Sonos announces Ray, the cheapest soundbar in its portfolio

After several recent leaks, Sonos has finally announced its new affordable soundbar, Sonos Ray. It is scheduled to appear in just a few weeks on the Romanian market, at a more affordable price than the company’s previous models. While there are a few missing elements to the company’s superior soundbars, Ray should offer a comparable user experience, more compact design, and superior sound quality to other models in its price range.

Sonos Ray is an HDMI-free soundbar that promises quality sound

The new Sonos Ray soundbar launches on June 7, and in Romania, its price will be 1,500 lei, about 1,000 lei cheaper than the Sonos Beam, the company’s previous “more affordable” model. Ray thus becomes the entry-level model, Beam is the mid-range, and ARC remains on offer as the premium version.

Sonos Beam connects to TVs via an optical TOSLINK port to play sound from any device connected to the TV, whether you’re watching TV, streaming video through built-in applications, or accessing such features through a connected device on HDMI. The speakerphone also connects directly to WiFi, like all of the company’s other speakers, and can be easily integrated into the Sonos ecosystem to create “cameras” or surround systems. For example, you can use two Sonos One speakers as satellites for the back of a Ray surround system.

Because it no longer offers microphones on this model, Sonos allows control with both the TV remote control and the Sonos mobile app. The soundbar is compatible with Apple’s AirPlay 2 technology and offers integration with multiple music streaming services.

Now, the only thing missing from the Sonos offering is an affordable subwoofer. The current Sonos Sub model costs more than two Sonos Ray. Since the company has promised to introduce two new products each year, and rumors have been circulating for some time about an affordable Sonos subwoofer, we may not have to wait too long for one.