Sonos launches premium Arc soundbar to blow your home away with ‘cinema quality’ sound
Sonos has pulled back the curtain on its newest soundbar, the Sonos Arc, which promises ‘cinema-quality’ sound in your living room.
The Arc replaces the Playbar and Playbase as Sonos’ premium soundbar offering and sits above the Sonos Beam in the company’s line-up.
Inside the Arc are eleven high-performance drivers, including two that are upward firing for 3D audio. It provides support for Dolby Digital 5.1 and much-coveted Dolby Atmos surround sound technology.
‘Home has never played a more important role in our lives and we’ve always been about making the home more enjoyable with great sounding products and new experiences,’ said Patrick Spence, Sonos CEO.
‘Arc brings the sounds of our favourite shows and artists to life like never before.
‘Our goal is to make any room you have a television a place you can easily enjoy all of the great streaming video and music that exists today. Arc illustrates our commitment to brilliant sound and premium design, and sets a new standard for soundbars.’
The Sonos Arc doesn’t come cheap at £799, but it’s hard to argue that it’s launching at a bad time. Considering we can’t leave our homes to go to the cinema, it seems like a good idea to upgrade your home set up to make Netflix or Amazon Prime a little more cinematic.
The gadget is available in Sonos’ signature matte black or matte white and features a 270-degree rounded plastic grille. It boasts a ‘calm, seamless exterior for multi-dimensional sound that elegantly fits within the home.’
It has one port – a an HDMI eARC slot – which keeps setup as simple as possible. Everything else is handled through the company’s app which is set to get updated to a new platform.
Like other Sonos gear, there’s support for voice assistants like Amazon Alexa or the Google Assistant and support for Apple AirPlay 2.
Although the Arc is the new jewel in Sonos’ crown, it’s also refreshing some of its older hardware. The Sonos Sub and Sonos Five have been updated to include faster processing and increased memory. Both of which will interact exclusively with Sonos’ new app, which launches on June 8.
The new app will deliver ‘an upgraded software platform that will power the next generation of products and experiences from Sonos, including Arc, Five, and the third generation Sub.’
And if that wasn’t enough, Sonos is continuing to bring in music talent for its recently-released original radio stations.