Along with a variety of speakers, Sonos also offers a slate of home theater soundbars.
While the top-of-the-line Sonos Arc offers true Dolby Atmos sound and more, it may be out of the price range for many users.
But two other options—the second-generation Sonos Beam and the Sonos Ray—offer a great way to upgrade your entertainment. We’ll compare both soundbars and help you decide which model is best for you.
Sonos Ray and Sonos Beam Design
The Sonos Ray is small, compact, and designed to be placed on a TV stand or other location. All acoustic elements face forward to reduce interference from other surfaces.
Weighing 4.29 pounds, the soundbar is 2.79 inches high and 3.74 inches deep. It’s 22 inches wide, making it a perfect companion for a smaller TV without a large entertainment center.
Like all Sonos soundbars, this one can be wall mounted with optional accessories. LED lights on the top of the Ray indicate that the product is connected and muted. There are also capacitive touch controls on the top of the soundbar that allow you to adjust volume, play, pause, skip, and replay.
The Ray has dual tweeters and two midwoofers. Each of the four amplifiers in the soundbar has been fine-tuned for the device’s architecture.
You’ll connect the Ray to your TV’s optical port and the included cable. An optical port is found on the vast majority of any modern TV.
While the Sonos Beam is also designed for smaller rooms and entertainment centers, it is slightly larger than the Ray. It measures 2.72 inches high, 3.94 inches deep, and 25.63 inches wide. The soundbar weighs 6.2 pounds.
Along with a center tweeter, there are four elliptical midwoofers. Unlike the Ray, the Beam also sports three passive radiators to amplify low frequencies.
The Beam also has touch controls and LEDs, just like the Ray.
An included HDMI cable allows you to connect the Beam to your TV’s ARC or eARC port. If your TV only has an optical output, you can use the included Sonos adapter. An ARC or eARC port is required to enjoy Dolby Atmos audio.
Sonos Beam at the forefront with Dolby Atmos sound
A key feature of the Sonos Beam is support for Dolby Atmos sound. If you haven’t heard of Atmos, surround sound technology is designed to make sound appear to be a three-dimensional object.
Instead of sound coming from a specific location, Atmos sounds sound from every direction, including above you.
The best way to experience Dolby Atmos sound in movies and TV shows. You’ll need a compatible TV and streaming device—such as an Apple TV. But when it all comes together, Atmos delivers a movie theater-like sound experience.
Another way to experience Dolby Atmos content is through compatible music from Apple Music and Amazon Music Unlimited HD. Like movies and TV, Dolby Atmos offers a comprehensive way to enjoy music.
Beam also works great with non-Atmos sound formats.
While the Beam is compatible with Dolby Atmos content, it doesn’t have upward-firing speakers like more expensive soundbars. In many cases, the upward-facing speaker provides a better Atmos experience.
But since the beam is designed for smaller rooms, this shouldn’t be a dealbreaker. If you have a large room, Sonos has you covered with the significantly larger and more expensive Arc that has upward-firing speakers.
Due to the Ray’s role as a starter Sonos soundbar, it isn’t compatible with Dolby Atmos content.
But it does offer two nice features found on the Beam. Speech enhancement helps deliver clear dialogue. Night sounds reduce the intensity of loud effects when you don’t want to disturb others at home.
Both the Sonos Ray and Sonos Beam offer Wi-Fi connectivity
Since both the Beam and Ray are Sonos soundbars, each has built-in Wi-Fi capability. This allows them to be used as part of a larger Sonos home theater or whole home audio system.
With the Sonos app, for example, you can play music on soundbars and other speakers around your home. And for home theater, you can add other wireless Sonos products in the future.
Wi-Fi and the Sonos app also help provide a quick and easy setup experience.
The Ray and Beam also offer AirPlay 2 compatibility. It allows you to quickly and easily stream audio from your Apple devices including iPhone. Spotify Connect compatibility also allows for instant streaming from that popular service.