The Bose Soundbar 700 has the best remote control that I have ever had come with a piece of electronics. This thing is amazing, it lights up when you have a certain setting selected so you know what buttons can be used, it feels like a real premium piece of tech and even the Bose Soundbar 900 does not have a remote that is as good as this, much to my annoyance! I do also want to mention that this comes in both black and white, but I purchased the black version.
The Verdict:
Hey, the Sonos Beam is a great looking soundbar, but until the Bose Smart Soundbar 900 was released the Bose Soundbar 700 was my favorite looking soundbar, so much so it sat with pride in my home theatre for a very long time. There is not one aspect of the design of the 700 that I do not like and to be honest with you, pretty much every other soundbar that I have put against it has lost in the design department.
The Sound:
You may wonder how a smaller sized soundbar can go against something much larger in the sound department, but you may be surprised at how close this round is. Our final round in our Sonos Beam and Bose Soundbar 700 contest will look at which one of these offers you the best overall sound performance. Keep in mind, that sound quality is subjective and at the end of the day, this is just my humble opinion!
Sonos Beam:
I will admit that before I used the Sonos Beam for the first time I was a little bit on the skeptical side. I was sure this was going to be like one of those budget priced soundbars you get in a place like Walmart or Target. Well, I was blown away the first time I tested this out by just how much power and bass it provided. My favorite movie of all time is Terminator 2: Judgement Day and I cranked this sucker up as it is a movie I know inside and out and I was very impressed. Not just because the Sonos Beam is loud, even at louder volumes, you are getting a very well-balanced kind of sound with this. My parents have this as I said and they see no need to upgrade to the Beam 2 at all (as much as I am trying to convince them that Dolby Atmos is a must these days) as the sound this provides just ticks all the boxes of what most people will want.
As well as being awesome for big Hollywood style blockbusters, the Sonos Beam also excels in other ways too. If you were watching a TV show like Parks and Recreation or a documentary like The Last Dance where dialogue is what it is all about, you will not be disappointed here. Actually, The Last Dance is a prime example of how well the Sonos Beam can handle a wide variety of different types of sound all at once. I have used the word balanced before, but that really is the best way to describe the sound quality of this soundbar.
Bose Soundbar 700:
The Bose Soundbar 700 was the fourth soundbar that I had personally purchased with my own hard earned money. To say I was blown away by the sound quality I experienced the first time I used this soundbar is a massive understatement. Check out this Bose Soundbar 700 – Listen to the Audio Samples! – REVIEW video and you will get an idea of why I was and still am so impressed by this soundbar.
One of the first movies that I remember really making me say wow was The Dark Knight. I was convinced I was getting cinema quality sound and even after all this time I truly do think that the Bose Soundbar 700 gives you a cinema like sound. It fills the room with sound, even a large home theatre, and simulates surround sound incredibly well. The only downside is that it does not support Dolby Atmos, but this was fixed by the Bose Smart Soundbar 900.
While this does not have a dedicated subwoofer built in, it still will rock the room. It can get nice and loud and it provides far better bass than you would think, considering there is no proper subwoofer here. A movie I am a huge fan of is Pandorum and I watched that with the lights down and the sound all the way up and it was bone chilling in places. As far as vocal clarity and overall balanced go, there are not many soundbars at this price range that can compete with what this is offering. A movie like The Fast & The Furious for example is a great example of how this thing can balance sound so that all the action, gunfire, cars, and so on rocks, but not at the expense of being able to follow the dialogue. I do want to talk about the Bose Bass Module 700 which is a dedicated subwoofer that is designed to go with this, I have this in my home theatre along with the Bose Surround Speakers 700 and it truly is like having movie theatre sound in my own home.
The Verdict:
It is very impressive how the tiny Sonos Beam is able to hold its own and provide some real power along with great vocal clarity. However, for me, this one has to go to the Bose Soundbar 700. There was a reason I used this thing for so long in my home theatre. It gives you close to cinema sound and the way it can fill a room and in some cases simulate surround sound is very impressive. At the time this was released, I hand on heart do not think I tested a better soundbar.
Which Is The Better Soundbar?
Ok, let’s cut straight to the chase here as we wrap this Sonos Beam and Bose Soundbar 700 contest up. As the Bose Soundbar 700 won every round, clearly that is what I am picking for my winner here. While I like the Sonos Beam, I just do not see any situation where it is better in any way than the 700. Now, with that being said, I do have to also say that I am not sure I would recommend either one of these soundbars to you right now. Even though I picked the Bose Soundbar 700 as the winner today, I would highly advise that you save up the extra 100 bucks and get the Dolby Atmos capable Bose Smart Soundbar 900. If you like the design and smaller size of the Sonos Beam better, unless you are finding that for around 200 bucks, again, save up the extra and get the newer model the Sonos Beam Gen 2 which supports Dolby Atmos, in the long run, it will be a better purchase.
