Sonos speaker deals take $50 off soundbar and smart speakers at Amazon

Today's Dealmaster is headlined by a nice little sale on new Sonos speakers and soundbars. The deals take $50 off the Sonos One, Sonos One SL, and Sonos Beam, bringing the speakers down to $149, $129, and $349, respectively. This ties the lowest prices we've seen for the One and One SL and marks the biggest discount we've seen for the Beam since it went for $319 on Cyber Monday. (The Beam briefly fell to $299 on Black Friday the week prior.) The sale prices are available on the Sonos website and at online retailers such as Amazon.

Before we go any further, let's address the elephant in the room: Sonos recently came under fire for announcing it will end official software updates for a variety of its older speakers. It also drew ire for forcing users to brick those older devices if they wished to trade up to a newer speaker, only to reverse course last month.

It's worth noting that all the devices Sonos plans to "sunset" launched more than a decade ago—and will still receive security patches after the major updates stop rolling in—while the speakers on sale today launched between 2017-2019 and capably work with all the revamped software Sonos has introduced to its lineup in recent years. Still, this is a problem software-dependent speakers face and classic "dumb" speakers do not have. Sonos' official line is that it promises at least five years of software support for a speaker after it's stopped selling that device directly, so the One, One SL, and Beam should have a long road of software updates ahead of them. But, like any other computer, they do have a shelf life.

That said, the speakers themselves are good. The One remains a better-sounding alternative to the Amazon Echo or Google Home, with Alexa or Google Assistant support baked in. The One SL takes that clean audio quality and strips away the mics for those who don't want anything to do with voice assistants. The Beam certainly works better with additional Sonos speakers serving as a subwoofer or satellites, but on its own, it still provides more volume and a wider soundstage than its compact size might suggest, along with the same smarts as the One.

All three devices suffer from Sonos' usual shortcomings—a lack of Bluetooth audio support and a fiddly software controller chief among them—but also work with Apple's AirPlay 2 protocol, which lets you beam audio to them directly from an iOS device. In any event, sales on Sonos gear are relatively rare, so if you've had your eye on a new premium smart speaker, consider taking a look.

And if you haven't, we also have a great Humble Bundle that supports COVID-19 relief, deals on Kindle eBooks and Amazon's Music Unlimited service, a big buy two, get one free sale on board games and video games, and more. You can check out the full rundown below.

Note: Ars Technica may earn compensation for sales from links on this post through affiliate programs.

Top 10 deals of the day

Laptop and desktop PC deals

• Apple MacBook Air (early 2020) laptop - Intel Core i3-1000NG4, 13.3-inch 2560x1600, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Magic Keyboard for $949.99 at Amazon (normally $999).
• WD Easystore (12TB) external desktop hard drive for $179.99 at Google Shopping and eBay (normally $279.99).

Video game deals

Gaming deals

TV and home entertainment deals

• Sonos Beam smart soundbar for $349 at Amazon and Sonos (normally $399).
• Roku TV Wireless Speakers - only compatible with Roku TVs or Roku Smart Soundbar for $149.99 at Roku (normally $199.99).
• 55-inch Samsung RU8000 (2019 model) 4K LED TV for $539 at BuyDig (discount seen at checkout - normally $700).
• 65-inch Sony X900F (2018 model) 4K HDR LED TV for $998 at Amazon and Walmart (normally $1,098).
• Certified refurb: Sonos Playbar wireless soundbar for $499 at eBay (normally $699).
• Select Prime users: Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K HDR media streamer for $24.99 at Amazon (discount seen at checkout - normally $49.99).

Electronics deals

• Sonos One (2nd gen) smart speaker for $149 at Amazon and Sonos (normally $199).
• Sonos One SL home speaker for $129 at Amazon and Sonos (normally $179).
• Withings Steel HR hybrid smartwatch for $126.74 at Amazon (normally $170).
• Certified refurb: Bose QuietComfort 35 II Bluetooth noise-cancelling headphones for $199.95 at Bose via eBay (normally $349).
• Certified refurb: Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 Bluetooth noise-cancelling headphones for $279.95 at Bose via eBay (normally $399).
• Eufy RoboVac 11S robot vacuum for $159.99 at Amazon (normally $219.99).
• Amazon Echo Show 8 (2-pack) smart display for $199.99 at Amazon (add two to cart and use code: SHOW82PK - normally $230).
• Sony WF-1000XM3 wireless noise-cancelling earphones for $198 at Amazon (normally $228).
• OnePlus 7T (8GB RAM, 128GB) unlocked smartphone for $499 at OnePlus (normally $599).

Accessories and miscellaneous deals

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