Sonos Sub Mini review: Perfect companion for Beam

From the ground up, Sonos Sub Mini is designed to sit alongside its Sonos Ray and Sonos Beam soundbars. The opening in the subwoofer is designed to mirror the Sonos Beam from a bird’s-eye view or the Sonos Ray when viewed from the front. For those with the pricier all-in-one Dolby Atmos soundbar, Sonos Arc, the firm thinks you should plump for the Sonos Sub 3.

Sub Mini is available in two colours: white and black. Both of these are a matte finish, which looks sleek, modern, and most importantly of all, means it doesn’t look instantly dusty like the glossy case found on the Sonos Sub. The cylindrical design of the Sub Mini is a breath of fresh air compared to the usual black and grey boxes that ship with surround sound systems. In fact, this is one of the only subwoofers that don’t mind having on display in our living room.

However, that might not be necessary. Standing at just 30.5cm tall and 23cm across, the Sub Mini is small enough that it can be easily tucked away. In our testing, we were able to squirrel the wireless speaker beneath a nest of tables in the corner of the room and behind the sofa. Unlike the pricier Sonos Sub, which can be laid flat – so you can hide it underneath a sofa or media unit without impacting audio performance – the cylindrical shape of the Sub Mini means that’s not possible.

Silver lining – we were assured by one of the team at Sonos that it’s perfectly fine to use the Sub Mini as a coffee table.

Sub Mini can be placed anywhere in the room since it connects with the rest of your Sonos system using Wi-Fi.

Sonos has added support for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks, so you won’t notice any delay between the soundbar and the subwoofer. In our time with the Sonos Sub Mini, the subwoofer was always in perfect lock-step with the rest of the speakers, whether we were watching a movie on the big screen, streaming a playlist from Apple Music, listening to the radio, or an audiobook.

For those who prefer a wired connection, there is an ethernet port tucked away on the underside of the Sub Mini.

Finding the perfect spot for your new Sonos subwoofer is likely to be the longest part of the set-up process. Once the speaker is in place and plugged in, getting everything up and running with your existing Sonos system takes a few seconds. Load up the Sonos app on your phone and a prompt to add your newest arrival should appear on-screen immediately.

If not, you’ll need to dive around the menu to find the Add New Speaker button.

You’ll be able to securely transfer your Wi-Fi network details via NFC by tapping your phone to the top of the Sub Mini, which saves you the hassle of typing out the password (if you can remember it). The Sonos app will then ask which soundbar or speaker you’d like to pair with the Sub Mini. We linked the subwoofer to our Sonos Beam, which is paired with a couple of Sonos One speakers for a 5.0 surround sound setup. And voila! Just like that, our home cinema system became a 5.1 system.

Interestingly, when you’ve paired the Sub Mini with a Sonos speaker, you won’t see the subwoofer displayed separately in your system. Any changes you make to the paired speaker, like adjusting the volume, mute, or music selection, will also impact Sub Mini. Cleverly, if you set Night Mode on your soundbar – which keeps dialogue clear, but reduces loud noises to avoid waking up the rest of the house – Sonos will automatically reduce the rumble from the Sub Mini too. You can also manually adjust bass within the app.

But for most of us, once the initial setup is complete, you can forget about the Sub Mini entirely and just enjoy the improved sound.

Software updates – yes, you will need to update the software on your speakers – are all handled via the Sonos app. To ensure we were getting the best performance from your system, we kickstarted the TruePlay setup after adding the Sub Mini. This nifty feature uses the microphones on your phone to measure the acoustics of the room and tune your Sonos speakers accordingly. For a home cinema system, TruePlay also gets you to sit in your preferred spot when watching telly and fine-tunes everything for that location.

It all works brilliantly and you can immediately tell the difference in performance from your Sonos kit. Unfortunately, this feature is still only available on the iPhone app, which is disappointing.

Sub Mini arrives with a pair of six-inch force-cancelling woofers. Sonos positions these components face-to-face inside the Sub Mini so the opposing forces cancel out. That results in a minimal amount of buzz, rattle, and distortion from the Sub Mini.

To return to our earlier point about the Sub Mini doubling up as a sleek coffee table – you won’t see ripples in your morning coffee à la Jurassic Park, thanks to this clever force-cancelling system.

Sonos isn’t the only company using this approach, Apple relies on a similar setup for the speakers inside its latest laptop models.

Sub Mini can produce frequencies as low as 25Hz, which is more than enough for a system with a soundbar at its heart. Aside from a few show-stopping moments – like the braaaams in the Inception trailer, the dread-inducing rumble in horror flick Relic, or the thunderous bassline in the Arctic Monkey’s Do I Wanna Know? – you’re unlikely to hear the presence of the Sub Mini.

In fact, there were times when we placed our hand inside the speaker to check the woofers were even woofing.

Yes, for the vast majority of the time, the Sub Mini simply adds extra depth to your existing Sonos speakers. Everything sounds fuller and more rounded – and if you remove the Sub Mini from the setup, its absence is felt immediately. Once you’ve heard your Sonos system with a dedicated subwoofer, it’s almost impossible to go back.

In our testing, we were astonished how much the presence of the Sub Mini improved the sound from our Sonos Beam. This nifty soundbar is no slouch on its own, but when it’s unencumbered from the deep-end of the audio spectrum, it really comes alive. Everything from the Beam sounds brighter and sharper.

If you’ve got a smaller room – or television – that wouldn’t be suited to the behemoth Sonos Arc, the Sub Mini is an easy way to seriously boost the sound quality from your existing setup. The genius of Sonos’ system is that you can slowly build-out your system over time. Just like adding a pair of rear speakers from Sonos or the IKEA Symfonisk collection will boost your movie nights with surround sound, the Sub Mini will add a cinematic rumble in all of the right places and enhance the sound of every other speaker you already own.

Sonos Sub Mini costs £429 – some £320 cheaper than the Sonos Sub (Gen 3). Sonos is also selling bundles with the Sonos Ray and Sub Mini (£673 – a £35 saving compared to buying both of these speakers separately) and the Sonos Beam and Sub Mini (£838 – a £40 saving).

These bundles mean you can pick up a Sonos Ray soundbar and a Sub Mini and still have £76 in your pocket, compared with buying a Sonos Sub Gen 3. Bargain!

Sub Mini launched in the UK and Europe on October 6, so is available now.

If you’re looking to complete a home cinema setup, check the best Sonos deals to secure your remaining kit at the lowest possible price.

It’s taken far too long for Sonos to launch a more affordable subwoofer. Its Sonos Ray and Sonos Beam soundbars are absolutely stunning – and some of our go-to recommendations for those looking to boost their television speakers. But pairing either of these soundbars with a £749 Sonos Sub 3 was utter madness.

Thankfully, we finally have the Sonos Sub Mini.

This superb subwoofer takes seconds to set up and requires no maintenance. Like the rest of Sonos’ lineup, if you’re hoping to spend hours in settings menus tinkering with EQs to fine-tune your sound, this is not the speaker for you. However, if you want the clever Sonos algorithms to manage everything for you, bringing a hugely-improved, well-rounded sound for your favourite album, TV show, or movie – you’ll be hard-pushed to find a better option than the Sub Mini.

As you’d expect from Sonos, the Sub Mini looks better than every other wireless subwoofer in its price category. It’s a bit of a shame that it cannot be stored on its side, like its pricier sibling, but this sleek speaker looks good enough that you’ll have no issue having it on display.

At £429, Sonos Sub Mini is a bargain compared to the Sonos Sub 3. But compared to other solutions on the market, it’s still fairly pricey.

For those who only have the Sonos Ray soundbar at home – an incredible deal at £279 – it’s tough to recommend spending £150 more on a subwoofer than the soundbar it will be paired with. For those with the Sonos Beam (Gen 1) or Sonos Beam 2, it’s a much more comfortable fit.

The Sub Mini’s ability to effortlessly enhance the sound from your existing speakers means it’s a must-have for those who are already deeply invested in the Sonos ecosystem, especially those with an existing Sonos home cinema system. However, for those looking to build a sound system from scratch, there are more affordable options than the Sub Mini …even if they’re not as good-looking.