The Sonos Ray, launched in June 2022, marks a turning point in the California manufacturer’s strategy. This compact soundbar makes the Sonos universe accessible to a wider audience, without compromising on build quality or the multiroom integration that built the brand’s reputation. With its four forward-facing speakers and universal optical connection, it’s designed for small spaces and medium-sized televisions, while serving as a gateway to an expandable audio system.
The Sonos Ray adopts an entirely front-facing design: all speakers project forward, allowing it to function even inside a TV cabinet or tight space without acoustic disruption.
Compact (7.1 × 55.9 × 9.5 cm, weighing 1.95 kg), it features a matte polycarbonate front panel, touch controls on top, and comes in black or white. Wall mounting is possible thanks to the rear M5 insert.
Designed for screens up to 55 inches and small to medium-sized rooms, the Ray remains discreet and integrates easily beneath the television.
The Sonos Ray incorporates four speakers, each powered by a Class D digital amplifier: two central tweeters for vocal clarity and two mid-bass drivers for soundstage and bass response.
Its bass-reflex system, combined with anti-distortion technology, delivers clean bass even at high volume. The acoustic processing ensures wide dispersion, creating an impression of more expansive sound than the soundbar’s format would suggest.
The Sonos Ray uses an optical input (1.5 m cable included) rather than HDMI. A surprising choice, but one that ensures maximum compatibility with all televisions, even those without ARC. An RJ45 Ethernet port is present for wired connection; Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n 2.4 GHz remains available, of course. The integrated infrared receiver allows volume control directly with the television remote.
The Sonos S2 app on iOS/Android handles setup, provides access to over 100 streaming services, and enables multiroom functionality. The speaker is compatible with AirPlay 2 for streaming audio from Apple devices.
Trueplay calibration (iOS only) automatically adjusts equalization based on the room’s characteristics after a quick environmental analysis, and significantly improves the final output.
The digital signal processing (DSP) integrated into the Ray offers several modes to adapt playback to the content being viewed. Speech enhancement mode reinforces dialogue intelligibility, particularly useful when characters whisper or when the musical score intensifies. A customizable equalizer allows adjustment of bass and treble levels according to preference.
Night mode flattens the dynamic range by attenuating intensity peaks while raising the softest passages. Explosions become less aggressive, whispers more audible, without requiring constant volume adjustments—an asset for late-night sessions.
The Ray supports PCM stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, and DTS Digital Surround. It does not decode Dolby Atmos, which clearly differentiates it from the Beam Gen 2 and the Arc. This limitation stems directly from the optical connection choice, which lacks sufficient bandwidth to carry advanced audio formats.
The Sonos philosophy is based on expandability. The Ray can function alone, but it reveals its full potential when integrated into a larger setup. It becomes possible to pair Sonos speakers (One, One SL, Era 100) in a surround configuration to create a true sound bubble. The subwoofer Sub or Sub Mini can pair wirelessly to reinforce the bass register and add more depth to soundtracks.
Pairing is performed entirely through the app, without additional cabling. The mesh network created between Sonos devices ensures perfect synchronization. This modular approach allows you to start with a single soundbar and progressively enrich the installation according to needs and budget.
The Ray can also join an existing multiroom system. It then streams music to multiple rooms simultaneously, or plays a distinct role in each zone. This versatility makes it not only a soundbar for the television, but also a connected speaker capable of serving music listening when the screen remains off.
The Ray occupies the entry-level position in the Sonos catalog, below the Beam Gen 2 and the Arc. A few reference points help situate these three models. The Beam Gen 2, launched a few months before the Ray, measures 65.1 cm wide and weighs 2.8 kg. It features an HDMI eARC connection, decodes Dolby Atmos via psychoacoustic processing, and integrates microphones for voice assistants (Alexa, Google Assistant, Sonos Voice Control). Its side-firing drivers project sound to the sides to widen the soundstage.
The Arc, the brand’s flagship model, goes further with transducers oriented upward and to the sides, creating vertical spatialization to fully exploit Dolby Atmos. It’s designed for large rooms and screens of 65 inches and above.
The Ray focuses on the essentials: significantly improving television sound in small spaces, while providing access to the Sonos ecosystem and its expansion possibilities. It doesn’t compete with the Beam or Arc in terms of spatialization or advanced features, but it fully fulfills its role as a gateway to the California brand’s universe.
The Sonos Ray is primarily designed to replace the often very mediocre speakers of a television, with a simple connection (optical port), in an ultra-compact and discreet format.
For such a small soundbar, the Sonos Ray packs a punch and impresses with its balance at high volume. Its smooth sound signature, identical to that of other Sonos speakers, makes it suitable for music listening. Additionally, its voice reproduction deserves praise, an essential feature for a soundbar. It's a pity that it is so directional and unable to create a surround sound atmosphere.
The Ray connects via an optical input, making it compatible with most televisions equipped with an optical output. Older models without HDMI ARC can therefore use it without issue. However, you must verify the presence of this optical output on your device, as some very recent televisions sometimes omit this connection.
Yes, the integrated infrared receiver allows the soundbar to sync with the television remote. The Sonos app guides the user during initial setup to establish this connection. Most infrared remotes on the market are compatible, but some recent models using other protocols may pose problems.
Trueplay significantly improves sound output by adapting playback to the room’s acoustic characteristics. This function requires an iOS device (iPhone or iPad) to perform measurements. Android users cannot benefit from it, but the Ray already offers balanced sound without this calibration. Trueplay is an appreciable plus, but not an absolute necessity.
Absolutely. The Ray integrates into the Sonos ecosystem and can be complemented by a Sub or Sub Mini subwoofer to reinforce bass, as well as Sonos speakers (One, One SL, Era 100) placed at the rear to create a surround configuration. These additions are made wirelessly through the app, which considerably simplifies installation.
Gilbert
Not suitable for all Amazon remotes, otherwise good for sound.
Comment from February 18, 2026 — Experience from February 05, 2026
Jacques
Recommended by a music-loving friend, he told me it was a good basic but quality soundbar.
I don’t regret my purchase, the sound is very good and the dialogues much more audible, the settings are quite simple, and the setup is easy.
Comment from January 27, 2025 — Experience from January 16, 2025
Michel
Extremely simple installation and configuration.
Superb sound quality.
Comment from May 10, 2024 — Experience from April 29, 2024
