The Sonos Ray is an impressive affordable soundbar, with an attractive and compact design along with an audio profile that excels in clarity and scape. It's only held back by the lack of HDMI Arc – and with it Dolby Atmos – and microphones for voice controls.

Compact design; Clear and crisp sound; Relatively affordable;

No HDMI Arc/eArc; No voice controls; Average bass;

I have a 7.1 surround system for Movie Night. I purchased the Ray to upgrade the Samsung TV sound so I could hear clear dialogue from the day to day TV shows. Absolutely cremates the sound from the TV. Brilliant!! Amazing frequency output. If you want to upgrade just your TV sound inexpensively, this is the master above all. Not near the 7.1 system I have for movies, but unreal for day to day tv sound....

Can't get it to work. Need written instructions to be provided with the item.

Lovely Sonos design; Budget by Sonos’ standards; Straightforward to set up;

Patchy Bluetooth remote support; No HDMI support; Maybe you want a Beam?;

Clean and powerful TV audio; Surprising amount of bass; Wide soundstage; Optional surround sound;

Remote setup can be fiddly; Better at TV than music;

Sonos is synonymous with wireless multiroom audio. It’s also been creating home theater solutions for almost a decade. In that time it has released two full-size (and high-priced) soundbars (the PlayBar and the Arc). It’s had two midsized soundbars (the first- and second-gen Beam), and a quasi-soundbar/TV stand called the PlayBase. And while each was a success in its own right, with prices ranging from $399 to $899, they left Sonos without a decent option for those with smaller rooms and smaller budgets — a gap that companies like Vizio have been more than happy to fill. Now we have the $279 Sonos Ray. It’s the company’s most affordable soundbar by a huge factor now that the second-gen Beam sells for $449 — and it’s also one of the more affordable soundbars you can buy, period. But can such a small and relatively inexpensive speaker still produce the kind of emotional listening experience that makes a soundbar worth buying in the first place? Or in trying to achieve a lower price, did ...

Compact for versatile placement; Impressive sound for its size; Expandable to a full 5.1 system; Easy setup and control;

Pricey for a small soundbar; Lacks a bit of midrange detail;

Sonos is synonymous with wireless multiroom audio. It’s also been creating home theater solutions for almost a decade. In that time it has released two full-size (and high-priced) soundbars (the PlayBar and the Arc). It’s had two midsized soundbars (the first- and second-gen Beam), and a quasi-soundbar/TV stand called the PlayBase. And while each was a success in its own right, with prices ranging from $399 to $899, they left Sonos without a decent option for those with smaller rooms and smaller budgets — a gap that companies like Vizio have been more than happy to fill. Now we have the $279 Sonos Ray. It’s the company’s most affordable soundbar by a huge factor now that the second-gen Beam sells for $449 — and it’s also one of the more affordable soundbars you can buy, period. But can such a small and relatively inexpensive speaker still produce the kind of emotional listening experience that makes a soundbar worth buying in the first place? Or in trying to achieve a lower price, did ...

Compact for versatile placement; Impressive sound for its size; Expandable to a full 5.1 system; Easy setup and control;

Pricey for a small soundbar; Lacks a bit of midrange detail;

Sonos is synonymous with wireless multiroom audio. It’s also been creating home theater solutions for almost a decade. In that time it has released two full-size (and high-priced) soundbars (the PlayBar and the Arc). It’s had two midsized soundbars (the first- and second-gen Beam), and a quasi-soundbar/TV stand called the PlayBase. And while each was a success in its own right, with prices ranging from $399 to $899, they left Sonos without a decent option for those with smaller rooms and smaller budgets — a gap that companies like Vizio have been more than happy to fill. Now we have the $279 Sonos Ray. It’s the company’s most affordable soundbar by a huge factor now that the second-gen Beam sells for $449 — and it’s also one of the more affordable soundbars you can buy, period. But can such a small and relatively inexpensive speaker still produce the kind of emotional listening experience that makes a soundbar worth buying in the first place? Or in trying to achieve a lower price, did ...

Compact for versatile placement; Impressive sound for its size; Expandable to a full 5.1 system; Easy setup and control;

Pricey for a small soundbar; Lacks a bit of midrange detail;