I set up my first Sonos system in 2010. It was two Sonos Play:5s . From there; I have tried, I would say, dozens of the company’s products with consistently excellent feelings. But for sure, there was a before and after in my experience, and that was the Sub. There everything changed. Everything was heard differently in the music, the movies, and the series. It’s no coincidence that the company’s subwoofer has always been considered one of the best in the industry, and that’s why the Sub Mini, a slightly smaller — and above all, cheaper — version, was so long-awaited.
Especially if the Sub has a price of around 850 dollars/euros, the possibility of getting a significant increase in the sound experience for less money for those with a Sonos system is beautiful. The output of the Sub Mini seems to be the answer to that need.
Sonos Sub Mini
The Sonos Sub Mini is a slightly smaller and cheaper subwoofer for Sonos speaker systems, suitable for movies, series, and music. It offers excellent quality and significantly improves the sound experience, but the price may be a bit high for some people. Also, the TruPlay feature only works with iOS devices and is not yet available on Android.
After a little more than a week of testing the Sub Mini in two different environments, one for watching series and movies and the other for listening to music, my impressions are generally positive, but always taking into account that the physical space —and the speakers with those that are accompanied—are vital to having a good sound experience.
small, little
The Sonos Mini Sub Mini has very little. It is 30 centimeters high and has a diameter of 23 centimeters. It weighs 6.3 kilos and can be purchased in black or white. I have tested the black unit because it is the most popular color since it will be the most inconspicuous. The white team is pretty, but I suspect it will stand out in different settings.
That said, if you want a subwoofer to fill a room with bass, it just can’t be small. Of course, compared to a Sub, yes, it is. However, we cannot lose sight of the fact that we are dealing with physics. A speaker can’t sound good if it’s not big enough to put out the sound with enough power to make its presence felt.
Like the Sonos Sub, the Mini has two dynamic speakers that face each other, with a central tunnel. The design is not by chance; it is so to avoid as many vibrations as possible in the ground where it sits. The neighbors will appreciate it, but so will you since there is a vast difference between hearing shallow sounds when the device vibrates and when it does not.
In short: less vibration equals less distortion and, therefore, better perception and emission of sounds at low levels, which means better sound quality. In this section, thanks to its design and size, the Mini performs as well as its older brother.
But again, if you’ve been expecting a portable subwoofer that you can quickly move around, the Sonos Sub Mini isn’t it. And if you want good sound quality, you don’t want that.
The size of the room (and the speakers) matters
Sonos has emphasized that the Sub Mini isn’t for everyone. Recommended for use with a Sonos Beam or Sonos Ray soundbar. If you want to accompany it with speakers to listen to music, they advise that it be paired with the smallest range, such as the Sonos One.
I have tested the Sub mini in two separate environments for two completely different use cases. I first did it with a 5.1 system consisting of a Sonos Arc + two Sonos Ones in a medium-sized room. My objective was to measure results in a situation that is not necessarily ideal.
But the result is quite positive. The Sonos system balanced the Sub Mini alongside the Sonos Arc and the Sonos One without a problem. Of course, I had to do the TruPlay process that the brand recommends for the best possible user experience. The room I did this in is not large, so the bass filled the room with no perceptible loss in quality.
In the Sonos 5.1 system with which I did the test to watch series and movies, I already have a Sub, so comparisons between one and the other are inevitable. There is a point at which the Sub is superior when the sounds are below 25 Hz. In those cases, the large subwoofer can emit two to three times more sound volume than the Mini. And in many cases, it is noticeable. I would say that it is the main difference in technical sound capabilities between one device and another.
Later I did a test in another environment: the writing of Hipertextual. Much to the chagrin of my coworkers, where I plugged in the Sub Mini alongside two Sonos: Play 3s, which are now discontinued! It was not a coincidence. Would these work well if I pair broken speakers with a new product? Yes, and very well. One of the things I like best about Sonos is that their products, however old they are, generally still work very well.
Again, the Sub Mini has been powerful enough to fill the room with bass sounds, subtly enough, but significantly increasing the music listening experience.
Rather than compare the quality between the Sub and Sub Mini when listening to songs, I recommend listening to music with the subwoofer on and off. The difference is very noticeable. And that, I think, is what matters when deciding to buy a product at the price of the Sonos Mini.
It cannot be paired with other Sonos subwoofers.
One of the hopes many of us who use Sonos sound systems have had is the ability to pair the Sub Mini with a Sub. But this is not possible. And it’s a shame, but there is a technical explanation: the quality of the bass with two subwoofers of somewhat different specifications will be worse than if only one of them works, significantly below 25 Hz.
It’s also not possible to set up two Sub Minis on a single Sonos system, which makes perfect sense because, in that case, you’re better off buying one Sub, which is very powerful. And ready.
Should you buy the Sonos Sub Mini?
Without a doubt, the Sonos Sub will be the product that many music or home theater enthusiasts will use if they choose a Sonos system. At half the price of the Sonos Sub, but with most of the sonic capabilities, it’s more than enough in many cases.
But I cannot stop putting the same emphasis that the brand does on the importance of the size of the environments where the Sub Mini will be used. The subwoofer will not be enough if the room is enormous. To a lesser extent, the device will have more presence depending on the size of the speakers. Pairing it with a Beam is not the same as with an Arc. It will not be the same to pair it with a Sonos One than with a Sonos Five. For the latter, better to have a large Sub.
I have two significant criticisms about the device—first, your price. For €499 or $429, it’s a bit hard to justify in some cases. And the second thing is that TruPlay, which makes Sonos devices sound so good, can only be done with an iPhone. And that’s a shame.
