Sonos Arc or Sonos Beam: Which soundbar is best for you?

Sonos makes two of the best sound bars available to enhance your experience when watching movies and TV shows.

The Sonos Arc (

USD$1,164 or  

 MX$19,999) is one of our favorites since it launched in 2020, and it's our pick for the best high-end soundbar thanks to excellent audio.

But with the recent Sonos Beam Gen 2 (

USD$582 or  

 MX$10,999), which sounds great for the price and has many smart features, choosing which Sonos soundbar to buy is harder than ever.

Both speakers sound great, support Dolby Atmos, the latest surround sound technology, and are compatible with voice assistants.

Which one is right for you?

We will help you make the decision.

Design: How much space do you have?

The most obvious difference between the Arc and Beam is size: the Arc takes up a fair amount of space in your home, while the second-gen Beam is fairly compact.

At 45 x 4.5 x 3.4 inches, the Arc is longer and taller than many sound bars on the market.

So unless you choose to mount it to your wall, you'll need a cabinet long enough to fit the speaker under your TV.

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The Beam measures 25.6 x 3.9 x 2.7 inches and is more manageable and easier to add to your home TV setup.

It's so small that it can look out of place under a large TV, and it's generally a good match for TVs smaller than 50 inches.

Sound quality: Do you have a privileged ear?

Both Sonos soundbars will offer high-quality sound, but the Arc has some advantages, which makes sense considering its price (

USD$1,164 or  

 MX$19,999).

Since it is larger, it is not surprising that the Arc houses more conductors than the Beam (

USD$582 or  

 MX$10,999).

In fact, there are a total of 11 drivers on the Arc, three tweeters and eight woofers, while the Beam packs five drivers: one tweeter and four woofers.

This gives the Arc a wider soundstage and more bass, as well as a louder sound.

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However, the Beam is no slouch in sound.

You'll find it hard to believe how big a sound can come from such a small sound bar.

And the second generation of the Beam has even more audio detail along with Atmos support.

Speaking of Atmos, which is Dolby's spatial audio format, and what allows you to hear surround sound coming from a single speaker, there's a significant difference between the way the two soundbars produce it.

The Arc features two upward-firing drivers to create the effect of height in an Atmos soundtrack, while the Beam uses software to virtually create those same sounds.

Real powered speakers do a better job, so the Atmos experience is obviously better with the Arc.

Price: how much can you afford?

Realistically, cost can be the deciding factor when choosing between the Sonos Arc and Beam.

The price of the Arc may put it out of reach for many (

USD$1,164 or  

 MX$19,999).

While that may sound expensive, it's also in line with other premium soundbars, like the Bose Smart Soundbar 900 (

USD$899 or  

 MX$22,999).

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The Beam soundbar will set you back a few

USD$582 or  

 MX$10,999, a more reasonable price that is more within the budget of most people.

For about the same price, you can find several other quality soundbars, like the JBL Bar MultiBeam (

USD$599 or  

 MX$12,300).

And if you need to cut that budget even further, the Roku Streambar Pro (

USD$169 or  

 MX$4,233) is an excellent option, although these speakers will not sound as good as the Sonos Beam.

Features: A consistent Sonos experience across both models

Beam and Arc offer access to the entire Sonos experience.

As well as being great for watching movies and TV shows, sound bars are also great for listening to music.

If you're already a Sonos customer, you know you can take advantage of its multi-room capabilities with more than one Sonos speaker.

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Downloading the Sonos app makes it easy to set up your speakers and control what's playing in each room.

Arc and Beam are also compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant for hands-free playback as well as control of your connected smart devices.

Fortunately, whichever Sonos soundbar you choose, you'll be able to appreciate all the glorious sound Sonos has to offer.

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