This article explains how to ‘power off’ a Sonos Beam. Power off is in quotes because you can’t power down a Sonos Beam in the traditional way, as they don’t have a dedicated power button.
However, if you want to use your TV’s speakers or otherwise not allow your Sonos Beam to draw any power, you can accomplish either of these goals without much effort.
How a Sonos Beam Works and Why
A Sonos Beam will get connected to a television via HDMI-ARC, so your TV can output sound through the Beam, and you can use your TV remote to control your Beam’s volume.
While there are ways to, for example, completely cut off your Sonos Beam’s ability to draw power when you don’t want to use it, Sonos specifically designs their products to draw minimal power when idle. For example, in North America, a Sonos Beam only draws 5.8 watts when idle compared to 6.1 watts in the European Union.
However, a Sonos Beam is also equipped with Bluetooth and can be paired to a range of devices wirelessly in addition to being used as a TV soundbar.
When Bluetooth functionality enters the mix, powering on and powering off speakers tends to be inconvenient because, with wireless tech, you’ll usually want to start using your Beam from another device away from the Beam itself.
Having to walk to the Beam, power it up, and then connect it to Bluetooth can be a hassle. So, Sonos designs the Beam as an always-on device, making it easy to use your Beam from whatever location in your home, assuming you’re in Bluetooth range.
How to Turn Off Sonos Beam
There are two main ways to ’turn off’ a Sonos Beam, depending on what you want to do.
In the first case, if you’d like to use your TV’s speakers and not the Beam, you can disconnect the Beam’s HDMI cable. This way, your TV will now output its sound through its own internal speakers, which you can use your familiar remote control to adjust.
However, the Beam will still be technically ‘running,’ albeit while idle, which will only need 5 to 6 watts. In context, modern light bulbs tend to use 5 to 10 watts when in use.
In the second case, if you don’t plan on using your Beam for a while and don’t want it to draw any power, disconnect its power cable. Naturally, you won’t be able to use the Beam with your TV while it’s unplugged, but unless disconnected, the HDMI port on your TV the Beam is plugged into won’t be available, either.
First, try to disable the built-in speakers on your TV by going to Settings > Sound or Audio and choosing Off or Use External Audio. If this option isn’t available, lower the TV’s volume to zero without using the Mute button. Then, only use the Sonos app or home theater speaker’s volume buttons to change the volume level.
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