Sonos Ray review: Finally a capable budget soundbar

The Sonos Ray comes in for less than $300, making it one of the company’s more affordable speakers. With sound bars growing in popularity, this is a great way to access the Sonos ecosystem.

In comparison, the Sonos Beam is: near $500 and the Arc tilts the scales to about $900. While that makes Ray the seemingly easy choice if you’re looking to save some cash, there are a few caveats to consider.

The Ray itself is slightly smaller than the Sonos Beam. However, it is a bit narrower and should have no problem fitting in front of your TV.

It comes in black or white colorways, although we opted for the former.

The soundbar has an all-plastic design, including the front-facing grille. They all look great, although we will say that the black has a tendency to take on fingerprints.

Physical controls on the top of the Sonos Ray

Your basic controls are located on top of the speaker. They are the same touch-sensitive buttons that you see on all other Sonos speakers. In addition, a multi-control button in the center controls the playback and volume down and up buttons on either side.

Ports on the back of the Sonos Ray

On the back you will find the power input, an Ethernet connection and an optical audio input. Sonos includes the power cable and an ultra-thin optical cable in the box.

Sonos has a talent for speaker placement that is typical of Apple. For example, if the Sonos app is open, the speaker is automatically discovered and appears in a pop-up model, just like a set AirPods.

Since we have other Sonos speakers, the app remembered our credentials and Wi-Fi passcode so it could add it to our account and add it to the home network.

With the speaker added, we were able to use it right away with our television. One last thing to do, however, is to set up your remote.

Using our Apple TV remote with the Sonos Ray

Unlike the Sonos Beam and Sonos Arc, the Ray accepts audio over optical. The other two rely on the Audio Return Channel (ARC) for audio. With HDMI ARC, volume commands are passed through HDMI CEC.

Without ARC, the Ray is forced to rely on infrared commands. This is a problem because many modern TVs have Bluetooth or RF remotes.

If this is your TV, you won’t be able to control the Ray’s volume. Instead, you have to use the controls on top of the soundbar, the Sonos app, or buy a cheap unnamed infrared remote on Amazon.

Fortunately for Apple users, the Apple TV Siri Remote can work just fine. It can send audio commands and control the volume with minimal effort.

You can add speakers to the Sonos Ray

Unlike many other budget soundbars, the Sonos Ray does not include a subwoofer. But there is both good and bad news.

Sonos is a very modular system. You can add a set of additional Sonos speakers to go from stereo to surround audio. We recommend a set of Sonos One SLs or the IKEA Symfonisk picture frame speakers.

There’s even a subwoofer option. That subwoofer has a price tag of $750. You could almost buy three Sonos Rays for the price of the Sonos Sub (Gen 3).

Recent rumors pointed to a new, cheaper Sonos Mini Sub. This is by no means official, but it could be an excellent option for Sonos Ray owners who want a little more punch in the bass.

We’ve been listening to a lot of audio on our Sonos Ray over the past few weeks, including TV shows, movies, and music.

Our takeaway was that – especially for the price – the Sonos Ray sounds great. It offers an excellent sound experience.

It contains four drivers – two tweeters next to two mid-woofers. In addition, physical wave channels help direct the audio to the sides to increase the perceived soundstage.

Watching TV on the Sonos Ray

We were particularly impressed with the clarity of the dialogue when watching movies and TV. When you listen to your TV speakers, the dialogue can often be cloudy and difficult to parse.

There’s no dedicated center channel, but Sonos was able to design the Ray to amplify the sound and let the rest of the sound through. This was a significant difference from the previous $300 Soundbar from Vizio, JBL and others.

Sonos Ray in our living room

However, the bass was only good, and left something to be desired. It’s not bad for the size, but while watching movies like Jurassic Park, we wanted to feel that roar in our chest, and we just didn’t.

Apple iPhone users can also use TruePlay to tune the audio. For example, you walk through the room and the microphone of the telephone adjusts the sound to the acoustics of your house.

Sonos speakers support Apple’s AirPlay 2 for centuries and the Ray is no different. This is yet another feature that sets the Ray apart from other budget soundbars.

Most others in this price range offer Bluetooth audio, but not over Wi-Fi, let alone AirPlay.

Cast audio to the Sonos Ray with AirPlay 2

Once added to the Sonos app, it is immediately available as an AirPlay destination from all of your Apple devices in your home. Cast to it from you mac, iPad, Apple TVor iPhone.

At our home we can cast to the Sonos Ray, our HomePod miniand our First Alert Safe and Sound at once for easy multi-room audio.

If you don’t use AirPlay, you can also set up multi-room audio from the Sonos app. The Sonos app also has multiple direct audio sources, including Sonos Radio and many more.

Sonos Ray in the Home app

For power smart home users, the Sonos Ray can be added to HomeKit. When you launch the Home app and tap the Add Accessory button, the Ray will appear automatically.

With it in HomeKit, you can control the speaker from the Home app and record it in various scenes or automations.

For example, you can create a workout scene that plays your pump up playlist on the Ray while simultaneously closing your living room blinds and adjusting your lighting. Or create an automation routine to stop playing when the last person leaves the house.

You can even tie the Sonos Ray to your morning alarm to wake up to your favorite energizing songs.

In our proven soundbars, the Ray stands out above the rest. It’s incredibly capable, with a host of source options, Wi-Fi connectivity and excellent sound quality.

Unfortunately, it’s held back by limited remote support and optical audio. As a result, your TV setup could immediately put the Ray out of action, no matter how good the rest of its functions are.

Sonos Ray on the Sonos Beam

In our case, the remote worked fine from our Apple TV, so it wasn’t as much of a setback as it was for others. If only Sonos hurry up and release a cheaper subwoofer.

• Compact design
• Great sound quality
• Clear dialogue
• Ethernet port for connectivity
• AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support
• Expand system with other Sonos devices

• Optical is only connection option
• Optional subwoofer is prohibitively expensive

If Sonos does indeed launch a more affordable soundbar, our rating would rise to a 4.