Bose Solo 5 vs Sonos Beam Soundbar: In this post, we are going to review and compare most selling soundbars Sonos beam vs Bose Solo 5 to find out which one is really the best budget soundbar in terms of sound quality, specs & features, design, and connectivity.
If you are in hurry and don’t want to read the full post then check this out!
I know due to many reasons sometimes we don’t have time to read the full post and want quick information.
So keeping that in mind, this section for you Here’s the best budget soundbar.
Sonos Beam Soundbar
- The smart, compact soundbar for TV, music, and more
- High definition sound & bass
- Easy control – Control Beam with your voice, remote, the Sonos app, and more.
- Compact size – At just 25.6 inches,
- Simple setup – plug, play & enjoy
- Connect to other Sonos speakers to enjoy brilliant sound in any or every room.
If you want to know more about the Sonos beam soundbar and its all features then read the full post.
Now It’s time to go over the Sonos beam vs Bose solo 5 comparison guide!
| Specs | Sonos Beam | Bose Solo 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Model/Year: | Beam (2018) | Solo 5 (2016) |
| Size (inch) : | 2.7 H x 25.6 W x 3.9 D” | 2.6 H x 21.6 W x 3.4 D” |
| Weight : | 6.35 pounds | 3.7 pounds |
| Mounting Type : | Wall Mountable, Tap top | Wall Mountable, Tap top |
| Connectivity : | Wired, Wifi, Bluetooth | Wired, Bluetooth |
| Input/Output : | 1x HDMI, Ethernet RJ45, Optical audio input, | Optical audio input, Coaxial audio input, 3.5 mm aux input |
| Buttons : | Volume up/down, play/pause, microphone | ❌ Don’t have any |
| Built-in Channel : | 3.0 | 2.0 |
| Built-in Subwoofer : | ❌ | ❌ |
| Microphone : | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Voice Control : | Amazon Alexa, Google assistant | ❌ |
| App Control : | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Remote Control : | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Streaming Features: | Airplay 2, Pandora, TuneIn, Chromecast | ❌ |
| Others : | Separate wireless connection with speakers & woofers, Dolby Digital | Dialogue mode, Dolby Digital |
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| Back : |  |
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| Price : |
Sonos Beam review
Sonos Beam Specs:
| Model | : | Beam (2018) |
| Size & Weight | : | 2.7 H x 25.6 W x 3.9 D inches, 6.35 pounds |
| Mounting | : | Wall Mountable, Tap top |
| input/Output | : | 1 HDMI, Ethernet RJ45, Optical audio input |
| Connectivity | : | Wire, Wifi, Bluetooth |
| Buttons | : | Volume up/down, play/pause, microphone |
| Control | : | Voice control, App control, Remote control |
| Other Features | : |
3.0 built-in channel, Microphone, Separate wireless connection with speakers & woofers, Dolby Digital, Streaming services- Airplay2, Chromecast, Pandora, TuneIn |
Customer Ratings- 4.7 stars out of 5 (Overall total)
- Sound Quality- 4.4
- Volume control- 4.3
- Easy to install- 4.2
- Versatility- 4.1
- Remote Control- 4.1
- Value for money- 4.0
Sonos Beam soundbar is equipped with many smart & rich features like wireless connetcivity, internet and on top of that voice assistants support that let you can control beam soundbar with an app.
Sonos Beam Features:
- Sonos beam has very compact and stylish design in 2 differnt color variants white and black, plus it’s super easy to setup just unbox, plug to play, automatically remote detection and enjoy.
- You can even control the soundbar either with app or voice command.
- This sonos soundbar mode has 3.0 built-in channel with RJ45 internet connectivity.
- Users can connect with wireless bluetooth and wifi as well as wired connection also availiable.
- Sonos beam not only good for TV but also for music and video games as it provides Crisp, HD immersive sound quality.
- Users can adjust bass, treble from Sonos phone app.
- And the best thing this sound bar also support streaming services like Airplay, Chromecast, Pandora, TuneIn.
- Users can also add seprate wireless onos One SLs for surround sound or Sonos Sub for added bass. And always free to connect with other Sonos speakers to enjoy brilliant sound in any or every room.
- This soundbar also comes with built-in microphone.
- And as for the power supply, it runs on 100-240 volts 50-60 Hz AC power.
Sonos Beam: Pros and Cons
Pros
- Sleek and stylish design
- Amazing sound quality from a compact-sized soundbar
- Easy to setup
- Bluetooth & wifi connectivity
- Smart features with Internet
- Streaming services available
- Can controllable from voice, app and universal remote
- Very responsive with Google and Alexa voice commands
- Can also play music/videos from your phone
- Sonos ecosystem for music and multi-room audio
Cons
- Only 1 HDMI ARC connection, once you use it to connect with TV, then no way to connect other 4K/HDR-capable devices.
- Not come with built-in subwoofer and needs separate ones to connect, So people who expect tons of bass may be disappointed. But this can be avoided by connecting a separate Sonos subs.
Bose Solo 5 Tv Sound System review
Sonos Beam Specifications:
| Model | : | Solo 5(2016) |
| Size & Weight | : | 2.6 H x 21.6 W x 3.4 D” inches, 3.7 pounds |
| Mounting | : | Wall Mountable, Tap top |
| input/Output | : | Optical audio input, Coaxial audio input, 3.5 mm aux input |
| Connectivity | : | Wired, Bluetooth |
| Buttons | : | Don’t have buttons |
| Control | : | Remote control, App control |
| Other Features | : |
2.0 built-in channel, Dolby Digital, Dialogue mode |
Customer Ratings- 4.5 stars out of 5 (Overall total)
- Sound Quality- 4.1
- Quality of material- 4.3
- Easy to install- 4.6
- Bluetooth connectivity- 4.4
- Remote Control- 3.9
- Value for money- 4.0
Bose solo 5 soundbar delivers High defination clear sound that TVs can’t able to provide, It has dialogue mode that brings enhancement to soundeffects and make each word standout.
Bose Solo 5 Soundbar Features:
- With compact design and lightweight just 3.7 pounds, you can place bose soundbar solo 5 anywhere according to your need.
- As for it’s sound quality, bose solo 5 tv sound system produce crisp clear HD sound with deep bass.
- And the best part of bose solo 5 soundbar that you are incharge of bass, need extra bass while listen music or gmaing then simply incrase/decrease it using bass button from remote.
- Bose soundbar solo 5 comes with bluetooth so you can even wirelessly connect it with your device and enjoy.
- Setup is also very easy, All you have to do is connect the Bose Solo 5 soudbar system to the TV with an audio cable that can be either optical coaxial or analogue. The soundbar detects automatically which kind of you’re using.
- You can control the soundbar system with an universal remote.
- Mounting this soundbar also very easy, you can even wall mount using the optional WB-120 wall mount.
- And as for the power supply, bose soundbar solo 5 runs on 100-240 volts 50-60 Hz AC power.
Bose Solo 5: Pros and Cons
Pros
- Super amazing sound with deep bass
- You can increase/decrease bass from Universal remote
- Small and compact design
- One connection to Tv
- Dialogue mode enhances every word from movies
- Easy to setup
- Build quality is awesome
- Bluetooth for wireless connectivity
- Affordable Price- Best soundbar under 200$
Cons
- Remote size is a little bit huge, it is around the third of the size of the soundbar.
Design & Size
Bose solo 5 vs Sonos Beam: Design & Size
Both soundbars Sonos beam (size 2.7 H x 25.6 W x 3.9 D inches) and Bose solo 5 (size 2.6 H x 21.6 W x 3.4 D inches) has small but compact design with the sturdy build quality.
But Sonos Beam design feels more sleek and good looking as its corners are rounded and best for big living rooms as it has 5.1 surround sound support. Plus connect other Sonos sound devices wirelessly via app and sync with beam soundbar.
And if you looking for the best soundbar saving space then Bose solo 5 tv sound system is the best option for you as it’s 4inches smaller & thinner and even lighter than Sonos beam soundbar.
Bose vs Sonos Soundbar winner: Sonos Beam Soundbar
Audio/Sound Quality
Sonos beam and Bose solo 5 both give an amazing sound experience than the TV, but Sonos beam has a high edge on sound quality because it has a 3.0 built-in channel while solo 5 has only 2.0 built-in channel.
On the other hand, on both soundbars bass can be adjusted but the difference is only solo 5 let you do it from universal remote and Beam let you do it straight from its app.
Bose solo 5 has a very unique feature that is also mentioned, its dialogue mode which enhances the clarity of every word and gives the best movie experience. You can activate it from Bose solo 5 remote by pressing the speech bubble.
The only thing to bear in mind while activating this feature is that it only works best with watch programs that have speaking and are not suitable for music or gaming.
Sonos beam also this feature with another name Speech Enhancement feature, which also does the same thing (like Bose solo 5 tv sound system) enhance the clarity of words while watching movies or TV shows.
Like I said both soundbars have quite similar sound features but by choosing Sonos beam, you are getting more advanced features.
Winner: Sonos Beam Soundbar
Set up & Connectivity
Sonos beam vs Bose solo 5: Set Up & Connectivity
Set-Up
Sonos beam & Solo 5 bose soundbar both can be easily set up by connecting few cords to the power supply that’s all. Just plug, play and enjoy!
You can set up both soundbars on the table-top or on the wall by using a wall-mount.
Connectivity
As for the bose solo 5 tv sound system, it has Optical audio input, Coaxial audio input, 3.5 mm aux input to wired connect with devices and Bluetooth to connect wirelessly.
On the other hand, the Sonos beam soundbar has 1 HDMI, Optical audio input to connect with TV and an Ethernet RJ45 port for the internet. Users can also wireless connect it with devices via Wifi and Bluetooth.
With an HDMI port, users can also connect to gaming consoles or other 4K devices. The optical audio port also does the same thing.
Sonos beam has more options to connect with devices on both terms wired and wirelessly. plus, users can even stream via Airplay2, Chromecast and Pandora.
And the best part is you can even connect separate Sonos devices wirelessly and sync via app with beam soundbar to get amazing sound experience in every corner of the house.
Bose vs Sonos Soundbar winner: Sonos Beam Soundbar
Controls
Sonos Beam vs Bose Solo 5: Controls
Controlling makes it convenient to use the devices and this is no different in Soundbars as there are many things and features we want to control according to our convenience.
And Beam soundbar also has the upper hand in controls, There are many options that users can use especially tech-savvy to control this soundbar like Voice command via Alexa or Google Assistant, Using remote control and also from its Sonos S2 App.
Plus, there are also touch capacitive buttons on the soundbar- volume up/down, play/pause and microphone usage button.
On the other side, in Bose Solo 5 Tv sound system only has a Universal remote to control it, even with no physical button on the soundbar.
But one of the good things about its universal remote, you can add multiple other devices on this remote and use it to control them too. So one remote for many devices. which is quite convenient. But that’s only going to work with compatible devices.
Bose vs Sonos Soundbar winner: Sonos Beam Soundbar
Smart Features
Sonos Beam vs Bose solo 5: Smart features
With Sonos, beam users get RJ45 & wifi input to connect to the internet that enables its many features like voice control via APP, Alexa or google assistant.
You can even give the command to switch on/off the TV (only if your TV supports CEC features and if you connect it to the soundbar with an HDMI-ARC cable), checkout news, play music from youtube many more things like that you do with google assistant in your phone.
Apple users can also stream music via Airplay2 streaming available in this soundbar.
While the other hand, the Solo 5 tv soundbar system don’t have any smart feature like Sonos beam except Bluetooth that we can use to connect and stream music from the device.
Bose vs Sonos Soundbar winner: Sonos Beam Soundbar
In this soundbar comparison, bose solo 5 much affordable and the best soundbar under 200$ dollars. In which you are getting a smaller compact design, good sound quality with deep bass, universal remote and no hassle in setup.
But compared to the Sonos beam soundbar it has fewer features.
Sonos is expensive, but it has many great features and options that I think making its price fair & square-like,
- Bass, Treble and Speech adjustment straight from mobile app
- Internet connection,
- Ability to separately connect wirelessly with other Sonos devices
- Voice and App control
- Streaming services
So I can recommend If you want an affordable soundbar and not many smart features then buy bose solo 5 soundbar.
But want smart features and sleek design in your soundbar then buy Sonos beam soundbar.
- Internet connection compatibility
- Microphone
- HDMI Arc port
- More control and connection options
- Wireless connection to other devices
- Streaming services- Airplay2, Chromecast, pandora, TuneIn support
FAQ: Most Asked Question on Bose Solo 5 vs Sonos beam Soundbar
Is Sonos Beam better than Bose?
Yes, Sonos beam is better than bose solo 5, Read the full post to know why Sonos beam is far better soundbar!
What is the difference between a Bose Solo and a Bose Solo 5?
Sonos beam soundbar has smart features like internet connectivity, voice commands and amazing sound quality, I suggest you read this post full to know all reasons and details.
Can you add a subwoofer to Bose Solo 5?
No, you cannot.
