JBL has announced the Bar 50 MultiBeam, an all-in-one sound bar that offers Dolby Atmos surround sound for $400

Available this February, the Bar 50 MultiBeam uses the same proprietary MultiBeam digital surround sound technology as the JBL Bar 51 to help create the three-dimensional effect of Atmos More importantly, it does this at a much lower cost than most Atmos-certified soundbars

In fact, the only less expensive Dolby Atmos soundbar we know of is the $199 Anker Soundcore Infini Pro JBL's soundbars use a combination of MultiBeam beamforming and lateral and upward-facing drivers to achieve Atmos plus wireless capabilities to the extent that they are occasionally found in premium soundbars

AirPlay 2, Chromecast, and Alexa multi-room capabilities are included, so it will be easy to cast music regardless of your preferred platform

Being an all-in-one soundbar, there is no subwoofer or included satellite speakers, but JBL claims the four passive radiators help maintain a punchy bass range Perhaps this approach is part of the reason the Bar 50 MultiBeam is $100 cheaper than the Bar 51, even though it does not support Dolby Atmos

Like most of the products presented at the all-digital CES 2021, we did not have the opportunity to touch a real device, so we cannot attest to how the Bar 50 MultiBeam actually sounds that the Infini Pro's Atmos implementation left us frustrated Keep in mind

But $400 for Dolby Atmos, a healthy mix of wireless connectivity options, and a wide range of driver setups is certainly an attractive enough price to keep an ear to the ground We'll know if it's worth it when it becomes available in February