Sonos isn’t far away from announcing its second new device of 2022. Leaked information suggests it will be a budget soundbar codenamed ‘Fury’ which will cost just $249.
This new soundbar will follow on from the Roam SL, launched last month, and is further indication that Sonos is happy to move into the budget end of the home audio market. The Verge has published details of the ‘model S36’ soundbar, which will be cheaper than the Beam, citing a launch date of 7 June.
‘Fury’ is just the codename so we’ll have to wait and see what Sonos calls it, but the leak includes plenty of details about the soundbar beyond its $249 price (we assume this will be £249 in the UK as other Sonos speakers are the same in both currencies).
Not only will it be cheaper than the Beam, but the newcomer will also be smaller too, with a width of 550mm compared to 651mm. Though we can’t publish any images, the design incorporates semicircles at either end, and a Sonos logo in the centre.
Sonos will also drop various features to achieve a lower price. This means the Fury won’t have microphones for use with smart assistants, and reportedly it doesn’t have an HDMI port either: just an optical connection with a cable in the box.
Smaller and cheaper means fewer drivers, so ‘Fury’ owners may have to go without Dolby Atmos support. However, Sonos apparently expects many users of its high-end Arc soundbar (shown in main image) to use the Fury as rear surround sound-speakers – partly because the new soundbar can apparently be mounted vertically.
This would cost more than doing the same with One SL speakers, but it’s possible that slightly angled drivers in the Fury soundbar would do a better job of directing sound towards the ceiling as well as forwards.
Fury will be available, as you might expect given other Sonos soundbars, in either black or white and The Verge also reports that a smaller subwoofer – model S37 – is still in development as well as the long-awaited Sonos headphones.
Check out our guide to the best Sonos speakers.
