Sonos Sub Mini review: Sleek cylindrical subwoofer guarantees to bring extra bass to any Sonos system (Image: SONOS • EXPRESS NEWSPAPERS) This text accommodates affiliate links, we may receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Sonos’ stylish subwoofer brings an additional helping of bass to your setup. It isn’t low-cost, however it allows your existing Sonos speakers to really shine
What we love
- Improves Sonos Beam and Ray
- Stylish Cylindrical Design
- Two-Tone White Finish Looks Great
- Set-Up Takes Seconds
- Can Be Placed Anywhere
- Cheaper Than Sonos Sub 3
What we do not
- Still Not Very Inexpensive
- Only Available In Black Or White
Until now, the one solution to add more bass to your Sonos speakers or home cinema system was to plump for the £749 Sonos Sub Gen 3. That is a hefty outlay …not to say complete overkill when paired with probably the most inexpensive soundbars from Sonos, like the wonderful Sonos Beam and Sonos Ray.
Enter, Sonos Sub Mini.
This diddy subwoofer brings an additional helping of bass to your movies and music, however it has a smaller price tag (and footprint) than the Sonos Sub. The Sub Mini pairs wirelessly with any of Sonos’ current lineup of speakers – except the portable Roam and Move. Speakers made in collaboration between Sonos and IKEA may even work with the Sub Mini.
Since Sub Mini is wireless, it could possibly be placed anywhere within the room with a plug. We paired the Sub Mini with a Sonos Beam soundbar and were floored by the difference in sound. By itself, the Sonos Beam isn’t any slouch. Nevertheless, as soon as you offload the bass to a dedicated speaker, the soundbar really comes alive.
For its part, the Sub Mini offers a solid amount of rumble without ever being disruptive. In case you’ve got thin partitions, you’ll be able to hold back the quantity of rumble you will get from the Sub Mini too.
While the presence of the Sub Mini is unquestionably noticeable when streaming music, it really earns its stripes when watching cinematic television or a blockbuster. From the dread-inducing rumble in a horror film, to a triumphant explosion in the ultimate automotive chase of your favourite thriller, the whole lot comes alive with the Sub Mini. The Sonos Ray and Sonos Beam were already excellent soundbars, but you’ll be able to’t unlock their full potential until you’ve got paired them with a Sonos Sub Mini.
Whether that is price £429 – almost the associated fee of the Beam again – only you’ll be able to determine.
Sonos Sub Mini review
From the bottom up, Sonos Sub Mini is designed to take a seat alongside its Sonos Ray and Sonos Beam soundbars. The opening within the subwoofer is designed to mirror the Sonos Beam from a bird’s-eye view or the Sonos Ray when viewed from the front. For those with the pricier all-in-one Dolby Atmos soundbar, Sonos Arc, the firm thinks it is best to plump for the Sonos Sub 3.
Sub Mini is offered in two colors: white and black. Each of those are a matte finish, which looks sleek, modern, and most significantly of all, means it doesn’t look immediately dusty just like the glossy case found on the Sonos Sub. The cylindrical design of the Sub Mini is a breath of fresh air in comparison with the standard black and gray boxes that ship with surround sound systems. In truth, that is one among the one subwoofers that do not mind having on display in our front room.
Sub Mini has a contemporary matte finish, even though it’s only available in black or white (Image: SONOS)
Nevertheless, that may not be vital. Standing at just 30.5cm tall and 23cm across, the Sub Mini is sufficiently small that it could possibly be easily tucked away. In our testing, we were in a position to squirrel the wireless speaker beneath a nest of tables within the corner of the room and behind the sofa. Unlike the pricier Sonos Sub, which might be laid flat – so you’ll be able to hide it underneath a settee or media unit without impacting audio performance – the cylindrical shape of the Sub Mini signifies that’s impossible.
Silver lining – we were assured by one among the team at Sonos that it’s perfectly high-quality to make use of the Sub Mini as a coffee table.
Setting Up The Subwoofer
Sub Mini might be placed anywhere within the room because it connects with the remainder of your Sonos system using Wi-Fi.
Sonos has added support for each 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks, so you will not notice any delay between the soundbar and the subwoofer. In our time with the Sonos Sub Mini, the subwoofer was at all times in perfect lock-step with the remainder of the speakers, whether we were watching a movie on the massive screen, streaming a playlist from Apple Music, listening to the radio, or an audiobook.
For many who prefer a wired connection, there’s an ethernet port tucked away on the underside of the Sub Mini.
In case you enable Night Mode in your soundbar, Sonos will mechanically reduce the rumble from Sub Mini – so you will not wake the neighbours
Finding the right spot in your recent Sonos subwoofer is prone to be the longest a part of the set-up process. Once the speaker is in place and plugged in, getting the whole lot up and running along with your existing Sonos system takes a number of seconds. Load up the Sonos app in your phone and a prompt so as to add your newest arrival should appear on-screen immediately.
If not, you will need to dive across the menu to seek out the Add Latest Speaker button.
You may have the ability to securely transfer your Wi-Fi network details via NFC by tapping your phone to the highest of the Sub Mini, which saves you the trouble of typing out the password (in the event you can remember it). The Sonos app will then ask which soundbar or speaker you want to pair with the Sub Mini. We linked the subwoofer to our Sonos Beam, which is paired with a few Sonos One speakers for a 5.0 surround sound setup. And voila! Identical to that, our home cinema system became a 5.1 system.
Inside seconds of pairing the Sonos Sub Mini, you will have a 5.1 surround sound system (Image: SONOS)
Interestingly, while you’ve paired the Sub Mini with a Sonos speaker, you will not see the subwoofer displayed individually in your system. Any changes you make to the paired speaker, like adjusting the amount, mute, or music selection, may even impact Sub Mini. Cleverly, in the event you set Night Mode in your soundbar – which keeps dialogue clear, but reduces loud noises to avoid waking up the remainder of the home – Sonos will mechanically reduce the rumble from the Sub Mini too. You may also manually adjust bass inside the app.
But for many of us, once the initial setup is complete, you’ll be able to forget concerning the Sub Mini entirely and just benefit from the improved sound.
Software updates – yes, you will want to update the software in your speakers – are all handled via the Sonos app. To make sure we were getting one of the best performance out of your system, we kickstarted the TruePlay setup after adding the Sub Mini. This nifty feature uses the microphones in your phone to measure the acoustics of the room and tune your Sonos speakers accordingly. For a house cinema system, TruePlay also gets you to take a seat in your selected spot when watching telly and fine-tunes the whole lot for that location.
All of it works brilliantly and you’ll be able to immediately tell the difference in performance out of your Sonos kit. Unfortunately, this feature remains to be only available on the iPhone app, which is disappointing.
Sound Performance
Sub Mini arrives with a pair of six-inch force-cancelling woofers. Sonos positions these components face-to-face contained in the Sub Mini so the opposing forces cancel out. That ends in a minimal amount of buzz, rattle, and distortion from the Sub Mini.
To return to our earlier point concerning the Sub Mini doubling up as a sleek coffee table – you will not see ripples in your morning coffee à la Jurassic Park, because of this clever force-cancelling system.
Sonos is not the only company using this approach, Apple relies on an identical setup for the speakers inside its latest laptop models.
Sub Mini can produce frequencies as little as 25Hz, which is good enough for a system with a soundbar at its heart. Except for a number of show-stopping moments – just like the braaaams within the Inception trailer, the dread-inducing rumble in horror flick Relic, or the thunderous bassline within the Arctic Monkey’s Do I Wanna Know? – you are unlikely to listen to the presence of the Sub Mini.
In truth, there have been times after we placed our hand contained in the speaker to examine the woofers were even woofing.
Yes, for the overwhelming majority of the time, the Sub Mini simply adds extra depth to your existing Sonos speakers. Every thing sounds fuller and more rounded – and in the event you remove the Sub Mini from the setup, its absence is felt immediately. Once you’ve got heard your Sonos system with a dedicated subwoofer, it’s almost unimaginable to return.
At times, we had to put our hand contained in the speaker to examine the woofers were even woofing
In our testing, we were astonished how much the presence of the Sub Mini improved the sound from our Sonos Beam. This nifty soundbar isn’t any slouch by itself, but when it’s unencumbered from the deep-end of the audio spectrum, it really comes alive. Every thing from the Beam sounds brighter and sharper.
In case you’ve got a smaller room – or television – that would not be suited to the behemoth Sonos Arc, the Sub Mini is a simple solution to seriously boost the sound quality out of your existing setup. The genius of Sonos’ system is that you could slowly build-out your system over time. Identical to adding a pair of rear speakers from Sonos or the IKEA Symfonisk collection will boost your movie nights with surround sound, the Sub Mini will add a cinematic rumble in all of the fitting places and enhance the sound of each other speaker you already own.
Sub Mini has a trendy two-tone look when bought in white, and perfectly matches the Sonos Beam (Image: SONOS)
Price and Availability
Sonos Sub Mini costs £429 – some £320 cheaper than the Sonos Sub (Gen 3). Sonos can also be selling bundles with the Sonos Ray and Sub Mini (£673 – a £35 saving in comparison with buying each of those speakers individually) and the Sonos Beam and Sub Mini (£838 – a £40 saving).
These bundles mean you’ll be able to pick up a Sonos Ray soundbar and a Sub Mini and still have £76 in your pocket, compared with buying a Sonos Sub Gen 3. Bargain!
Sub Mini launched within the UK and Europe on October 6, so is offered now.
In case you’re looking to finish a house cinema setup, check the best Sonos deals to secure your remaining kit at the bottom possible price.
Sonos has designed the Sub Mini to pair with its more cost-effective soundbars, just like the Ray (pictured) (Image: SONOS)
Sonos Sub Mini Final Verdict
It’s taken far too long for Sonos to launch a more cost-effective subwoofer. Its Sonos Ray and Sonos Beam soundbars are absolutely stunning – and a few of our go-to recommendations for those trying to boost their television speakers. But pairing either of those soundbars with a £749 Sonos Sub 3 was utter madness.
Thankfully, we finally have the Sonos Sub Mini.
This superb subwoofer takes seconds to establish and requires no maintenance. Like the remainder of Sonos’ lineup, in the event you’re hoping to spend hours in settings menus tinkering with EQs to fine-tune your sound, this will not be the speaker for you. Nevertheless, in the event you want the clever Sonos algorithms to administer the whole lot for you, bringing a hugely-improved, well-rounded sound in your favourite album, TV show, or movie – you will be hard-pushed to seek out a greater option than the Sub Mini.
As you’d expect from Sonos, the Sub Mini looks higher than every other wireless subwoofer around
As you’d expect from Sonos, the Sub Mini looks higher than every other wireless subwoofer in its price category. It is a bit of a shame that it can’t be stored on its side, like its pricier sibling, but this sleek speaker looks adequate that you will haven’t any issue having it on display.
At £429, Sonos Sub Mini is a bargain in comparison with the Sonos Sub 3. But in comparison with other solutions in the marketplace, it’s still fairly pricey.
For many who only have the Sonos Ray soundbar at home – an incredible deal at £279 – it’s tough to recommend spending £150 more on a subwoofer than the soundbar it’s going to be paired with. For those with the Sonos Beam (Gen 1) or Sonos Beam 2, it is a far more comfortable fit.
The Sub Mini’s ability to effortlessly enhance the sound out of your existing speakers means it’s vital for many who are already deeply invested within the Sonos ecosystem, especially those with an existing Sonos home cinema system. Nevertheless, for those trying to construct a sound system from scratch, there are more cost-effective options than the Sub Mini …even when they are not as good-looking.
