At a look
Professional’s Score
Professionals
- Compact-ish design
- Painless setup
- Provides a great deal of depth to Ray and Beam soundbars
Cons
- Received’t add a lot to bigger audio system
- An costly addition
Our Verdict
The Sonos Sub Mini will add numerous oomph to sound programs constructed round smaller audio system just like the Ray, Beam, or One, and never solely on the low-end – it frees these audio system as much as ship sharper mids and trebles too. It’s costly although, greater than doubling the price of these setups, and the higher your current audio system are, the much less profit you’ll get.
Value When Reviewed
$429
Greatest Costs At present: Sonos Sub Mini
$429.99
Up to date in February 2023 to mirror a change in pricing for the bigger Sub (Gen 3).
The Sub Mini is a type of splendidly easy merchandise: it’s a Sonos subwoofer, however smaller than their different one. It’s cheaper too, and is a superb approach so as to add bass on a price range.
The caveat is that the Mini is designed to pair with Sonos’s easier audio system in smaller rooms, and the higher your current sound setup the much less you’ll get out of including a Sub Mini.
I’ve examined the Sub Mini with three completely different Sonos soundbars although, and suppose Sonos Ray and Beam house owners, specifically, will discover loads of further punch right here.
Design and construct
- Obtainable in black or white
- Not all that ‘mini’
The Sub Mini is an easy sufficient trying piece of equipment, although the very first thing you discover is that it doesn’t fairly earn its identify.
This can be smaller than the present Sonos Sub, however at 12in tall and 9in throughout, this isn’t a small speaker by any means – the truth is it’s precisely the identical top as a footlong sub, unusually sufficient.
It matches neatly into my sq. Ikea bookshelves, however for those who’re not so fortunate then you might be pressured to simply accept a reasonably squat cylinder sitting subsequent to your TV for the foreseeable future.
Dominic Preston / Foundry
Obtainable in black or white, it’s an unassuming design a minimum of, the entrance of which is damaged solely by a single small LED and the speaker’s single bodily management. The ports are discovered on the underside, and the one actual aptitude to the design is its hole centre, with the dual woofers dealing with each other inside, which is just seen from a side-on view.
Given the scale you received’t be stunned that it’s fairly heavy too, however you’re unlikely to be transferring it round a lot.
Connectivity
- Wi-Fi or Ethernet
- Connects on to different Sonos audio system
Connections listed below are easy: there’s Wi-Fi and Ethernet.
Dominic Preston / Foundry
The Sub Mini doesn’t truly join on to any of your sound sources, however as a substitute solely connects to your current Sonos community through Wi-Fi, with the additional choice to make use of a wired connection to your community.
Including the Sub Mini into your community is fast and straightforward – you simply have to have the Sonos app able to go in your telephone, and a easy NFC-powered faucet of your telephone on the speaker connects it as much as every thing else.
The one draw back is that the Sub Mini can solely be related to different Sonos merchandise – so you may’t choose this as much as function the subwoofer with every other sound system or soundbar.
Sensible options
- Quantity auto-adjusts with a particular speaker
- Devoted EQ controls
- Trueplay
The sensible facet of the Sub Mini principally comes all the way down to how neatly it integrates into the remainder of your Sonos set-up.
As soon as it’s related, you pair the Sub Mini to a particular speaker or room in your system – more than likely to a soundbar, although it ought to pair with any of Sonos’s static audio system (i.e. every thing besides the transportable Transfer and Roam).
The Sub Mini’s quantity will then routinely increase and decrease with the principle speaker. If you wish to tweak issues that’s simple too – you may flip the Sub off at any time with out unpairing it, and may increase or decrease bass ranges independently of the core speaker’s EQ.
Dominic Preston / Foundry
The opposite useful contact is assist for Trueplay, Sonos’s tech for tuning its audio system for the rooms they’re in. This could assist optimise the Sub Mini’s sound wherever you place it within the room, making it a bit extra forgiving to place – although to take benefit, you’ll want an iPhone or iPad to set Trueplay up. You solely want it as soon as although (or everytime you transfer the speaker), so it’s simple sufficient to borrow a good friend’s.
Sound high quality
- Provides spectacular oomph
- Greatest paired with smaller Sonos audio system
In order that’s how the Sub Mini works – however how nicely does it do it?
The reply, maybe annoyingly, will rely rather a lot on what speaker you wish to pair it with. Sonos recommends the Sub Mini for “small to medium sized areas,” and says it’s greatest fitted to the Ray and Beam soundbars, together with the One and Symfonisk audio system.
The Sub Mini makes use of a pair of 6in woofers, which face inwards in the direction of each other in a force-cancelling association that helps to neutralise vibrations and distortion. Basically, meaning it provides clear, tight bass with none unwelcome noise.
Dominic Preston / Foundry
Paired with the Beam, or particularly the compact Ray, the distinction is appreciable. The Sub Mini provides all kinds of oomph, driving basslines in music and including room-filling sound to explosions and different filmic thuds. The Ray has by no means sounded thinner than instantly after switching the Sub Mini off, and it actually takes these cheaper Sonos soundbars to the subsequent degree.
This received’t create room-shaking bass until you actually crank the amount up, but it surely rounds out the sound profile of the corporate’s smaller audio system, including depth on the low finish and releasing up these different audio system to ship crisper excessive notes on the identical time. Which means it provides extra than simply bass, elevating your audio throughout the spectrum.
My typical TV speaker is the older (and discontinued) Sonos Playbase although, and related to this the Sub Mini doesn’t add all that a lot. I think you’d discover comparable for those who needed to pair it with the Arc – the beefiest soundbar within the present Sonos lineup – or any of the corporate’s different bigger audio system. For these you’ll really want the full-size Sonos Sub to note the additional bass, until you’re in a very small room.
Value and availability
If there’s a query mark across the Sub Mini, it’s the value: $429/£429/€499. That’s greater than both the Ray or Beam, so Sonos’s imagined Sub Mini is a minimum of doubling the value of their sound set-up by shopping for this.
I think that most individuals keen to spend that a lot on their sound system would have simply purchased the $899/£899/€999 Sonos Arc within the first place.
Nonetheless, the Sub Mini is markedly cheaper than the $799/£799/€899 Sub (Gen 3), and for those who’re a Ray or Beam proprietor on the lookout for the subsequent step up, or have a pair of even smaller Sonos audio system, including a Sub Mini makes much more sense than scrapping your complete system and swapping it for the Arc.
Is it price dropping a whole lot simply so as to add some further bass to the combination? Possibly. Possibly not. However you’ll solely be taking a look at this for those who’re on the hook with Sonos already, and in that case that is the most suitable choice you’ve bought.
Verdict
The Sub Mini is a good way so as to add extra boss to a Sonos sound system for a bit lower than the exorbitant worth of the unique Sub.
It’s nonetheless not low-cost, and is just suited to these with smaller Sonos programs – in case your equipment is already high-end, the Sub Mini received’t be a gamechanger.
However Ray and Beam house owners will discover this transforms their current soundbar, and is a good way to enhance your Sonos sound with out having to start out once more from scratch.
