A Sonos device with model number S59 and product code RM059 got FCC authorization on August 14, and the paperwork carries the internal name Gambit, including metadata for a future user booklet. Sonos calls it a wireless smart speaker in the filing. Bloomberg reported it looks a lot like the Beam Gen 2 and is expected at a September reveal. Nothing is official, and Sonos has the manual, external photos and internal photos sealed until January 27, 2027.
What the filing actually confirms is the radio, and only the radio. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi across 2.4, 5 and 6GHz, with 2x2 MIMO. That is worth something, because the current Beam Gen 2 is still listed with Wi-Fi 4 and no Bluetooth while the Arc Ultra already has Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth. So the compact bar would finally join the same century as the flagship.
Everything else is open. Nobody knows the driver count, whether there are real upfiring drivers, whether Sound Motion shows up in a chassis that small, whether DTS ever arrives, or how many HDMI ports there are. Anyone quoting those numbers today is making them up.
The upfiring question is the one that decides whether this is worth an upgrade. Beam Gen 2 does its Atmos with processing and phantom heights, while Arc Ultra uses two upfiring tweeters in a cabinet nearly twice as wide. At 25.6 inches there is not much room to add real height drivers without hurting something else. And the gap Sonos is filling here runs from 499 dollars to 1,099, which is a lot of space for one product to cover.
If the only headline change is the wireless stack, is that a reason for anyone to replace a working Beam?
What the filing actually confirms is the radio, and only the radio. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi across 2.4, 5 and 6GHz, with 2x2 MIMO. That is worth something, because the current Beam Gen 2 is still listed with Wi-Fi 4 and no Bluetooth while the Arc Ultra already has Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth. So the compact bar would finally join the same century as the flagship.
Everything else is open. Nobody knows the driver count, whether there are real upfiring drivers, whether Sound Motion shows up in a chassis that small, whether DTS ever arrives, or how many HDMI ports there are. Anyone quoting those numbers today is making them up.
The upfiring question is the one that decides whether this is worth an upgrade. Beam Gen 2 does its Atmos with processing and phantom heights, while Arc Ultra uses two upfiring tweeters in a cabinet nearly twice as wide. At 25.6 inches there is not much room to add real height drivers without hurting something else. And the gap Sonos is filling here runs from 499 dollars to 1,099, which is a lot of space for one product to cover.
If the only headline change is the wireless stack, is that a reason for anyone to replace a working Beam?
