Sonos Beam 2 Soundbar vs Bose 600 Soundbar: Indian audio market has numerous brands offering budget-friendly soundbars and home theatres delivering impactful audio output topped with essential features. However, in the premium soundbar and home theatre category, there are only two primary contenders— Bose and Sonos. Both American audio manufacturers have recently launched their soundbars equipped with Dolby Atmos, falling under the same price bracket.
We brought the Sonos Beam 2 Soundbar and Bose 600 Soundbar to do a fair comparison. Stride along to know the winner in the audio war: Sonos Beam 2 Soundbar vs Bose 600 Soundbar, and which one is worth purchasing in 2023.
Note: To end the debate about Sonos Beam 2 Soundbar vs Bose 600 Soundbar, we have purchased both soundbars and tested them for a couple of months in different rooms. Based on our overall experience with the two audio beasts, we have framed this review.
Highlights
Box Content:
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Design and Looks
Both soundbars carry a premium look with top-notch build quality. To further enhance the premiumness, both brands have creatively used the amalgamation of metal and plastic in the build. The metal used in the soundbars is durable, while the plastic gives it a matte finish with a soft touch.
The touch controls and microphone holes can be spotted on the top of the Sonos Beam 2 wireless soundbar. Contrarily, on the Bose 600 soundbar, you get an upward-firing speaker grill on the top of the soundbar.
Connectivity Options
Connectivity modes play a vital role in linking with other devices and leveraging the audio capabilities.
The Sonos Beam 2 wireless soundbar has an array of connectivity options, including an HDMI port, optical port, LAN port and dual-band Wi-Fi. Bluetooth seems missing, right? No, it isn’t. During the Sonos Beam 2 soundbar review, we found that it has Bluetooth support but for connecting it with other Sonos devices.
Adversely, the Bose 600 soundbar comes with all the necessary connectivity options— HDMI (eARC), optical port, service port, Bluetooth 4.2 and dual-band Wi-Fi.
Remote Control
The Sonos Beam 2 wireless soundbar doesn’t have a dedicated remote control for controlling the device. Instead, it is handled by a featureful application available for Android and iOS devices, but a few features are iOS-exclusive. On the top of the soundbar rests far-field microphones that can be used to command Alexa or Google Assistant.
Oppositely, the Bose home speaker 600 has a sleek and minimalist design remote control with all essential keys, making it one of the best parts of the whole audio system.
Audio Quality: Sonos Beam 2 Soundbar vs Bose 600 Soundbar
The Bose 600 soundbar and Sonos Beam 2 wireless soundbar should be connected to the TV with an HDMI port, particularly HDMI ARC or HDMI eARC, if you have it.
Check out the audio files attached below.1
Both soundbars deliver incredible output, giving you a cinema hall-like experience at home.
Sonos Beam 2 Soundbar
Bose 600 Soundbar
Bass Performance
After plugging in the subwoofers, the bass response from both the Bose 600 soundbar and the Sonos Beam 2 wireless soundbar was outstanding. However, there is a major difference that is unspottable in the audio tests. The Bose’s subwoofer, Bose Bass Module 500, gives you an omnidirectional bass. What is an omnidirectional bass? Omnidircetional bass is a property of audio devices that gives the same bass response in the whole area irrespective of its placement—however, the Sonos sub mini wireless subwoofer misses this essential feature.
Remember, in the audio rivalry: Sonos Beam 2 soundbar vs Bose 600 soundbar, both brands fall in the premium audio segment; hence, they will not emit the audible bass. They will not spoil their audio signature in the upper bass by tightening or loosing bass. Instead, you will get proper bass. The bass performance of the Bose wireless subwoofer is magical because it delivers the output in the form of layers, elevating the overall sound experience.
Also, the bass response from the Sonos sub mini wireless subwoofer is exceptional. You won’t hear the tight or loose bass; instead, you will feel the proper bass. Is it as good as the Bose 500 subwoofer? Not really! It lacks the omnidirectional bass. Moreover, the right placement of the subwoofer is essential to get the desired output.
Surround Sound (Only in 5.1 Soundbar)
Audio files cannot reveal the surround sound quality; you need to experience it by staying with the two audio beasts. The Bose 600 soundbar and Sonos Beam 2 wireless soundbar are both equipped with Dolby Atmos. However, the Sonos One Gen 2 wireless speakers emit perfect surround sound, but it is not a proper surround channel. It has a speaker and a tweeter with two class D amplifiers playing different frequencies, creating the magic or surround, but it is still not up to the mark.
Contrarily, Bose surround speakers are dedicated surround channels. With the mono driver surround channel, the Bose speakers only play the surround frequencies. As stated before, the Bose delivers the audio output in the form of layers, therefore giving you the perfect surround sound experience.
Lastly, In the audio war: Sonos Beam vs Bose soundbar, both are Dolby Atmos compatible, but Bose gave an unmatchable experience compared to Sonos.
Additional features
Both audio devices support Dolby Digital Plus along with all audio formats. In Sonos, you get the Apple Airplay 2, Alexa and Google Assistant support. The cherry on the top is the technology to measure the room’s acoustics, declared by the American manufacturer.
Adversely, in Bose, you get built-in Chromecast, Apple Airplay, Alexa and Google Assistant support. However, Bose also features the room’s acoustics measuring technology for enhanced audio, but they haven’t declared it. How are we so sure about this? First, the subwoofer emits an omnidirectional base. Second, connecting surround channels with the Bose 600 soundbar with the Bose Music App takes the acoustic measurements to deliver the right sound.
Warranty and Guarantee
The Bose 600 soundbar and Sonos Beam 2 wireless soundbar have the same warranty package, i.e. one year from the date of purchase.
Following the same, the subwoofer and surround channels of both audio brands also have the same 1-year warranty package.
Price
Prices of soundbars of both brands are comparable. However, subwoofer and surround channel costs are way apart. Have a look at the prices:
| Sonos | Bose | |
| Soundbar | ₹ 56,000 | ₹ 54,000 |
| Subwoofer | ₹ 40,000 | ₹ 55,000 |
| Surround Channels | ₹ 38,000 | ₹ 48,000 |
Sonos Beam 2 Soundbar vs Bose 600 Soundbar
Key Specs
Verdict: Sonos Beam 2 Soundbar vs Bose 600 Soundbar
Undoubtedly, Sonos gave a neck-to-neck competition to Bose in the audio rivalry: Sonos Beam 2 Soundbar vs Bose 600 Soundbar. However, in our opinion, Bose clearly knocks out Sonos in this audio game. Based on your choice and preferences, you can go for any of the two brands, as they both deliver magical audio signatures. We also recommend topping the soundbars with subwoofer and surround channels of the same brand to jazz up your audio experience. Do you think we missed something, or do you have any questions? Drop your comments, and we will reply to them ASAP.
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FAQs
Yes, both soundbars are compatible with voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
