Last week, Sonos officially unveiled the Sonos Ray, its most affordable soundbar to date. And if you were waiting (longing and yearning) for a new budget subwoofer to go with it, you’re not alone. Sonos initially teased the idea of a Sub Mini last November, on its mobile app and now, nearly six months later, rumors about the Sonos Sub Mini are finally gaining momentum. But why has it taken Sonos so long – and why is the company still dragging its feet?
Although a specific release date, pricing details and even the official existence of the Sub Mini remain elusive, TechRadar was able to get a comment from Sonos’ product creation leader, Brandon Holley. When asked directly about the need for a smaller Sonos Sub to pair with the Sonos Ray, Holley said, “Nothing to announce”, but added, “Obviously there’s a lot of products we consider. You have a good point on that note. The Sub will sound great with Ray, and vice-versa. But as far as what’s coming down the road, nothing to announce”.
Quick history lesson: the company’s only other subwoofer, the Sonos Sub, launched almost a decade ago in June 2012. It is now into its third iteration (which first appeared on June 10, 2020) replacing the now-discontinued 2016 second-gen. model.
As the only sub in Sonos’ catalogue, its $749 price tag dwarfs both the second-gen. Beam ($349) and new Ray ($279) so obviously, buyers looking for a price and size-compatible partner to bring the bass to their smaller home theater systems are currently out of luck.
But despite not announcing the Sub Mini last week, The Verge has managed to confirm that Sonos is edging ever closer to it – and has even created a render from an image shared by an anonymous source.
Analysis: what are we actually looking at?
The image shows a more bijou and affordable Sonos subwoofer (that can undoubtedly pair wirelessly with the Arc, Ray and Beam) and it confirms Sonos’ November leak, which described it as a “smaller, cylindrical subwoofer.”
The biggest design feature of the Sub Mini, as with the original Sub, is an elongated vertical cutout in the middle of the device – but here, this is pill-shaped rather than the Sub’s distinctive rectangular hole.
The original Sub is a weighty beast, at 16kg, and features acoustic ports on both sides plus Sonos’ tried-and-tested push-push drivers (which fire out on either side of that hole), so it is highly likely that the Sub Mini will have similar – though probably smaller and slightly less powerful – innards.
When can we expect to see it in the flesh? Sonos, as we’ve seen, is not prepared to say. But our guess would be the IFA tech show at the earliest, which isn’t until late August…
