TechAudioSpeakersSoundbarsSonos Ray vs Beam 2 vs Arc: Which Sonos soundbar is best for my TV?What’s the difference between Sonos Ray, Beam (2nd Gen) and Arc soundbars? Which is best for different TV sizes and connections?When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
TechAudioSpeakersSoundbarsSonos Ray vs Beam 2 vs Arc: Which Sonos soundbar is best for my TV?What’s the difference between Sonos Ray, Beam (2nd Gen) and Arc soundbars? Which is best for different TV sizes and connections?When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
What’s the difference between Sonos Ray, Beam (2nd Gen) and Arc soundbars? Which is best for different TV sizes and connections?
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
There’s a newSonossoundbar in town: the Sonos Ray. It’s the smallest, lightest and cheapest in Sonos' range, but does that make it more appealing for your needs than the company’sBeam 2orArcsoundbar options?
Well, they’re all very different products. In this Sonos soundbar comparison we’ll compare the price, sizes, suitability, connections, surround sound, and help you deduce whether an Arc, Beam 2 or Ray would be best in your Sonos setup.
Sonos Ray vs Beam 2 vs Arc: Size
Arc is the biggest of the three, at 1142mm long (45-inches). That makes it best suited for much larger TVs, as most 55-inch TVs are only marginally wider than this – so really 65-inch or above would be the ideal match. It’ll dwarf anything under 55-inches.
Beam (Gen 2) is the middle size, at 651mm (circa 26-inches) long. This is roughly the same width as a 32-inch TV, so we would suggest pairing it with 40-, 43-, 48-, 50- and 55-inch TVs for best matching of scale.
Ray is the smallest of the trio, at 559mm (22-inches) long, so it’s not much smaller than Beam. We would suggest pairing this with 32- to 48-inch TV sizes.
Sonos Ray vs Beam 2 vs Arc: Price
Bigger soundbar means bigger features, which means bigger pricing in the range. Therefore the Arc, at £899/$899/A$1,099, costs the most; the Beam (2nd Gen), at £449/$449/A$599 is the middle child; while the Ray costs the least, at £279/$279/A$399.
You can see how these prices can fluctuate, of course, with the widget below sourcing the best available live prices of each Sonos soundbar, big to small. But whichever way you look at it, the price almost doubles with each step up the range.
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The best Sonos soundbar for meSonos Ray$279$205ViewSee all pricesSonos Beam (Gen 2)$499$437.75ViewSee all pricesSonos Arc$899$785.11ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
The best Sonos soundbar for meSonos Ray$279$205ViewSee all pricesSonos Beam (Gen 2)$499$437.75ViewSee all pricesSonos Arc$899$785.11ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
The best Sonos soundbar for meSonos Ray$279$205ViewSee all pricesSonos Beam (Gen 2)$499$437.75ViewSee all pricesSonos Arc$899$785.11ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
The best Sonos soundbar for me
Sonos Ray$279$205ViewSee all pricesSonos Beam (Gen 2)$499$437.75ViewSee all pricesSonos Arc$899$785.11ViewSee all prices
Sonos Ray$279$205ViewSee all prices
Sonos Ray$279$205ViewSee all prices
Sonos Ray
Sonos Ray
$279$205View
$279$205
$205
See all prices
Sonos Beam (Gen 2)$499$437.75ViewSee all prices
Sonos Beam (Gen 2)$499$437.75ViewSee all prices
Sonos Beam (Gen 2)
Sonos Beam (Gen 2)
$499$437.75View
$499$437.75
$437.75
See all prices
Sonos Arc$899$785.11ViewSee all prices
Sonos Arc$899$785.11ViewSee all prices
Sonos Arc
Sonos Arc
$899$785.11View
$899$785.11
$785.11
See all prices
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Sonos Ray vs Beam 2 vs Arc: Connections
Both the Sonos Arc and Sonos Beam (Gen 2) feature one HDMI 2.1 port (with eARC) each, neither offer two ports like some more substantial soundbars with passthrough options. That’s a nice and easy way to connect to your TV, though, assuming you’ve got a spare HDMI socket!
The Sonos Ray is rather different though: it has no HDMI port at all, relying instead of digital optical cable for connection to a TV.
It’s worth noting at this point that all three soundbars offer Wi-Fi connectivity, so you can pair them up as speakers in your Sonos network, just as you would any other Sonos product. None offer Bluetooth, but that’s scarce in Sonos land (reserved for its portable speakers really, not its soundbars).
Sonos Ray vs Beam 2 vs Arc: Surround sound
Sonos Ray vs Beam 2 vs Arc: Design
All three soundbars have touch-enabled controls, or you can use the Sonos app or your synched TV remote to make adjustments (there’s no physical remote included for any ‘bar in the range).
In terms of voice, both Arc and Beam 2 have microphones so can be controlled using a smart assistant or the new Sonos Voice system. Ray, however, has no microphone so cannot be controlled this way – although with a paired mic/voice-enabled device it should be feasible.
In terms of colour options it’s black or white finishes for each of the three designs. That’s a very Sonos look.
Sonos Ray vs Beam 2 vs Arc: Conclusion
Price will also be a factor, of course, because one Arc is around three times the price of one Ray, with the Beam sitting in that sweet spot in the middle – which is a big part of the reason its stock has been so limited in recent times.
The best Sonos soundbar for my TV sizeSonos Ray$279$205ViewSee all pricesSonos Beam (Gen 2)$499$437.75ViewSee all pricesSonos Arc$899$785.11ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
The best Sonos soundbar for my TV sizeSonos Ray$279$205ViewSee all pricesSonos Beam (Gen 2)$499$437.75ViewSee all pricesSonos Arc$899$785.11ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
The best Sonos soundbar for my TV sizeSonos Ray$279$205ViewSee all pricesSonos Beam (Gen 2)$499$437.75ViewSee all pricesSonos Arc$899$785.11ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
The best Sonos soundbar for my TV size
Sonos Ray$279$205ViewSee all pricesSonos Beam (Gen 2)$499$437.75ViewSee all pricesSonos Arc$899$785.11ViewSee all prices
Sonos Ray$279$205ViewSee all prices
Sonos Ray$279$205ViewSee all prices
Sonos Ray
Sonos Ray
$279$205View
$279$205
$205
See all prices
Sonos Beam (Gen 2)$499$437.75ViewSee all prices
Sonos Beam (Gen 2)$499$437.75ViewSee all prices
Sonos Beam (Gen 2)
Sonos Beam (Gen 2)
$499$437.75View
$499$437.75
$437.75
See all prices
Sonos Arc$899$785.11ViewSee all prices
Sonos Arc$899$785.11ViewSee all prices
Sonos Arc
Sonos Arc
$899$785.11View
$899$785.11
$785.11
See all prices
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
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