Sonos Ray can be controlled with the same superb Sonos companion app on iPhone, Android, iPad, Mac and Windows. This lets you build a queue of tracks with albums and playlists from over 50 different streaming services, including Apple Music, YouTube Music, Deezer, TiDAL, Spotify, and many more. The app also supports audiobooks, podcasts and live radio stations, so you’ll still get plenty of use from your soundbar – even when the television is turned off. Apple’s AirPlay 2 standard is supported out-of-the-box too.
And since this is a product from Sonos, we’d expect a thriving market for mounting brackets, stands and other accessories for this well-balanced soundbar in the coming months. That level of support is available with every other speaker from the US company and isn’t available from lesser-known soundbar brands you might stumble across on Amazon.
But while the Sonos Ray has scored really highly with us …it’s not perfect. It only supports an optical connection, which isn’t as convenient as HDMI ARC and eARC technology. Plus, there’s no far-field microphone array built in (something that privacy-conscious buyers might see as another positive for the soundbar) which means Ray doesn’t support Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa out-of-the-box. Instead, you’ll need to hook up the Sonos Ray to an Echo Dot or Google Nest Mini to be able to request songs, control playback, ask for updates on the news and weather, and set the volume using only your voice.
In our mind, these are pretty minor gripes. If you have a number of Sonos or AirPlay 2-enabled speakers at home already (or are thinking of buying some in the near future), the Sonos Ray is a perfect and affordable starting point to kit out your home with superb wireless sound. Not to mention, the clever Speech Enhancement and Night Sound modes will ensure you won’t have to continuously adjust the volume during your latest boxset binge or blockbuster movie night.
In a packed lineup of excellent speakers, Sonos’ all-new soundbar still manages to really shine.