Sonos says that it’s only to improve the experience and all soundbars still work well out of the box, but it’s still a shame for anyone with an Android phone.Īnother difference is that the Sonos Ray has no built-in mic and, therefore, no Alexa and Google Assistant integration. Unfortunately, this feature is only available if you have an iPhone. You then walk around your room with your iPhone, and the Sonos app uses its microphone to tune the soundbar's sound perfectly to fit the space. During set-up, the soundbar plays noises across the frequency range. Although this might not make much sense for those who opted for the Ray to save cash, it’s good to know you can seamlessly add more Sonos products later down the line.īoth the Beam (Gen 2) and the Ray use Sonos TruePlay to calibrate the audio output to its surroundings. For example, if you have a Sonos Ray, a pair of Sonos One SL rear speakers and a Sonos Sub, you can create a complete 5.1-channel home cinema system. With both the Sonos Ray and the Sonos Beam (Gen 2), you can boost sound by wirelessly syncing your soundbar with other Sonos products. There are touch controls on the top of the Sonos Ray soundbar, but you'll mostly use your remote or the app. Using a split waveguide, the Sonos Ray can direct some of the high-frequency energy right towards you and directs the rest more towards the sides, adding the stereo effect, and making sure the sound doesn't feel like it's coming from such a small box. But instead, Sonos has worked to provide a wide soundstage here in other ways. It will not provide an immersive and powerful sound on par with the Beam (Gen 2). The Ray is no-frills and has none of these features. Still, we didn’t experience the exceptional overhead sound you get from the Arc. We found the Beam had a remarkably wide soundstage and powerful audio performance for its size during testing. Instead, the Beam (Gen 2) uses psychoacoustic techniques to give the impression of height from your movie soundtracks. However, it’s worth noting here that the soundbar doesn’t have upfiring drivers that you’d need for ‘true’ Atmos, unlike the more premium Sonos Arc. Unlike the Ray, it also has Dolby Atmos support for an immersive listening experience. The most significant is that the Beam (Gen 2) comes with eARC compatibility, which allows the soundbar to handle more advanced audio formats, including hi-res audio codecs. The Sonos Ray is almost half the price of the Sonos Beam (Gen 2), so it’s no surprise the Beam has more features. (Image credit: Sonos) Sonos Beam (Gen 2) vs Sonos Ray: features The Sonos Beam support HDMI audio for Dolby Atmos – the Sonos Ray doesn't. Sonos says this is to make it easy to set up and ensure it works with as many TVs as possible. However, the Ray’s only connection to your TV will be through the optical port, rather than the eARC HDMI connection we often see for soundbars. So although the Beam (Gen 2) can provide more immersive sound, the Ray will slot happily into pretty small spaces without limiting the audio.Īround the back of the Beam (Gen 2) soundbar is a port for plugging it into a power outlet and HDMI, optical, and Ethernet ports. However, the Beam’s design means it can project sound sideways too, for a wider soundstage. The Beam (Gen 2) is 651圆9x100mm and weighs 2.8kg.Īlthough both soundbars can be placed on a surface or wall-mounted, some construction differences might influence how you use them.Īll of the acoustic elements within the Ray have been designed to face forwards so you can put it on a shelf in a TV cabinet. The Ray is 559x71x95mm (wxhxd) and weighs 1.95kg. But the Beam (Gen 2) is recommended for up to 65-inch TVs, which means there’s a difference in dimensions and size. The Sonos Ray and the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) look similar and are available in black or white. It has a minimal design and tapered edges, a solid choice if you’re short on space. The Sonos Ray is the smallest Sonos soundbar, and it’s ideal for TVs between 32 and 55 inches. (Image credit: Sonos) Sonos Beam (Gen 2) vs Sonos Ray: design The Sonos Ray soundbar is the most compact Sonos soundbar.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |