Sonos has expandedits portfoliowith the launch of a third soundbar. TheSonos Raywill be the cheapest soundbar in the company’s offering, sitting below the Sonos Beam Gen 2 and the top-of-the-rangeSonos Arc.
Taking on a similar design approach to theSonos Beam Gen 2but with a few key differences, the Sonos Ray is a compact soundbar that features an angled rear and a speaker grille at the front only, allowing it to be placed within a TV unit for example.
There are four Class-D digital amplifiers making up the soundbar’s acoustic architecture, along with two full-range midwoofers, two tweeters and split waveguides to project sound with one directing forwards and one outwards. There’s also a bass reflex system to help with low-end frequencies.
Connection is via optical rather than HDMI, and there are no smart assistants on board the Sonos Ray orDolby Atmos support, like the Beam 2 and Arc. You’ll find touch controls on the top of the Ray like the Sonos Beam Gen 2 and Sonos Arc though, and you may still control the Sonos Arc with your voice via anothersmart speaker.
Many of the features you’d expect from a Sonos speaker are on board Ray too, including compatibility with over100 music streaming servicesandTrueplayfor tuning - which will be important if you place the Ray in a TV stand rather than on top.
There are also features like Speech Enhancement and Night Sound, both of which are present on the Beam 2 and the Arc. Of course, the Sonos Ray works with any other Sonos speakers you have and it can be used as a traditional Sonos speaker when not enhancing your TV audio.
The Sonos Ray will come in black and white colour options and it will cost£279 in the UK, $279 in the US and €299 in Europe. It will be available from 7 June.
The Sonos Ray offers a lovely design, great sound quality for its size and a range of excellent features for its affordable price.
