Leaked new Sonos Fury soundbar hints at cheap home cinema awesomeness for all

The Sonos Beam and the Sonos Arc both feature in our best soundbars guide, but while they're undeniably excellent they're also undeniably expensive – and the best cheap soundbars aren't designed to sit in a Sonos system. So if you like the Sonos sound but aren't so fond of the price tag, the news that Sonos is about to release an affordable soundbar should be very good news indeed.

According to The Verge, the soundbar is currently codenamed "Fury" and should sell for around $249. That's not a typo. Sonos really is planning a soundbar that's nearly half the price of its current cheapest model. If it's good, it'll sell like hotcakes.

So. Is it good?

The Sonos Fury: what's good and what's missing

The new Sonos soundbar will be smaller than the Sonos Beam 2, with a width of 550mm compared to the Beam's 651mm. That's partly because there are fewer speakers in the unit. In order to make a more affordable soundbar, The Verge reports, Sonos is leaving out Dolby Atmos and voice control. Where the existing Sonos soundbars are marketed as home cinema speakers with immersive Atmos sound, this new soundbar will be focused instead on TV shows and music. It'll still deliver Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, but you won't have the upwards-firing audio of Atmos.

One of the interesting bits in the report suggests that Sonos sees this soundbar not just as a soundbar, but as additional surround speakers for Beam and Arc users. You'll be able to wall mount it as well as put it under the TV, so while it won't deliver Atmos on its own you could use it as part of an (expensive, admittedly) Atmos setup with a different Sonos soundbar at the centre.

This isn't the only new product Sonos has in development, although inevitably the firm won't comment on "rumour or speculation". There's a smaller, more affordable Sonos subwoofer in development, and we've known for a couple of years now that Sonos is also working on wireless headphones – although recent comments by Sonos's CEO suggests that those may be a longer-term project, as Sonos doesn't plan to introduce new product categories in this financial year.

The new Sonos soundbar is expected to go on sale in June 2022 and of course, we'll review it as soon as it's available.