Sonos Beam vs LG SL5Y review

Votes 5 5
Rating 2.8 2.8

Sonos Beam vs LG SL5Y comparison chart

Sonos Beam vs LG SL5Y review

Sonos Beam
vs
LG SL5Y

The present review is aimed to compare two soundbars - Sonos Beam vs LG SL5Y that are meant to satisfy the needs of cinema and music lovers. Based on our rating, Beam has a total rating of 6 out of 10 versus 5 for SL5Y. The competitors' control buttons are different: volume down, volume up, microphone, play/pause and power, volume down, volume up, function, respectively.

Audio features

Both soundbars have active amplification type. A significant difference between the units in the number of channels, the Sonos Beam has 3.0 versus 2.1 for the LG SL5Y. Competitors do not have a built-in subwoofer. Rivals have wireless connection to separate subwoofer. The Sonos Beam got our rating of 6 out of 10, and the LG SL5Y 7 for its audio features and specs. Spotify support not implemented in both soundbars.

Connectivity

Only the Sonos Beam can connect to the Internet via WI-FI. Rivals from our review have Bluetooth support. The Sonos Beam has 1/0 HDMI inputs/outputs versus 1/1 of the LG SL5Y. Only the SL5Y supports HDMI Audio Return Channel (ARC). For connectivity, the Beam received a rating of 6/10 versus 7/10, respectively. App control is available for the Beam. A built-in microphone is present only on the Beam. Soundbars do not have Multi-room support.

Multichannel surround

None of soundbars equipped with Dolby Atmos multichannel audio decoder. The soundbars do not support the surround sound technology DTS:X. For multichannel surround Sonos Beam got a rating of 4, and LG SL5Y 6 out of 10.

Advantages Sonos Beam over LG SL5Y

  • WI-FI enabled
  • App control
  • Microphone

Advantages LG SL5Y over Sonos Beam

  • Separate subwoofer in package
  • Audio return channel (HDMI ARC) support
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Common

Product

Sonos Beam
LG SL5Y

Model

Beam
SL5Y

Brand

Sonos
LG

Reviews

3280
379

General

Placement type

table-top, wall-mountable
table-top, wall-mountable

Connection to source

wired, wireless
wired, wireless

Soundbar buttons

volume down, volume up, microphone, play/pause
power, volume down, volume up, function

Audio features

Built-in channels

3.0
2.1

Amplification type

active
active

Output power, W

400 (overall)

Separate speaker (in package)

0
0

Separate speaker connections

wireless
wireless

Subwoofer

Built-in subwoofer

Separate subwoofer (in package)

Separate subwoofer connections

wireless
wireless

Streaming services

Apple Music (AirPlay)

AirPlay 2

Amazon Music

Spotify

Other streaming services

Pandora, Tuneln, Chromecast
has not

Connectivity

WI-FI

Bluetooth

Ethernet (RJ45)

1
0

NFC

HDMI input/output

1/0
1/1

HDMI ARC

HDMI eARC

HDMI CEC

Optical digital input/output

1/0
1/0

USB

1 (USB 2.0)

Coaxial digital input/output

0/0
0/0

Analog audio input/output (RCA)

0/0
0/0

Headphone output

0
0

Subwoofer output

0
0

Features

Voice control

Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant

App control

Microphone

Remote control

Multi-room

Multichannel surround

Dolby Atmos

Dolby (other)

Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital

DTS:X

DTS (other)

has not
DTS Virtual:X

User manual

Manual

Dimensions

Size (Wx H x D), cm/in

65 x 6.8x 10/25.6 x 2.7 x 3.9
89 x 5.5 x 8.6/35. x 2.2 x 3.4

Weight, kg/pounds

2.8/6.2
2.3/5.2

Other

Release year

2018
2019
Sonos Beam
LG SL5Y
Sonos Beam
LG SL5Y

Soundbars SoundStrokes Art comparison rating

  • better
  • worse
  • 6
  • 5
  • 6Sonos Beam
  • 5LG SL5Y

Sonos Beam competitors

LG SL5Y competitors