Skip to main content

Sennheiser’s Ambeo Soundbar Mini is a pricey, bedroom-sized Dolby Atmos speaker

Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Mini.
Sennheiser

Sennheiser has shrunk its impressive Ambeo surround sound technology into its smallest speaker yet with the newly announced Ambeo Soundbar Mini. It looks just like a smaller version of the excellent Ambeo Soundbar Plus, with a footprint that’s nearly identical to the Sonos Beam Gen 2 and the Bose Smart Soundbar 600. But at $800, it’s considerably more expensive than either of those Dolby Atmos soundbars. The Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Mini will be available starting September 1 at sennheiser-hearing.com and select retailers.

An exploded view of the Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Mini.
An exploded view of the Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Mini Sennheiser

At the opposite end of the size spectrum from the colossal Ambeo Soundbar Max, the Ambeo Soundbar Mini might look a lot like its larger sibling, the Ambeo Soundbar Plus, but the similarities aren’t much more than skin deep. Where the Plus has nine discrete drivers, including dedicated up-firing height speakers and dual subwoofers, the Mini maintains the dual subwoofers, but relies on just two front-facing and two side-firing full-range drivers for most of its sound. Though it can still process 7.1.4 channels, the height and surround channels are handled via virtualization.

Recommended Videos

The Mini has also been given a pared-down set of inputs. All that remains of the Ambeo Soundbar Plus’ multiple HDMI, optical, and analog ports is a single HDMI ARC/eARC port. There’s no longer the ability to use a wired subwoofer, and even the Ethernet port has been removed, leaving the Mini with just Wi-Fi for network connectivity.

Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Mini and Ambeo Sub.
Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Mini and Ambeo Sub Sennheiser

Still, you can pair the Ambeo Soundbar Mini with up to four of Sennheiser’s wireless Ambeo Subs. The speaker also benefits from Sennheiser’s easy and effective room calibration software, and its many settings can be accessed via the intuitive Sennheiser Smart Control app for iOS or Android. For quick adjustments, Sennheiser includes the same robust remote control that it supplies with its larger Ambeo soundbars.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Support for wireless connections, audio formats, and streaming services is excellent — among the most comprehensive in the soundbar world. The Mini works with Apple AirPlay 2, Chromecast, Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect, and Bluetooth, and is compatible with Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, MPEG-H, and Sony’s 360 Reality Audio (360RA) immersive 3D audio format.

You can also configure the Ambeo Soundbar Mini as a smart speaker using Amazon Alexa. Doing so also lets you add the Mini to Amazon’s multiroom speaker function.

Despite these desirable features, there’s no getting around the fact that the $800 Ambeo Soundbar Mini is the most expensive virtual Dolby Atmos soundbar you can buy — eclipsing even Sony’s HT-A3000 by $100.

Digital Trends received Ambeo Soundbar Mini for evaluation, but some unexpected glitches with way the speaker handles low-end bass has temporarily halted the review process. Sennheiser has promised firmware fixes for the problems within the week, so we expect to be able to give you our full impressions of the smallest Ambeo soundbar shortly after it goes on sale.

We know you’re wondering whether the Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Mini is worth $800 — so are we — and we’ll have an answer for you very soon. Stay tuned!

Simon Cohen
Simon Cohen is a contributing editor to Digital Trends' Audio/Video section, where he obsesses over the latest wireless…
Dolby Atmos Music in a Rivian R1S is a transformative experience
The center console touchscreen in a Rivian R1S displaying Dolby Atmos Music tracks on Apple Music.

When most of us think about Dolby Atmos, an immersive movie experience with loads of speakers is what comes to mind. It is, after all, where the first Dolby Atmos experience happened back in 2012 at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood. The object-based surround sound system extended into the home a couple years later, initially requiring either up-firing speakers (integrated into the speakers or added with a separate module on top of a speaker) or ceiling-mounted speakers paired with an AV receiver (AVR). Later, soundbars made the point of entry for Atmos easier, sometimes utilizing advanced virtualization to accomplish the feat instead of discrete speakers.

Dolby Music then followed, with R.E.M.'s 25th anniversary remix of Automatic for the People being one of the first major releases. It was a bit slow going until streaming services began supporting the format more and, perhaps more importantly, major headphones manufacturers included spatial audio in their releases. In my experience, Dolby Music can be a hit-or-miss experience. Even on my home setup, I sometimes sit back while listening to a Dolby Atmos mix and just think, "Why bother?" before putting on a stereo recording. But when it's right, oh man is it good, and I recently got the chance to hear a demo that was so very, very good.

Read more
Amazon’s Fire TV Soundbar Plus gets Dolby Atmos, but still no Fire TV
Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus.

Amazon is getting serious about home theater sound with its first Dolby Atmos soundbar. Following the company's release of the $100 2.0-channel Amazon Fire TV Soundbar in 2023, it has a new addition to the family: the Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus, which supports a 3.1-channel layout with both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, for $250. You can also buy it with a companion wireless subwoofer for $375 or add a set of wireless surround speakers for a 5.1-channel setup for $490. However, you'll need to think carefully before you buy. Unlike other soundbars that have optional wireless accessories, you can't buy the subwoofer and surrounds separately.

Just like the first Amazon Fire TV Soundbar, the Fire TV Soundbar Plus doesn't actually contain Fire TV streaming hardware. To watch Fire TV content, you'll still need a Fire TV, like the Amazon Fire TV Omni Mini-LED Series that was announced at the same time, or one of Amazon's other Fire TV streaming devices. It's also not an Alexa device and isn't compatible with Amazon Alexa.

Read more
Bose soundbars can now send surround sound to your earbuds
Bose Smart Soundbar.

Bose has rebranded its midrange Smart Soundbar 600 as simply the "Bose Smart Soundbar." The size, the sound, and even price ($499) remain the same, but the new model offers an improved AI-powered dialogue mode, plus a wild new option for those who own the company's Bose Open Ultra Earbuds: surround sound without surround speakers. It's available starting September 18 from bose.com.

Bose's AI Dialogue Mode debuted on the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar, and its machine learning-based algorithm lets the soundbar automatically adjust tonal balance in real time when it detects speech in an audio stream for clarity. This creates more separation between voices and background sound effects.

Read more