Sonos Sub Mini Review: A Cheaper Subwoofer for Its Other Wireless Speakers

In gadget lore, a smaller, less expensive subwoofer from Sonos ranks pretty high. As much as the Sonos Sub has been coveted for around a decade, its current $749 price has kept it out of reach for a lot of people who might want one. The demand among Sonos customers for a cheaper option has been strong for a long time. Finally, Sub Mini at $429, makes the possibility of adding thick, low-end sound to a soundbar or music speaker more accessible for a wider audience. Skipping right to the point, the Sub Mini mostly follows in the bigger Sub's footprints and doesn't disappoint. It bumps without distorting. It pounds with intensity during critical moments in movies. It enhances your favorite music. It's a great compact, sealed subwoofer. As good as it is, however, it's still a complementary product. It needs another speaker to partner with. So I tested its limits by connecting it with some of the most common Sonos speakers. After all, the only question potential buyers will want to know is how the Sub Mini works with the speaker they have.

TL;DR

Pros:

• Undistorted sound in a compact size
• Less expensive option to the larger Sub

Cons:

• Won't connect with Sonos' portable speakers like Move or Roam

Buy at Sonos.

Sub Mini Overview

• Dual, force-canceling 6-inch woofers
• Support for Trueplay
• Frequency response: down to 25 Hz
• Size: 12 inches tall and 9.1 inches wide
• Weight: 14 pounds
• Sealed, nonported enclosure
• Wi-Fi connectivity

From a hardware perspective, the Sub Mini product is straightforward. It supports Sonos' Trueplay tuning for room-optimized sound. It uses a similar design of inward-facing woofers for a force-canceling effect, as does the larger Sub—but it's around half the latter's size and weight. Unlike the Sub, however, this one uses a sealed subwoofer design. Ported subwoofers produce a more noticeable boomy sound, while sealed ones tend to produce a tighter and more controlled bass sound. That's why the Sub Mini won't let out the same low rumblings like the Sub will.

Sub Mini and Ray Soundbar

Right before I set up the Sub Mini, I watched the intro of the James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace using only the Sonos Ray soundbar. The first 4 minutes of the movie are almost entirely filled with gunshots, car crashes, engines revving and pulsing orchestral music. Then, I set up the new Sonos Sub Mini with the Ray soundbar and watched the scene again. Adding a Sub Mini to Ray in a 10 foot by 14 foot loft made a significant difference. The low end was present and powerful. On a third viewing of the car chase clip, I raised and lowered the Sub Mini volume in the settings of the Sonos app. I was impressed with the depth and volume this speaker was capable of producing. It can definitely punch above its size class. Using the setup to listen to music proved to be satisfactory, but in certain circumstances, the Ray was the piece of the puzzle that left something to be desired. Watching cinematic movies or TV shows (as opposed to simply streaming music) noticeably gave the Ray soundbar its biggest boost. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse showcased Sub Mini's thump. The movie's music and sound effects popped in a way they didn't (or couldn't) without this subwoofer attached. Disney Plus' Andor show also sounded better with the added low-end help. Elvis, Moonfall and The Force Awakens all had dramatically larger, more engaging audio performances. The Ray soundbar is a curious product, however. After connecting the Sub Mini to all the other speakers below, I kept coming back to this one and how Ray and Sub Mini work together. In the end, I wanted more richness across the midrange of the soundbar to elevate the complete sound of the paired speakers.

The Verdict

Sub Mini will greatly improve Ray's overall performance. If you already have a Ray soundbar in a room that could handle (or benefit from) a subwoofer, then the Sub Mini will work great. The conundrum, I guess, is paying $429 for the Sub Mini, when the Ray only costs $279. I might consider saving roughly $260 on the two items and settling for the Beam (Gen 2) by itself. But this is more of a financial decision than one involving performance.

Sub Mini and Beam (Gen 2) Soundbar

I went through the same tests on the newest Beam (Gen 2) soundbar as on Ray. The early takeaway was a reminder of how much better the newest Beam soundbar is than Ray for a $170 price difference. Even without the Sub Mini, Beam is much fuller and more dynamic. Adding in the new subwoofer made the audio device even more powerful and stunning. The chase scene from the James Bond movie was deeper. The first 10 minutes of The Force Awakens was engrossing. Turning up the volume allowed two relatively compact devices to fill a 15 foot by 25 foot room with sound across all kinds of movies. I listened to Dolby Atmos songs using Apple Music on Apple TV hardware, and they sounded brilliant. I watched Baby Driver again and felt the opening sequence even more than when I had watched it on Ray. Hearing the movie and its intertwined soundtrack was almost able to suck me into a repeat viewing—despite not having the time for it.

The Verdict

It might be obvious, but it seems like Sub Mini and Beam (Gen 2) soundbar are the ideal product combination. Both pieces are compact but very capable. The two together, costing less than the price of the Sonos Arc soundbar, make for a compelling home theater experience in any bedroom and probably quite a few living rooms. Would I rather have a standalone Sonos Arc or a Beam and Sub Mini for my main TV setup? It's not a cut-and-dry answer, but I would probably pick the Beam and Sub Mini pair more times than not.

Play:5 and Sub Mini

I don't have the newest Sonos Five speaker to test with the Sub Mini, but I do have a second-generation Play:5 that's still very capable. I tested a wide range of music styles with the two linked up. From an electronic-tinged song "In the Leaves" from Lyrah to emotional rock from Marcus Mumford to jazz tracks from Ben Webster, the listening experience was less impactful than I was hoping for. The Play:5 has a remarkable frequency range on its own, a reason why a Sub Mini paired with it felt less than essential. Anecdotally, neither my wife nor kids commented on the bass sound, even though I switched it on and off while playing music. You could definitely hear the Sub Mini, but it was less noticeable than I assumed it would be.

The Verdict

While the Sub Mini and Play:5 (or equivalent speaker) work fine together, the subwoofer is less necessary here than adding it to the smaller speakers in Sonos' lineup. If your Sonos Five speaker needs more bass (and money is no object), then you should be looking at Sub to fill that need. Otherwise, I would skip the Sub Mini pairing and stick with a Five speaker (or two of them) to fill a living room with music.

Symfonisk Picture Frame and Sub Mini

While I'm always a bit surprised by how much audio performance the thin Symfonisk Picture Frame from Sonos and Ikea can produce, it's still limited. Pairing the Sub Mini with the Picture Frame gave it a dramatic boost and made it sound very compelling. Offloading the lower-end frequencies to the Sub Mini breathed new life into the speaker that's meant to hang on a wall.

The Verdict

As strange as it might be to buy a subwoofer for your Picture Frame speaker, I found this combination to be a winning one. The Sub Mini is small enough to hide in a corner or behind a piece of furniture and complement the Symfonisk Picture Frame in the same room. It could be a killer combination for a certain market of people.

Sub Mini and One Speaker

The Sonos One speaker is meant to be versatile with its size. It can fit into a bathroom, on a kitchen counter or tucked onto a nightstand. In a lot of those places where the speaker is likely to be used, it probably doesn't need a subwoofer to go with it. But I got curious and connected the Sub Mini with a One anyway and let the music play. Similarly to the Symfonisk Picture Frame, the One really benefits from having a partner to carry its low-end frequencies. Songs went from went being simply fine at loud volumes to being pretty impressive within a bedroom setting.

The Verdict

The Sub Mini completely transforms the One speaker, but I probably wouldn't recommend anyone get this subwoofer to pair with it. On the other hand, two One speakers as a wide stereo pair with the Sub Mini complementing them could be a killer music listening station that easily falls under $1,000. That's a tempting indulgence.

Miscellaneous Notes

• For those curious, Sub Mini and Beam (Gen 2) are no match for a Sonos Arc and Sub combination—it's not even close.
• Sonos told me that both Night Sound and Speech Enhancement affect the Sub Mini in the same ways it does the regular Sub.
• At least at launch, you couldn't pair two Sub Minis to the same soundbar, as you could with the Sub (Gen 3).

Should You Buy a Sonos Sub Mini?

The Sub Mini is a great product and, despite being pricey, is still a decent value. But it's also not a stand-alone product. It needs a buddy. And because of that, there are a lot of varying circumstances as to who should buy this product. Generally speaking, I think Beam (Gen 2) soundbar owners (or potential buyers) are the ideal customers for Sub Mini. Ray owners with the right room and TV-watching habits should also consider it. Outside of a home theater context, music listeners with a stereo pair of Sonos Ones or another capable speaker would be delighted by adding a Sub Mini. Of course, there are lots of longtime Sonos owners who have been clamoring for a cheaper subwoofer, and so regardless of any other circumstances, they'll be convinced this is the product for them. Buy at Sonos for $429. Newsweek may earn a commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. We participate in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.