Disappointed with Sonos Beam - No Bluetooth connectivity


Is this 1980? What are the Sonos product engineers thinking? I am terribly disappointed with the lack of Bluetooth connectivity in Sonos Beam. Such an expensive product missing basic functionality! These days, even the $5 speakers come with a Bluetooth connection. I would not have purchased Sonos Beam had I know this. Buyer beware!


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12 replies

Userlevel 7

If you have an iOS device, you can stream to the Beam using AirPlay 2.

The first consumer devices to use Bluetooth was in 1999. Sonos held, until the release of the Move, and the upcoming Roam, that the fidelity of Bluetooth was not sufficient to match the quality of their speakers. However, over time, the Bluetooth spec and quality has increased. 
 

The supposed ‘lack’ of Bluetooth is evident when you look at the specs of the Beam, something one hopes you did prior to purchase. 

What do you want to use Bluetooth for?  For many purposes there are alternatives.

Userlevel 7
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Some modern TVs are Bluetooth enabled so you may be able to pair with that and the sound will come from the move. Or buy a Roam and group with the Beam?

 

The first consumer devices to use Bluetooth was in 1999. Sonos held, until the release of the Move, and the upcoming Roam, that the fidelity of Bluetooth was not sufficient to match the quality of their speakers. However, over time, the Bluetooth spec and quality has increased. 
 

The supposed ‘lack’ of Bluetooth is evident when you look at the specs of the Beam, something one hopes you did prior to purchase. 

Thanks for the explanation, Airgetlam. Bluetooth is so ubiquitous that one would take for granted that it is available in an expensive speaker. It is akin to buying a smartphone and later discovering that the camera is absent in the model.

What do you want to use Bluetooth for?  For many purposes there are alternatives.

I have to play some music recordings that I made in my iPhone’s voice memos.

If you have an iOS device, you can stream to the Beam using AirPlay 2.

This is a terrific suggestion. This actually helps in my situation. This solution overcomes the lack of Bluetooth limitation. Thank you very much.

I think you need to bear in mind that Sonos don’t really make speakers, they make networked multiroom audio systems with an app that is a remote control not an audio player. 

But in any case, you can use Airplay from your iPhone to play your music on the Beam.

Some modern TVs are Bluetooth enabled so you may be able to pair with that and the sound will come from the move. Or buy a Roam and group with the Beam?

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I would like to stream the voice memo recordings and music files of my iPhone to the Sonons Beam. Hence, direct connectivity to Sonos Beam is preferred.

Already spend good money for Sonos Beam. I do not want to invest another $399 for Roam.

Some modern TVs are Bluetooth enabled so you may be able to pair with that and the sound will come from the move. Or buy a Roam and group with the Beam?

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I would like to stream the voice memo recordings and music files of my iPhone to the Sonons Beam. Hence, direct connectivity to Sonos Beam is preferred.

Already spend good money for Sonos Beam. I do not want to invest another $399 for Roam.

The Roam is $169 I think.  But as already stated you can use Airplay.  You don’t need to buy anything else and you don’t need Bluetooth.

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/1230?language=en_US

 

As a general rule, I would never assume a product has the specific feature set that I need, regardless of price.  I get why you would the assumption, but of the 165 soundbars on Best Buy’s website right now, only 87 of them have bluetooth.  Granted, the feature is more likely to be here the higher the price of the soundbar, but where exactly is the line where it’s ok to make feature assumptions?

Back in 1980, there wasn’t that many options for audio sources, nor did we have the internet to quickly do research and compare products before we buy them.