Sonos isn’t known for being affordable, but the company has released some cheaper products in recent years, such as the portable Roam speaker.Now, according to edge, Sonos will release its first budget soundbar in the first week of June. The product, apparently codenamed “Fury,” is expected to sell for around $250, which is significantly cheaper than the $449 second-generation Beam (pictured above) and the $899 Arc.
As for what Sonos is missing out on in order to hit this lower price point, the Fury won’t be able to output Dolby Atmos content like the Beam and Arc, and it may not even have an HDMI port; you can use an optical audio cable to connect it to your TV. As a result, it has fewer speaker drivers than other Sonos soundbars. It will be able to be part of a 5.1 surround sound setup using other compatible Sonos speakers – we assume you can use speakers like the Sonos One for surround back just like any other Sonos soundbar.
It sounds like Sonos will also skip adding a microphone to the voice assistant on this model to keep costs down, as they did with their recently released $159 Sonos Roam SL.
A potentially interesting feature is that Sonos will let the Fury work as a rear surround speaker for larger soundbars like the Arc. So Sonos is apparently making a vertical mount for the Fury so that it can be used for Dolby Atmos content.
There are plenty of budget soundbar options on the market from the likes of Vizio and Roku, and Sonos has recently raised prices on almost everything. The original Beam cost $399, but the new one costs $50, making the gap between the Sonos home theater option and those of its more affordable competitors even wider. So it’s a very logical segment of the market for Sonos, and it’s not hard to imagine a $250 soundbar as a good product to get people into the company’s ecosystem.
Sonos declined to comment on today’s leak.
All products featured by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. We may receive an affiliate commission if you purchase through one of these links.
