Sonos Ray Review: Is This Compact Soundbar Worth It?

What Is the Sonos Ray?

The Sonos Ray is the brand’s most affordable soundbar, built for people who want better TV audio without a subwoofer, a receiver, or a weekend of cable management. It is short, plain, and deliberately limited. Sonos made a few clear trade-offs to hit its price, and understanding them is the whole point of this review.

In short: it connects to your TV with a single optical cable, works with the Sonos app and AirPlay 2, and plays music over Wi-Fi. It does not have HDMI, Bluetooth, or Dolby Atmos. If those omissions sound like dealbreakers, you will know quickly. If they sound irrelevant to how you watch TV, keep reading.

If you are still deciding between formats, our guide on receiver vs soundbar explains when a bar makes sense and when it doesn’t.

The Idea Behind the Ray

Most people who shop for a soundbar are not audiophiles. They are tired of turning the TV volume up for dialogue and down for commercials, and they want one tidy box that fixes it. The Ray is designed around that person. Sonos stripped out everything that adds cost or complexity, kept the parts that affect daily listening, and wrapped it in an app that rarely gets in the way.

Where It Sits in the Sonos Lineup

Sonos sells several soundbars, and the Ray is the smallest and simplest. Above it sit models with HDMI, bigger drivers, and Dolby Atmos. That ladder is useful: you can start with the Ray and, if your needs grow, move up without leaving the ecosystem or relearning an app. Think of it as the front door to the Sonos world rather than the whole house.

Who This Review Is For

We wrote this for shoppers weighing the Ray against other compact bars, and for existing Sonos owners wondering whether it earns a spot in a bedroom or office. We focus on real, everyday use: watching shows, playing music, and living with the thing for months. We also point out where the Ray’s limits matter, because a product this focused is only a good buy when it matches your setup.

It is worth saying plainly that no soundbar this small can match a full speaker system. Physics sets limits on bass and room-filling scale. What the Ray offers is a sensible compromise between size, price, and sound, and judged on those terms it is easy to like.

Design and Build

The Ray is only about 22 inches wide and sits low enough to slide under most TVs without blocking the screen or the infrared sensor. The body is a matte, perforated shell with a rounded profile, available in black or white. It looks like furniture, not gear, which is very much the Sonos approach.

Touch controls on top handle play and pause, volume, and track skipping. They are responsive without being twitchy. Sonos also leaves out a display; a small status light does the talking. It feels solid for the money, with no creaky plastic or loose seams.

It can also be wall mounted using a separate bracket, which is handy in bedrooms and small apartments where shelf space is tight.

Materials and Finish

The grille wraps the front and top in a fine perforated surface that hides the drivers and resists fingerprints better than glossy plastic. The matte finish also avoids the reflections that make cheap soundbars look cheap under a TV. In white, it blends into light shelving; in black, it nearly disappears below a dark screen.

Size and Placement

Because it is short in both height and depth, the Ray fits places larger bars cannot: narrow media consoles, desks, and bookshelves. Measure the gap beneath your TV before buying, and make sure the soundbar will not block the screen or the TV’s remote sensor. Many TVs with low stands leave less clearance than you would expect, and a bar that blocks even the bottom edge of the picture is a daily annoyance.

Wall mounting is the cleaner option for small rooms. A mounted Ray frees the shelf and sends sound toward the listener instead of bouncing it off furniture. If you do mount it, the optical cable and power lead are the only cables to hide, which makes for a tidy install.

Controls and Everyday Handling

The top-mounted touch panel is easy to find by feel. A quick tap pauses music, sliding adjusts volume, and holding skips tracks. In practice most owners rarely touch it, because the TV remote and the app handle nearly everything. Still, it is helpful when a remote goes missing.

Overall build quality is a strength. It feels dense for its size, the buttons give clear feedback, and nothing rattles at higher volumes. It also runs cool and silent, with no fan noise, which matters in a bedroom at night.

Setup Experience

Setup is where Sonos usually earns its reputation, and the Ray is no exception. You plug in power, connect the optical cable to your TV, open the Sonos app, and follow the prompts. Most people are finished in about ten minutes.

The app detects the soundbar, joins it to your Wi-Fi, and asks you to set up the TV remote so the TV’s own remote controls volume. That last step matters. It is what makes the Ray feel like part of the TV rather than another gadget with its own remote.

Step-by-Step Experience

Out of the box you get the soundbar, a power cord, an optical cable, and a short quick-start card. Plug in power, connect the optical cable to your TV’s digital audio output, and the Ray starts its pairing light. Open the Sonos app, choose to add a new product, and the app finds the soundbar on its own. It then guides you through joining your Wi-Fi network and naming the room.

Teaching It Your TV Remote

The most helpful part of setup is the remote step. The Ray listens for your TV remote’s volume and mute commands and mirrors them, so you keep using the remote you already own. The app asks you to press the volume buttons a few times while it learns. If your remote uses a common infrared signal, this works well, and it is what makes the soundbar feel integrated rather than bolted on.

Common Setup Snags

A few things trip people up. First, check that your TV’s audio output setting is set to external speakers or digital out, and that the format is set to PCM or Dolby Digital. If you hear nothing, this is almost always the reason. Second, if your TV disables optical output when HDMI devices are active, look for a menu setting that keeps it on. Third, make sure your Wi-Fi router is nearby or use the Ethernet port for a more stable connection.

After setup, spend a few minutes in the app’s settings. Turn on Speech Enhancement if you watch a lot of dialogue-heavy shows, and set a sensible default volume so a loud ad does not surprise you. Run Trueplay if you own an iPhone or iPad; it takes a minute or two and slightly improves clarity in many rooms.

Sound Quality

For its size, the Ray sounds clear and balanced. Inside are two tweeters and two mid-woofers, each with its own amplifier. The tuning favors mids and highs, so voices come through cleanly and sound effects have crispness. Bass is present but modest. You will get warmth, not rumble.

The stereo image is wider than the box suggests, though it won’t fill a large room. In a bedroom, den, or small living room, it fills the space comfortably. In an open-plan area, it will feel thin at higher volumes.

Wireless streaming is a common worry, and a fair one. We explain how much it matters in do wireless speakers lose quality; with Wi-Fi playback like Sonos uses, the loss is minimal for most listeners.

Clarity and Balance

The Ray’s tuning is deliberately neutral. Voices sit in the center, high frequencies are smooth rather than harsh, and there is little of the boxy, boomy character found in cheap bars. At moderate volumes, it handles layered scenes with music, dialogue, and effects without turning them into mush.

Bass Performance

This is the honest limitation. There is no dedicated subwoofer, and the cabinet is small, so low bass is simply not present at the level a movie fan may want. You get warmth and a little weight, enough to avoid thinness, but not the chest-thumping depth of explosions or deep synth lines. If bass matters, plan to add a Sonos subwoofer later or consider a different model.

Volume and Distortion

The Ray plays surprisingly loud for its size, and it stays composed through most of its range. Push it near the top and the small drivers begin to lose control, especially in busy mixes. For a bedroom or small living room, you will rarely need those levels. In a larger open area, however, you may find yourself wanting more headroom.

Room Effects

Where you place the bar changes the sound. Close to a wall, bass gets a small boost, while an open shelf makes the sound cleaner but thinner. Keep the front of the soundbar clear of obstructions, and avoid tucking it inside a cabinet, which muffles the highs. Small changes in position are worth experimenting with before you decide the sound is not right.

Dialogue and Movies

This is where the Ray makes its strongest case. Built-in TV speakers push dialogue into the background; the Ray pulls it forward. Conversations in dramas, news, and sports commentary become easier to follow without raising the volume.

Action scenes are more mixed. The Ray handles explosions with some punch but cannot reproduce the deep low end that a soundbar with a subwoofer can. There is no Dolby Atmos, so you won’t get height effects. If that matters, read what Dolby Atmos actually means before you buy.

The Ray decodes standard Dolby Digital and PCM over optical. That is enough for most streaming and broadcast content.

Everyday TV and Streaming

For ordinary television, the Ray is a clear upgrade over almost any flat-screen’s built-in speakers. News anchors sound present, talk shows are easy to follow, and sitcom dialogue comes through without strain. Sports commentary stays distinct from crowd noise, which is a common complaint with TV speakers.

Movies and Streaming Dramas

Movies are enjoyable, with caveats. Dialogue-driven films and dramas are the sweet spot. Action films still sound better than TV speakers, but they lack depth and the sense of space that surround sound brings. You’ll hear effects in front of you rather than around you, and the Ray’s virtual width, though pleasant, does not replace real rear speakers.

Speech Enhancement in Practice

Speech Enhancement is worth trying on shows with quiet, mumbled dialogue. It lifts the vocal range, making whispers easier to understand without raising the entire mix. The result can sound slightly processed, so most people use it on the hardest shows rather than all the time. It is easy to switch on from the app.

Late-Night Viewing

Night Sound compresses the gap between quiet and loud passages. If you watch after the household is asleep, this is a significant benefit: explosions no longer jolt the room, and soft speech remains understandable. It is one of the Ray’s most practical everyday features.

If you want a true home theater experience, a full system will serve you better. See our best home theater system under $10,000 guide for what that looks like.

Music and Streaming

Because the Ray is a full Sonos product, it is a capable music player, not just a TV accessory. Through the Sonos app you can stream from Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, internet radio, and plenty more. AirPlay 2 lets iPhone users send audio straight from any app.

Music sounds pleasant and easy to listen to, though bass-heavy genres expose the size limit. Acoustic, vocal, and podcast listening is where it shines. If music is your main priority, you may be happier with a dedicated speaker; compare it with our roundup of the best Bluetooth speakers for home or the Amazon Echo Studio.

Using the Sonos App

The Sonos app is the Ray’s main interface for music. You can combine services into one search, build queues, and save favorites. Switching between rooms and speakers is easy, and the app remembers your setups. Occasional complaints about app redesigns exist across the Sonos community, but day to day, it remains one of the better multi-service music apps.

AirPlay 2 and Wi-Fi Streaming

iPhone, iPad, and Mac owners can use AirPlay 2 to send audio from any app, including those the Sonos app doesn’t support. Because streaming goes over Wi-Fi rather than Bluetooth, playback keeps going if you leave the room or get a phone call, and audio quality is better than with typical Bluetooth links.

Music Character

Music sounds smooth and open, particularly with vocals, acoustic guitar, jazz, and podcasts. Pop is enjoyable, while electronic and hip-hop tracks sound a bit lean without a sub. The stereo spread is broad for a compact bar, but it is still a single enclosure, so don’t expect the precise imaging of a pair of separate speakers.

Ray vs a Dedicated Speaker

If you mostly play music and rarely watch TV, a dedicated speaker or a stereo pair may serve you better. Our best home stereo system under $500 guide shows what that money can buy. The Ray makes the most sense when TV audio is the main job and music is a welcome bonus.

Connectivity (and What’s Missing)

Here is where honesty matters. The Ray has an optical input, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi. That’s it. No HDMI, no Bluetooth, no aux input.

If your setup is already built around HDMI, a model like the Sonos Beam Gen 2 is the better step up.

Why Optical Only?

Sonos chose optical to keep costs down and setup simple. Optical cables are cheap and almost every TV has an output. The trade-off is that optical bandwidth limits you to stereo PCM and standard Dolby Digital, so lossless formats and Dolby Atmos are off the table.

Practical Impact of No HDMI

The biggest practical effect is control. With HDMI ARC, the soundbar can turn on and off with the TV automatically. Without it, the Ray relies on detecting an audio signal and on your TV remote’s learned volume commands. In everyday use, the Ray wakes when audio arrives and sleeps when it stops, so most people barely notice. Still, a few TVs behave inconsistently, and an occasional manual nudge may be necessary.

Bluetooth Absence

No Bluetooth can be inconvenient for guests, who can’t simply pair a phone. Android users must use the Sonos app, and iPhone users can use AirPlay 2. If you often have visitors who want to share music, that is worth weighing.

Network Considerations

Because the Ray relies on your home network for music, a weak Wi-Fi signal can cause dropouts. Place it within reasonable range of the router or use the Ethernet port. The TV connection, which is wired, is not affected by Wi-Fi at all, so your TV audio stays stable even if the network hiccups.

Features: Trueplay, Night Sound, and Speech Enhancement

The Ray includes the helpful tools that make Sonos feel premium.

• Speech Enhancement: boosts voices over background audio. Handy for older films with muddy mixes.
• Night Sound: reduces loud peaks so late-night viewing doesn’t wake anyone.
• Trueplay: tunes the sound to your room. It requires an iPhone or iPad to run, which is a limitation for Android users.
• Voice control: works through a separate smart speaker; the Ray has no built-in microphone.

These tools are tucked inside the app and are easy to switch on and off. Speech Enhancement is the one most people will use daily.

Trueplay Tuning

Trueplay measures how sound bounces around your room and adjusts the equalization to compensate. On the Ray, the effect is subtle but useful, particularly in rooms with hard surfaces or odd layouts. The big restriction is that tuning requires an iPhone or iPad, so Android households miss out.

Night Sound and Loudness

Beyond Night Sound, the app includes a loudness setting that boosts low and high frequencies at lower volumes. It can make quiet listening more satisfying, though some listeners prefer it off for a more natural sound.

Equalizer and Sound Settings

You can adjust bass, treble, and balance manually in the app. These controls are simple but effective, and they let you shape the sound to your taste or room. If you feel the Ray lacks warmth, nudging the bass up a little helps without causing distortion.

Software Updates and Longevity

Sonos has a long record of supporting its products with updates, which improves value over time. A speaker bought today is likely to receive refinements and compatibility changes for years. That support, plus the ability to add speakers later, is a quiet but real advantage over cheaper brands that stop updating quickly.

Smart Home Integration

The Ray does not include a microphone, but it works with voice assistants through other devices. Pair it with a compatible smart speaker if you want hands-free control of music. Our Amazon Echo Studio review shows how a smart speaker can complement a soundbar setup.

Sonos Ray vs. Competitors

The Ray competes with several affordable soundbars. Our reviews of the Samsung B-Series, Sony HT-S2000, Bose Smart Soundbar, Vizio 5.1 Soundbar SE, and Polk MagniFi Mini cover the main alternatives in detail.

The Ray wins on ease of use and ecosystem. It loses on raw bass and format support.

Ray vs Sonos Beam Gen 2

This is the most common comparison. The Beam Gen 2 adds an HDMI eARC port, Dolby Atmos support, and a larger, richer sound with deeper bass. If your TV has HDMI ARC but no optical output, or you want a more cinematic experience, the Beam is the better choice. The Ray makes sense if budget and space matter most.

Ray vs Bundles With a Subwoofer

Competing bars from other brands often include a separate subwoofer at a similar price. That gives them stronger bass out of the box. The trade-off is clutter, a less polished app, and less flexibility. Sonos buyers pay for refinement and ecosystem rather than raw output.

Ray vs Smart Speakers

A smart speaker can handle music well, but it cannot connect to a TV in the same convenient way. The Ray is a TV-first product that also happens to be a decent music player. If TV audio is your goal, it is the more sensible pick.

Ray vs a Receiver System

A receiver and speakers deliver more power and flexibility, but they demand space, cables, and money. Our receiver vs soundbar comparison explains the trade-off. For small rooms and casual viewers, a soundbar like the Ray is far simpler and often sufficient.

Value Summary

Judged purely on features per dollar, some rivals offer more. Judged on ease of use, build quality, software, and long-term support, the Ray holds its own. The right choice depends on whether you value specifications or simplicity.

Multi-Room and Expansion

One of the Ray’s best-kept advantages is that it is part of the Sonos family. You can group it with other Sonos speakers for whole-home audio, or build a stereo pair elsewhere in the house. Because it works with the same app, adding rooms later feels natural.

It can also join other Sonos speakers as rear surrounds and add a subwoofer later, which lets you grow the system as budget allows. If you are planning a larger setup eventually, our guide to the best home audio systems and our best home stereo system under $500 list can help you map it out.

Whole-Home Audio

Group the Ray with other Sonos speakers and the same song can play in the kitchen, patio, and living room at once. You can also set different music in each room and control all of it from your phone. For households that value background music, this is a substantial reason to pick Sonos over a standalone bar.

Adding a Subwoofer

The most useful upgrade is a Sonos subwoofer. It fills in the low end the Ray lacks and makes movies feel considerably bigger. It connects wirelessly, so there are no long cables to hide, and it integrates through the same app.

Adding Rear Speakers

You can add a pair of compatible Sonos speakers as rear surrounds for a more enveloping effect. This turns the Ray into the center of a real surround system, though it increases cost and the number of devices to power. It is a good path for people who start small and expand over time.

Building Over Time

The appeal of this approach is spreading the cost. Start with the Ray, add a sub when budget allows, and later include rear speakers or additional rooms. If you want to explore larger setups, our best home audio systems roundup shows other ways to build a full-home system.

Pros and Cons

What We Liked Most

The standout strengths are clarity, simplicity, and polish. Few products at this price make dialogue so easy to hear and setup so painless. The app, the multi-room ability, and the long update history make it feel like a product you will keep.

What Could Be Better

The missing HDMI port is the biggest frustration, followed by the lack of Bluetooth. Both are conscious decisions, but they limit who can buy it. Bass is modest, and a few features rely on Apple devices.

Reliability and Ownership

Day to day, the Ray is stable. It starts when the TV does, connects quickly to Wi-Fi, and rarely needs attention. Occasional app hiccups can occur, which is true of most connected products, but they are usually fixed with a restart or update.

If you want a quick sense of how it balances out: the Ray gives up features to protect price and simplicity, and it does that gracefully. The compromises are easy to understand in advance, which is the best kind of compromise.

Who Should Buy the Sonos Ray?

Buy it if you have a small or medium room, a TV with an optical output, and you mainly want clearer dialogue and a simple, good-looking setup. It is a strong fit for bedrooms, apartments, and anyone already invested in Sonos.

Skip it if you want cinematic bass, Dolby Atmos, or HDMI connectivity. In that case, consider the Beam Gen 2 or a system built around a receiver; see our picks for the best home audio receiver.

Great Fits

Bedrooms, dorm rooms, home offices, and small living rooms are ideal. So are households that already own Sonos speakers, since the Ray joins the existing system seamlessly. It also suits people who want better dialogue without learning receiver menus or tangling cables.

Poor Fits

Skip it if your TV lacks an optical output, if you demand Dolby Atmos, or if you want strong bass in a large room. Avoid it if you often connect devices through Bluetooth or want a soundbar that doubles as a hub for HDMI sources.

Alternatives Worth Considering

If the Ray’s limits are dealbreakers, look at the Beam Gen 2 or other bars with HDMI and Atmos. For a bigger step, a receiver-based system offers the most power and flexibility; our guides to the best home audio receiver and best home audio systems are good starting points.

Buying Advice

Before you order, confirm your TV has an optical output, measure the space under the screen, and decide whether you may want a subwoofer later. Check current pricing, since soundbars are frequently discounted. If those boxes are checked, the Ray is a safe, satisfying choice.

Final Verdict

The Sonos Ray is a focused product. It does not try to be a home theater system; it tries to make everyday TV and music sound better with almost no fuss. It succeeds at that. Dialogue is clear, the app is excellent, and the ecosystem gives it room to grow.

If your TV has an optical port and your room is modest, it is one of the easiest recommendations in this category. If you need HDMI, Atmos, or big bass, look higher up the Sonos range.

It is also worth thinking about how long you plan to keep it. Because the Ray belongs to a platform that gets regular software updates and can grow with extra speakers, it is less likely to feel outdated than a one-off budget bar. You can start modestly, live with it for a few months, and then decide whether to add bass or rear speakers based on what you actually miss, rather than guessing in advance.

Our advice is simple. Check that your TV has an optical output, be realistic about room size, and remember that the Ray’s goal is clearer, more comfortable everyday listening rather than theater-level spectacle. Judged on that goal, it delivers, and it does so with less fuss than almost anything else in its class.

For many households, that mix of clarity, convenience, and room to grow is exactly what a soundbar should offer. If it matches your setup, you are unlikely to regret the purchase, and if you outgrow it, the rest of the Sonos range is waiting.

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