Sonos
Sonos smart speakers are known for their ease of use and sound quality, not their affordability. This is especially true of Sonos’ home theater products such as soundbars, which are only aimed at the midrange and high-end market.
That is about to change, according to recent reports from The Verge. The site claims to have seen pictures of and gained access to information about a new soundbar codenamed Sonos Fury, which has the model number S36. The new soundbar will sell for $ 249, according to the report.
Of course, there are still cheaper competing products from other brands, but this would be Sonos’ cheapest soundbar – Beam sells for $ 449, and Arc sells for $ 899.
The Fury (which may not be the final name) is reportedly slated for a June 7 release date, and like many of Sonos’ other products, it will be available in either black or white.
It will be smaller than the second generation Sonos Beam, at 550 × 69 × 100 mm. (The Beamen measures 651 × 68.6 × 100 mm.) It will lack several features found in Arc or Beam – in particular, it will not support Dolby Atmos, and it will only have an optical audio port instead of an eARC-ready HDMI gate. It will also lack built-in microphones and voice assistant support.
On the other hand, it seems that Sonos wants the product to be more flexible than Beam or Arc in some ways. Beam and Arc are meant to be used only as soundbars during a TV, and Fury will also work that way, but The Verge claims that the soundbar will also act as a rear speaker along with Arc. In that situation, the Fury would be oriented vertically, and it might offer more immersive surround sound than the Sonos One in that role.
Home theater seems to be a big focus for Sonos, which has historically been more focused on music playback than TV, movies or video game audio. A few weeks ago, Sonos released several job postings referring to plans to develop a “Home Theater OS” for future living room products.