We tested the new Sonos Sub Mini, the subwoofer that complete your home sound system with excellent features and a more contained price.
Sonos has launched a new subwoofer to expand its product catalog, which already had a subwoofer, Sonos Sub, whose size and price make it unaffordable for many. This new Sonos Sub Mini, as its name suggests, it is smaller and costs much less, but it promises to offer an improvement in sound quality that completes your home sound system. Is this new model worth it? We’ll tell you then.
Characteristics
The new Sonos Sub Mini comes in two colors, black and white, as usual for Sonos. It is the only difference that you will find between the two models. The white color has the “wind tunnel” in black, which gives it a contrast that is aesthetically spectacular, although I have to say that because of the color of my sound system I like black better, which is also more discreet. Its size of 23×30.5 cm together with its cylindrical shape allow it to be placed almost anywhere, a great advantage over the conventional model, much larger and cumbersome. It has thick rubber feet that make it very stable and that there is no vibration even at high volumes.
There are no meshes, holes or anything like that, just that central tunnel where the two 15mm woofers are located, which are responsible for reproducing those basses that we are going to enjoy. Each of the two speakers has its class D amplifier, and the set offers us a frequency response that goes down to 25Hz. We are used to Sonos devices with minimalist designs, but this one reaches its maximum expression, without any type of LED that indicates that it is working, not even the logo of the brand is too noticeable in the upper part of the cylinder. It only has a button on the back and bottom of the speaker, and at its base we find the connector for the plug cable, and an ethernet connection in case we want to connect it directly to the router. It is not necessary, since it has a dual-band Wi-Fi connection, which I use in my case without the slightest problem.
Compatibility
This Sonos Sub Mini is designed to be used together with other brand speakers. What speakers are compatible? Any non-portable Sonos speaker. That is to say that we can use it with any Sonos except the Sonos Roam, Roam SL and the Sonos Move:
- we are 5
- Sonos One (Gen 1 and 2)
- Sonos One SL
- Sonos Play:1
- Sonos Play:2
- Sonos Play:3
- Sonos Play:5 (Gen 2)
- Sonos Arc
- Sonos Arc SL
- Sonos Beam (Gen 1 and 2)
- Sonos Playbar
- Sonos Playbase
- Sonos Ray
- Sonos Amp
- Sonos Connect:Amp (Gen 2)
- IKEA SYMFONISK speakers
Setting
The setup process for the Sonos Sub Mini is very straightforward, as it is with all Sonos speakers. Being a speaker that needs other speakers to work, you will already have the Sonos application on your iPhone and a sound system created. ANDPlug in the Sonos Sub Mini, open the Sonos app on your smartphone and it should appear automatically the Sonos Sub Mini to add to your system. It’s that easy, that direct. If not, that’s what the button on the back of the speaker is for.
The steps to add it to the system are very simple and the application guides you through the process in a very intuitive way, which is helped by the fact that it is translated into Spanish. Once added little more we can do… only configure TruePlay sound, something only iPhone users can do and that allows you to adapt the sound to the room in which you are. To do this, you must first place yourself in the place where you usually sit to enjoy the sound, and then take a walk with the application open throughout the room. This process takes about two minutes, and is worth doing for the highest quality sound possible.
Sound quality
My sound system consists of a Sonos Arc and two Sonos Ones that work as satellites. Despite what it may seem, it is not the best system for the Sub Mini to show its full potential. Sonos recommends the Sub Mini with the Sonos Beam (1st or 2nd gen) because they offer you less bass. The Sonos Arc is the most premium soundbar from Sonos, and the one that gives you the best sound, including bass. For this reason, a priori, it is the least noticeable to add a dedicated subwoofer such as the Sub Mini. In fact, Sonos recommends you use the Sonos Sub, its best subwoofer. But the reality is that even with this “disadvantage” the Sonos Sub Mini improves my system in a more than evident way.
Although it is always difficult to express how a speaker sounds in writing an article, in this case it is much easier for me. Surely you know perfectly well the feeling of going to the cinema to enjoy an action movie, how the sound shows that power that even sounds inside you. That inner feeling is what you get with the Sub Mini, and that’s very rewarding for anyone looking to have in their living room. a sound system that gives you the experience of watching a movie in a movie theater. Sonos also does it with the usual note of quality, because unlike other subwoofers that offer great bass without further ado, here you will not notice that the floor vibrates or that the glassware in your showcase moves.
With other sound systems the volume at which you have to listen to your movies to get a “powerful” sound experience must be too loud, so much so that you end up never using it because you disturb the person in the next room, or the neighbor. . This does not happen with my Sonos system, which even with normal volumes you have excellent bass that offers an excellent experience. I always have the option to listen well to the dialogues that Sonos offers in its app active, which enhances the voices over other sounds, because even with that option the presence of the Sub Mini is noticeable.
For listening to music the Sub Mini is also a great addition to your system. Depending on the music you like, the presence of the subwoofer will be more or less noticeable, but if you want to test the power of the subwoofer, all you have to do is listen to Acid Rain by Lorn or Royals by Lorde. The difference between listening to them without the Sub Mini and with it is abysmal. And it is that the subwoofer not only adds bass, but also eliminates the bass of the rest of the speakers in the system, which, freed from that mission, can improve the rest of the frequencies, offering a richer and more balanced sound.
Editor’s Opinion
Sound can always improve, and even though you think your sound system is perfect, nothing could be further from the truth. A sound bar always improves the quality of your television, adding some satellites to get a better surround effect is the next step, and even if you think that with that you already have more than enough, if you try a Sonos Sub Mini you will no longer be able to do without it . Thanks to the modularity that Sonos offers us, this can be done step by step with its sound systems. Would it be the last element to add? In my opinion, sure yes. Does it cost more than your Sonos sound bar? Surely, but I would add it without a doubt. You can buy it on Amazon for €499 on Amazon (link)
- Publisher’s rating
- Rating 4.5 stars
- Exceptional
€499
- sub mini
- Review by: louis padilla
Posted on:
Last modification:
Pros
- discreet and compact
- Simple and direct configuration
- Compatibility with almost all Sonos speakers
- wireless