Sonos Ray review: affordable soundbar impresses

With the Ray, Sonos has presented its first soundbar in the low price segment. We know Sonos mainly for its premium speakers, but is this soundbar also a high flyer in the budget class? You’ll find out in this review of the Sonos Ray.

Sonos Ray

In May, Sonos presented its latest soundbar: the Sonos Ray. He promises to give the sound of your TV a major upgrade and that for a relatively low price of 299 euros. In addition, it can be part of a surround setup with, among other things, a subwoofer speakers on the side.

With the Ray, the line-up of Sonos soundbars seems complete, because the brand now has products for every price range. It previously launched the Sonos Beam Gen 2 (499 euros) with Google Assistant and spatial sound effects (read the review here). And then there is the premium model, the Sonos Arc (899 euros) with its 11 powerful audio drivers. Does the new Sonos Ray convince us in its price range?

Specifications

Unobtrusive, sleek design

When you first unpack it from its box without plastic packaging material and made from recycled cardboard, you immediately notice that the Ray is very compact. It is only 559mm wide. Sonos always opts for sleek, but unobtrusive designs with its speakers and the intention is that they fit into any interior. Fortunately, the Ray is no exception. The entire housing is made of hard plastic and is reminiscent of the Sonos Beam Gen 2.

On top of the speaker you will find three buttons for media control and on the back is a button to connect the soundbar during installation and three ports: an input for power cable, an optical port and an Ethernet connection.

Easy installation with one shortcoming

Installing the Sonos Ray was simplicity itself. The manual refers you to the Sonos app and there you will be guided step by step. It starts with connecting the two cables. You connect it to mains power and you can only connect it to your TV with an optical cable, no HDMI. The Ethernet connection is completely optional and no UTP cable is included. The other two cables are of course included in the package.

Then the app asks you to press the button on the back of the Ray to connect. You enter the WiFi password and finally you connect the remote control of your TV. All you have to do is point at the soundbar and press any button. The last step may be the most difficult for consumers, which is turning off your TV’s internal speakers. Instead of those speakers, you have to turn on sound via the optical input, but it may take a while to find the right setting. Especially because every TV works differently. In addition to this possible shortcoming, it is an easy installation.

wall mount

You may also notice two places for screws at the back of the Ray, and these are for wall mounting. To hang the Ray you need a wall bracket set from Sonos, which can be purchased separately for a somewhat pricey 49 euros. But don’t complain as a consumer, because if you want to mount the more expensive soundbars from Sonors on the wall, you have to feel deeper in the money bag.

Versatile operation

You can operate the Ray in different ways. The first is through your TV remote and that’s the way I’ve used the most. Especially because I use Android TV, both to stream movies and series and to play music via Spotify. Personally, I find the control via infrared and the existing remote control of your TV handy. This means that there is no need for an extra remote control on the coffee table. The only pity is that the Ray does not work with remote controls that support bluetooth, so you always have to aim well to adjust the volume.

Sonos app

Fortunately, if you don’t have a smart TV, you can also use the Sonos app in combination with Spotify. You will find all your Spotify music in that app, but you can also link many other music apps, radio stations, podcast apps and audiobook services. Everything then comes together in the Sonos app. You can also control the volume or switch from a music app back to TV sound. The Sonos app is very easy to use, so it’s a joy to use.

Integrations and Limitations

If you don’t like using the Sonos app, you can also play directly on the Ray via another app. You can do this via Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Audible and Tidal. It is not yet possible directly via YouTube Music and that is not surprising given the feud between Sonos and Google that has been dragging on for years.

A lack is also that you cannot add the Sonos Ray to Google Home and the soundbar therefore does not work in a speaker group. Sonos instead pushes its own ecosystem forward and you can therefore connect the Ray with other Sonos speakers.

The Ray also does not work with the Google Assistant or Alexa, because it has no built-in microphones. That doesn’t seem like a big loss to me, because if you’re interested in digital helpers, there’s a good chance that you already have another smart speaker in the living room where your Sonos Ray is located.

touch buttons

And then there is the operation via the touch buttons on the soundbar. You can pause playback or adjust the volume. You can also scroll between music tracks by swiping. It’s nice that the option is there, but I’ve never needed these buttons in practice.

Upgrade for your TV sound

The sound is of course the reason why you choose a soundbar and Sonos creates realistic expectations about the sound of the Ray with its communication. Sonos talks about an upgrade for your TV sound. The company does not claim anywhere in its press releases or its website that the Ray represents an all-in-one speaker solution for your TV. That would be a pointless lie.

The Ray is definitely good at what Sonos claims. Whether you’re watching an action movie or playing an intense game, the Ray made the experience more immersive. Despite the lack of a subwoofer, it can still produce powerful sound effects with its low tones. If you only watch your daily soap, the Ray will blow you away much less.

Sonos uses a system of four amplifiers, two tweeters for the high frequencies and two midwoofers for its sound. Sonos also has its own Bass Reflex system that reduces distortion in the low tones and makes them sound fuller.

The Ray is therefore in any case a strong upgrade for your TV speakers, but it is still a less complete package than, for example, the JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam that we were able to test earlier. JBL partly succeeded in simulating a room-filling sound via the Multibeam technology and Dolby Atmos. After all, you also pay 100 euros more for the JBL soundbar.

Surround sound

If an upgrade for your TV speakers isn’t enough, the Sonos Ray can also serve as the centerpiece of a surround setup. Sonos therefore also sells the Ray as part of a ‘Surroundset’ together with two wireless One SL speakers that you place behind your couch. For such a set you pay 697 euros and normally the One SL speakers cost 199 euros each.

Handy Night Mode

In addition, the Sonos Ray has the Night mode that mutes sound effects when your roommates are sleeping and with Speech amplification can you boost the sound of dialogues? The addition of Night Mode is very interesting, as sound effects are not desired in every situation. Still, you don’t want to watch TV at night at too low a volume for fear of waking others up. Speech amplification is less interesting.

Music in balance

Chances are you’ll be using the Sonos Ray for more than just watching Netflix or Disney+. The Ray is also an excellent speaker for playing music in your living room. Sonos knows how to create a balanced sound and that with the different music genres I’ve listened to.

It does this better than the JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam, which derails somewhat at high volumes, especially with its bass sound. The Sonos Ray, on the other hand, keeps everything under control and is a very solid speaker. That is, as long as you have realistic expectations of the bass sound with this soundbar without a subwoofer. With the built-in equalizer in the Sonos app, I pushed the bass to the max, but without much difference. And about that equalizer: Sonos should feel free to expand that function with interesting presets for different music genres.

No TruePlay for Android

One feature of the Sonos Ray that is missing from Android phones is TruePlay. This means the soundbar adapts its sound to the environment in which it is located. TruePlay is available exclusively for iOS devices, although we were able to use the function on the Sonos Move bluetooth speaker, too bad.

Conclusion

The Sonos Ray is an incredibly good product and one that takes the TV experience to the next level. A large and high-quality TV screen is one thing, but a soundbar like the Ray just melts the built-in TV speakers. Moreover, it manages to keep the sound in balance while playing your music.

The Ray is a great addition to your living room as long as your expectations are realistic. This soundbar cannot create a surround effect on its own, as the JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam partly succeeds. If you are looking for such a solution, you can connect other speakers from Sonos and place them behind your seat.

And finally, this soundbar from Sonos also does not work as a smart speaker and there is no integration with speaker groups in Google Home. Still, the Sonos app is an excellent ecosystem that brings all your audio apps together in one handy interface, as long as they’re not from Google, of course. In short: if you are looking for an affordable soundbar, then you get quality with the Ray that also has the option of further expansion.

Buy Sonos Ray

The Sonos Ray is available in a white and black shade. It is now in stores and costs 299 euros.