These two Sonos soundbar deals are worth it – but there’s one we’d avoid
The Sonos Ray and Beam 2 soundbars are big on value in the Amazon Prime Big Deals Day but the Sonos Arc? Not so much
We’re big fans of Sonos’ speakers and soundbars here at Expert Reviews. They’re super simple to set up, sound great and their multi-room features are second to none. The trouble is, they also tend to command a premium, which is why, if you’re thinking of investing in Sonos gear, the Prime Day and Black Friday sales periods are the best time to buy.
You do have to be careful, though, as some “deals” are not all they’re cracked up to be. This Prime Big Deals Day, the best deals are on the firm’s lower-end soundbars – the Sonos Ray and the Sonos Beam 2 – and not the pricier Sonos Arc.
The best price is on the Sonos Ray, which is Sonos’ smallest soundbar. Despite its diminutive dimensions, however, it packs one hell of a sonic punch. Normally, the price hovers at around £245, which we think is a reasonable price for what you’re getting, but it’s currently as low as £142 (in white), which is frankly bonkers for a soundbar this good.
It does have its limitations. Bass output isn’t as impactful as a system that comes with a separate subwoofer and it doesn’t spread the sound around the room particularly widely but you can easily expand to a more fully featured system further down the track when funds allow.
It matches perfectly with the Sonos Sub Mini (also on offer this Prime Day for £280) for even larger scale audio output, and you can add a pair of Sonos Era 100 speakers to act as the rear channels, although that would be a bit of an indulgence as they’re £200 each and not in the sale.
The Sonos Beam 2 offers better sound quality than the Ray, is nearly as compact and also gets a chunky Prime Day discount, although it’s not quite as good a deal as the Sonos Ray is. It’s currently on the Amazon website for £322 which is £111 less than the historical average of £433; that works out at a discount of 26%.
The Sonos deal we think you should avoid, however, is the “deal” on the Sonos Arc soundbar. Its Sonos’ most expensive TV speaker, produces impressive Dolby Atmos-enabled audio and is a stupendously capable platform for expansion later down the track. You can build a truly awesome surround sound system with the Arc at its base with Sonos ERA 300 speakers as the rear channels and the full-size Sonos Sub (Gen3) providing the low-frequency underpinnings.
Unfortunately at the price of £650, it’s only a moderate discount of £90 over the historical price of £740, equating to only 12% off the normal price – so building a TV system around this bar will remain a huge expense. Add the Sub (Gen3) for £559 and two Era 300 speakers (£359 each) and you’ll be paying nearly £2,000 for the full system.
Stick to the smaller soundbars, however, and your starter price will be £422 for the Ray and Sub Mini – that’s a fantastically capable TV audio setup for a very reasonable price.
