Sonos Ray soundbar review: the cheaper compact TV audio upgrade

With a smaller, flatter design than the larger Beam and Arc, its four speakers face straight out of the front grille, making it easier to slot into TV stands without affecting the sound. In size terms, it is slightly wider than a full-sized keyboard and fairly short, stopping it blocking your view of the bottom of the TV screen on a cabinet, which can be a problem for taller rivals.

I think this is a corner worth cutting for a lower price. Since movies with Dolby Atmos also contain standard Dolby Digital soundtracks, the Ray will still be able to play everything.

Simply start watching TV to automatically switch to the audio from your show or movie. The Ray sounds throughly impressive for its size and price, beating much larger, more expensive rivals.

Dialogue is super clear, even when the action is thick and fast. On-screen action has suitable punch and energy, remaining precise and controlled at all times. There is more bass than I expected from a compact all-in-one system, handling all but the very largest explosions with aplomb. Only a system with a separate large subwoofer would be capable of more.

The speaker can get very loud indeed, with 40% volume more than enough for a reasonable-sized British living room. But it also has a dedicated dialogue enhancer and a night mode, which suppresses dynamic range to keep things intelligible at lower volumes. The sound is more direct than more expensive models, however, creating less of a virtual surround effect than the Beam.

The Ray is generally repairable and limited replacement parts are available on its site. The company commits to a minimum of five years of software support for feature updates after it stops selling a product but has a track record of much longer, including bug and security fixes for its legacy products.

The soundbar does not contain recycled material but Sonos has committed to the use of recycled plastics and designs with disassembly in mind for repair, refurbishment and recycling from 2023. It offers trade-in and product recycling, and publishes annual responsibility and sustainability reports.

The Sonos Ray costs £279 ($279/A$399).

For comparison, soundbars start at under £100, with more capable models costing from about £200, such as the Creative Stage 360 or the £270 Bose TV speaker.

The Ray is a compact, high-quality sound upgrade for your TV from Sonos. It sounds miles better than most all-in-one soundbar systems at under £300 and still has the simple, minimalist and easy to live-with experience the brand is known for.

A few corners have been cut compared with the more expensive Beam and Arc soundbars, such as removing smart speaker functions, reducing the number of speakers and virtual surround effects, and ditching the HDMI port in favour of the old optical connection.

You can certainly get cheaper soundbars with more features but very few are as compact and sound as good as the Ray.