Sonos Sub Mini review: low end for a lower price - The Verge

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Sonos customers have been anticipating a product like the Sub Mini for years.

Until now, the only way to fully realize a “complete” Sonos home theater system meant coughing up $749 for the Sub subwoofer — on top of whatever you paid for a Sonos soundbar and rear surrounds.

Standing 12 inches high and weighing 14 pounds, the Sub Mini isn’t as “mini” as its name might suggest.

I’ve been testing the white Sub Mini, and I’m very happy Sonos moved away from a glossy finish in favor of a matte look.

You’re then asked to hold your smartphone near the top of the Sub Mini to transfer your Wi-Fi and other Sonos system details over NFC.

For the last step, Sonos asks which existing soundbar or speaker you want to pair the Sub Mini with.

Obviously most people will link it to a Beam or Ray (I tested with both), but you can also combine it with Sonos’ music speakers like the Play:5 / Sonos Five to bring more low-frequency energy and clarity to your tunes. .

Like always, it’s best to tune your Sonos home theater setup with the help of the Sonos app’s Trueplay feature, which remains exclusive to iOS devices.

Outside of Trueplay, there aren’t many settings to adjust for the Sub Mini in Sonos’ app.

It’s worth noting that the Sub Mini does not suffer from a bug that, at the time of publication, affects the Sub (Gen 3).

So, does the Sub Mini deliver on the company’s “bold bass” promises.

The Sub Mini noticeably lent more bottom end to whatever I played and made the whole experience more dynamic than listening to music through the soundbar alone.

Sonos is positioning the Sub Mini as the ideal companion for all of its midrange gear, like the Ray, Beam, One, and Ikea Symfonisk hardware.

You can opt out of additional usage collection from the Sonos mobile app, but Sonos warns that doing so will disable functionality like personalization services (e.g., Recently Played), Sonos Radio, voice control, and more

I think the Sub Mini will be a welcome addition to many Sonos living room setups, and even if $429 is nowhere near “cheap” — that’s more than some home-theater-in-a-box 5.1 systems and the Ray soundbar itself — it’s still considerably less than investing $749 into the Sub

The Sub Mini isn’t technically or acoustically as powerful as the standard Sub, but it succeeds in providing an immersive, full-bodied audio experience that’s only possible with a “complete” Sonos home theater system