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 lots of oomph to sound techniques 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 present audio system are, the much less profit you’ll get.
Worth When Reviewed
$429
Finest Costs Right this moment: Sonos Sub Mini
$429.99
Up to date in February 2023 to replicate a change in pricing for the bigger Sub (Gen 3).
The Sub Mini is a kind of splendidly simple merchandise: it’s a Sonos subwoofer, however smaller than their different one. It’s cheaper too, and is a wonderful means 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 present 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, particularly, 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 package, although the very first thing you discover is that it doesn’t fairly earn its identify.
This can be smaller than the prevailing Sonos Sub, however at 12in tall and 9in throughout, this isn’t a small speaker by any means – in truth it’s precisely the identical peak as a footlong sub, unusually sufficient.
It suits neatly into my sq. Ikea bookshelves, however in the event you’re not so fortunate then you could be pressured to just accept a reasonably squat cylinder sitting subsequent to your TV for the foreseeable future.
Obtainable in black or white, it’s an unassuming design at the very least, 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 barely 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 really join on to any of your sound sources, however as an alternative solely connects to your present Sonos community by way of Wi-Fi, with the additional possibility 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 cellphone, and a easy NFC-powered faucet of your cellphone on the speaker connects it as much as every little 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 another sound system or soundbar.
Good options
- Quantity auto-adjusts with a selected 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 selected speaker or room in your system – almost certainly to a soundbar, although it ought to pair with any of Sonos’s static audio system (i.e. every little thing besides the transportable Transfer and Roam).
The Sub Mini’s quantity will then routinely increase and decrease with the primary 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 might increase or decrease bass ranges independently of the core speaker’s EQ.
The opposite helpful 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 pal’s.
Sound high quality
- Provides spectacular oomph
- Finest paired with smaller Sonos audio system
In order that’s how the Sub Mini works – however how effectively does it do it?
The reply, maybe annoyingly, will rely so much on what speaker you need to pair it with. Sonos recommends the Sub Mini for “small to medium sized areas,” and says it’s greatest suited 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 direction of each other in a force-cancelling association that helps to neutralise vibrations and distortion. Basically, which means 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 types 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 following stage.
This received’t create room-shaking bass except you actually crank the amount up, however it 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. Meaning it provides extra than simply bass, elevating your audio throughout the spectrum.
My common 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 in the event you 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 actually need the full-size Sonos Sub to note the additional bass, except you’re in a very small room.
Worth and availability
If there’s a query mark across the Sub Mini, it’s the worth: $429/£429/€499. That’s greater than both the Ray or Beam, so Sonos’s imagined Sub Mini is at the very least doubling the worth 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 in the event you’re a Ray or Beam proprietor in search of the following step up, or have a pair of even smaller Sonos audio system, including a Sub Mini makes much more sense than scrapping your entire 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 this in the event you’re on the hook with Sonos already, and in that case that is the best choice you’ve obtained.
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 barely suited to these with smaller Sonos techniques – in case your package is already high-end, the Sub Mini received’t be a gamechanger.
However Ray and Beam house owners will discover this transforms their present soundbar, and is a good way to enhance your Sonos sound with out having to begin once more from scratch.