It’s hard not to have lofty expectations of the Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Mini. Sennheiser’s first two Ambeo soundbars, the $2,500 Ambeo Soundbar Max and the $1,500 Ambeo Soundbar Plus, are both stunning achievements in sound, each redefining the kind of immersive Dolby Atmos soundbar experience you can expect from single-speaker systems. But both of those soundbars are designed to fill medium-to-large spaces — the Ambeo Soundbar Max is a big brute at nearly 50 inches wide, 6.7 inches tall, and weighing in at over 40 pounds. So when Sennheiser released the much smaller and lighter Ambeo Soundbar Mini at $800 — far more expensive than its two main rivals, the Bose Smart Soundbar 600 and Sonos Beam Gen 2, I expected to be seriously impressed by its sound and features. That mostly happened, but it wasn’t a slam dunk. Here’s what you need to know. The Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Mini looks like a scaled-down version of the Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Plus, right down to the glowing Ambeo logo ...
Crystal-clear, hi-fi sound; Easy setup; Excellent app-based control; Convincing virtual Dolby Atmos; Tons of wireless streaming support; Well-built remote included;
Expensive compared to competitors; Bass response is too mild; No option for wireless surround speakers; No HDMI or optical inputs;