We've currently tested 10 Sonos soundbars. Sonos is an audio-centric brand that sells a wide range of home audio devices, including speakers. The brand focuses on creating multi-room home audio systems that bring your favorite music to every room of your house, creating a unique ecosystem that's easy to control via its all-in-one app. Its soundbars fit right into the mix, and you can even pair them with some Sonos rear speakers and a subwoofer for a more immersive surround sound.
Updates
- 01/10/2025 Sonos Ultimate Immersive Set with Arc Ultra reviewed
- 11/28/2024 Sonos Arc Ultra reviewed
- 01/17/2024 Sonos Beam updated
- 12/06/2023 Sonos Arc updated
- 10/12/2023 Sonos Beam (Gen 2) updated
Best Sonos Soundbars
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Best Sonos Soundbar
Mixed Usage8.1Dialogue/TV Shows8.3Music8.4Movies7.8Channels7.1.4The best Sonos soundbar we've tested is the Sonos Ultimate Immersive Set with Arc Ultra. This versatile soundbar setup builds on the standalone Sonos Arc Ultra, with a dedicated subwoofer for improved bass reproduction and two Sonos Era 300 speakers for surround sound. This package treats you to a captivating listening experience with Dolby Atmos content, thanks to the up-firing drivers in the bar and satellites. The kit has a balanced frequency response suitable for different kinds of usages, with a wide and immersive soundstage that enlivens music, movies, and TV.
Using its TruePlay room calibration tool, the soundbar automatically tunes to your space's unique acoustics. In addition, other features such as 'Night' mode, 'Speech Enhancement,' and bass and treble sliders, alongside listening mode presets help bolster the soundbar as a flexible option for your home theater. As a hub for home entertainment, you can connect to Bluetooth, AirPlay 2, and Wi-Fi, alongside HDMI eARC, and go hands-free with the voice assistant. Meanwhile, the soundbar supports many common audio formats like DTS, Dolby Digital Plus, and the object-based Dolby Atmos. Because the Sonos ecosystem has built-in modularity, you can often add pieces from previous speaker releases, too, which adds a welcomed degree of upgradeability to the Sonos Arc Ultra and its various configurations. If you want the best from Sonos, this set is the one to check out.
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Best Mid-Range Sonos Soundbar
Mixed Usage7.9Dialogue/TV Shows8.2Music7.9Movies7.7Channels7.1If you want a premium Sonos soundbar for less, check out the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) with Sub Mini + One SL Speakers. It's the next generation of the original Sonos Beam, and it keeps the same small and compact design as its predecessor for easy integration into smaller living rooms. This generation also supports Dolby Atmos content, so you can enjoy an immersive sound with your favorite movies and TV shows on streaming platforms and Blu-rays. Despite its small size, this bar uses psychoacoustic principles to stretch sound past its edges for a more cinematic feel, so your audio is more dimensional and immersive.
This soundbar is suitable for all sorts of audio content. It's available as the standalone Sonos Beam (Gen 2) for those who don't have space for a sub and satellites, but the add-ons improve its sound, especially in the bass range. This bar clearly reproduces voices and lead instruments, and you get plenty of thump in the bass for explosive scenes. Like the Sonos Ultimate Immersive Set with Arc Ultra, you can access the TruePlay room correction feature, and there's built-in support for Alexa and Google Assistant. It doesn't achieve as much height as the Arc Ultra and doesn't get quite as loud, but this small bar still packs a real punch.
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Best Budget Sonos Soundbar
Mixed Usage6.3Dialogue/TV Shows7.0Music6.7Movies5.5Channels2.0The Sonos Ray is the best Sonos sound bar in the budget category we've tested. This small all-in-one 2.0 bar is ideal for listening to stereo content, which includes most music and dialogue-focused TV shows. Despite its budget-friendly price, you can still access the TruePlay room correction feature on the companion app with your iOS or Android device. Voices are especially clear and detailed out of the box, and lead instruments reproduce with accuracy. As a result, it's suitable for listening to many different music genres and TV shows like sitcoms.
As a small, standalone bar, it's ideal for those who don't have a lot of space in their living rooms. Of course, it doesn't bring as much rumble in the bass, so fans of genres like EDM and hip-hop may want to add a separate sub. Compared to Sonos' premium offerings, there's no Dolby Atmos support either. It can still playback 5.1 surround sound formats like Dolby Digital. Since it has to downmix surround content into stereo to play it, the representation isn't quite as immersive, but separate satellites are always available to enhance its performance. It's a good choice for a simple plug-and-play upgrade over your existing TV speakers.
Compared To Other Brands
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Easily upgradable setup.
If you don't have a lot of space in your setup, you can use the standalone soundbars to enhance your TV's sound. However, if you move to a larger space or change your mind down the line, Sonos sells compatible subwoofers and satellites that you can add to your setup to improve its performance. -
Wireless multi-room system available.
Sonos sells a wide array of speakers and home audio devices, and their companion app makes it easy to control your music ecosystem in one place. You can use the app to play audio in every room of your house, either in unison or separately. However, you'll need an iOS device to access the advanced version of the room correction feature.
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Wide, immersive soundstage.
Most Sonos soundbars use psychoacoustic principles to make it seem like your favorite movies and music extend well past the edges of the bar itself, resulting in a soundstage that seems to stretch all around you.
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App volatility.
Sonos soundbars don't have traditional hardware remotes. Instead, they use a companion app to control the bar. However, in 2024, the app was overhauled, and users lost access to some features overnight. Most of these functions have since been reinstated, but this highlights the possibility that the app experience can dramatically change over the course of time.
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No EQ.
If you like to customize the way your bar sounds, unfortunately, Sonos doesn't have a lot of tools on hand. Its premium setups come with bass and treble adjustments, but you won't find a graphic EQ to customize the sound across the range.
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No HDMI passthrough.
Sonos' soundbars don't come with HDMI In ports. That means you can't use them to passthrough high-quality video formats from media devices or gaming consoles.
Sonos vs Bose
Bose and Sonos are two premium soundbar manufacturers whose products address a similar market segment. Their top-of-the-line products have built-in smart features like voice assistants for hands-free control, and their wide and immersive soundstages provide a clear and real feel with audio formats like Dolby Atmos. However, Sonos supports DTS content, unlike Bose soundbars. If you already own products in their ecosystem, you can usually connect them to stream audio around your house.
Sonos vs Samsung
Samsung manufactures a wider array of soundbars, so you'll find more mid-range and budget-friendly models in their lineup than Sonos. Samsung's top-of-the-line models are comparable to Sonos', with impressive sound quality and built-in smart features for hands-free control. Sonos tends to shine with soundstage performances, but Samsung soundbars offer more sound enhancement features and HDMI In ports for video passthrough.
Sonos is a premium audio brand with a small array of soundbars to enhance your TV's audio. Their setups are easily upgradable, either by adding subwoofers and satellites or connecting them to your existing Sonos ecosystem to synchronize sound throughout different rooms of your house. If you have the brand's headphones, the Sonos Ace Wireless, you can even connect them to supported bars and swap audio. Compared to other premium brands, though, there aren't as many sound customization tools on hand, but the best Sonos soundbars deliver clear sound out of the box, so you don't have to tinker with their settings too much.
Lineup
Sonos only has a few soundbars on the market. Unlike other manufacturers, these products tend to stay available for multiple years in a row, and Sonos doesn't replace them annually. You can learn a bit about the expected features through the naming conventions:
- Arc series: Top-of-the-line model with Atmos support. The second generation has the suffix 'Ultra.'
- Beam series: Mid-range offering; only the 2nd generation has Atmos support.
- Ray series: Budget-friendly model for stereo content.
Recent Updates
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Our top Sonos soundbar pick has been updated to the Sonos Ultimate Immersive Set with Arc Ultra, replacing the previous Sonos Ultimate Immersive Set with Arc. The text has been lightly updated throughout for accuracy.
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Oct 09, 2024: Sonos hasn't recently released any new soundbars, so our picks remain the same. That said, we've checked this article to ensure its quality and accuracy.
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Jul 15, 2024: We've added a note about compatibility with the Sonos Ace Wireless headphones.
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Mar 13, 2024: We haven't tested any new Sonos soundbars since the last update.
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Nov 22, 2023: We haven't tested any new Sonos soundbars since the last update. Since our picks remain available, they stay the same.
Conclusion
Sonos is a popular brand for audio lovers who want to enhance their favorite music, movies, and TV shows. Their premium soundbars are a solid choice with great audio quality right out of the box and fit into your existing Sonos ecosystem. You don't get as many enhancement features and physical connection ports as other premium brands, but their plug-and-play performance won't disappoint.