For those who’re critical about your property theater setup, you want a subwoofer. This can be a massive ask for Sonos house owners, as the corporate’s Sub is nice however costly. The Sonos Sub Mini goals to supply that key low-end thump, however with a smaller worth and footprint than its bigger sibling.

The Sub Mini is a product for a really particular viewers, because it’s Sonos-only. Whether or not you’re utilizing a soundbar just like the Beam Gen 2 or Arc, otherwise you’re trying so as to add extra rumble to your complete residence audio setup, this subwoofer pairs with most, however not all, Sonos merchandise.

Whereas it’s way more reasonably priced than the third-generation Sonos Sub, the Sub Mini remains to be pricier than most equally sized soundbars. Is it value it for Sonos house owners, or do you have to go together with the bigger subwoofer?

Construct and Design

The Sonos Sub Mini is cylindrical in form, a design far faraway from the bigger Sonos Sub. It’s additionally not fairly as mini as you might think about from the outline. At simply over a foot tall and 9 inches in diameter, I’ve definitely seen loads of smaller subwoofers.

It isn’t simply the cylindrical form that separates the Sub Mini from the Sub. This makes use of a matte end, which to my eye seems to be a lot nicer than the shiny end of the Sub. The Sub Mini is on the market in black or white, each of which function minimal branding, just like the second-generation Sonos Beam.

One space the place the Sub Mini is just like the Sub is the area within the center. That is the place the opposing twin woofers are mounted, which we’ll take a look at extra in a while. The area is right here for sensible causes, but it surely additionally immediately identifies the Sub Mini as a relative of the Sub.

The smaller footprint of the Sub Mini is beneficial in concept, however its form and its intent are considerably at odds. If the Sub Mini was sq., somewhat than cylindrical, it will take up even much less area. Right here, the cylindrical form might be a problem when making an attempt to suit the Sub Mini into a decent area.

As is normally the case with subwoofers, the Sub Mini is on the heavy facet at 14 kilos (6.35 kg). A part of this weight comes from the audio system, however the Sub Mini additionally feels solidly constructed, as is par for the course with Sonos merchandise.

Connectivity

As talked about on the high of the evaluate, the Sub Mini solely connects to Sonos audio system. What’s extra, it solely connects through a community connection, utilizing the Sonos app (extra on that under).

Usually, you’ll wish to join through Wi-Fi, as that is the protocol Sonos audio system appear to favor by default. That stated, should you’re in a scenario the place Wi-Fi is spotty, you could find an Ethernet port on the underside of the speaker, proper subsequent to the place you plug within the energy cable.

The standard controls you’d anticipate to see on a subwoofer aren’t right here. As it’s Sonos-only, you received’t discover RCA jacks to run a sign from a receiver, nor will you discover a digital audio enter. You received’t even discover the crossover management you’d discover on most different subwoofers.

That is each a optimistic and a unfavourable. On one hand, not having onboard controls means you want to resort to utilizing the Sonos app for all the things. Then again, the simplicity of the Sub Mini is a part of what makes it really easy to make use of.

Setup

Due to its nature as a subwoofer, the Sub Mini is not going to be anybody’s first Sonos speaker. Because of this, it means setup goes to be simple, as you’ve already arrange your Sonos account and linked your different units to your community.

This implies all you want to do is plug the Sub Mini into energy and launch the Sonos app (accessible for iPhone/iPad and Android). Then simply add the Sub Mini and observe the app’s prompts to get it arrange and linked to your community. As soon as that is completed, you’ll possible want to attend a couple of minutes whereas the subwoofer updates its firmware.

As soon as the speaker is linked, simply decide the gadget you want to affiliate it with, and also you’re prepared to begin utilizing the Sub Mini.

Controls and the Sonos App

There’s solely a single button on the Sub Mini, the Sync button. In my time testing the Sub Mini, I by no means even needed to press that button. All of the vital controls are discovered throughout the Sonos app.

That isn’t to say there are numerous controls in any respect. You may modify the general degree of the subwoofer relative to your different units, and you’ll flip it on and off. That sums up the accessible controls, because it appears the app routinely units the crossover frequency primarily based on the gadget you’re utilizing with the Sub Mini.

One of many nicest options of the app-based controls are having the ability to flip the subwoofer on and off from the consolation of your sofa. That is particularly useful should you’re watching TV or listening to music late at evening and don’t wish to trouble neighbors or housemates with too many low frequencies.

Lastly, whereas Sonos Trueplay isn’t particular to the Sub Mini, it’s value organising. Trueplay is a function that makes use of an iOS or iPadOS gadget (sadly, this function isn’t accessible on Android) to seize the acoustics of your room and tune your Sonos system accordingly.

For those who’re utilizing Trueplay (it’s value borrowing an iPhone or iPad to set it up), be certain to run it once more after including the Sub Mini to your system, so it might measure your system with the brand new subwoofer hooked up.

Sound High quality

It’s arduous to debate the sound high quality of a subwoofer as a result of it’s probably not there to be observed. When a subwoofer is working completely, you shouldn’t have to consider it.

As I discussed earlier, the Sub Mini contains a pair of drivers as a substitute of a single huge woofer. Whereas different subwoofers have used a number of drivers, Sonos’s strategy places them straight reverse each other, which is supposed to cut back the annoying flooring rumble some subwoofers trigger. I undoubtedly observed the dearth of rumble, but it surely didn’t come at the price of bass.

To get a really feel for simply how a lot the Sub Mini may ship, I used it alongside the second-generation Sonos Beam to observe F9: The Quick Saga. Within the minefield chase scene, the explosions felt huge, however I observed my image frames and home windows weren’t rattling.

Total, watching motion pictures and TV reveals utilizing the Sub Mini alongside the Beam labored fairly properly. Generally with different residence theater programs, I’ve wanted to manually modify the subwoofer quantity. For instance, watching a TV present the subwoofer would possibly really feel overpowering in comparison with a film. The Sonos system does a formidable job of routinely adjusting ranges so that you don’t want to consider them.

Listening to music on the Beam with assistance from the Sub Mini, I observed that the subwoofer felt laid again in comparison with watching motion pictures. This meant that there have been occasions when the lows weren’t as pushed as you’d anticipate from a subwoofer, however even then, the midrange readability benefited from the presence of the Sub Mini dealing with the lows.

This was properly demonstrated listening to Sleep’s “Sonic Titan,” the place the Sub Mini’s enhancements weren’t discovered within the lows as a lot because the decrease midrange. With out the subwoofer enabled, the track sounded cloudy. Enabling the subwoofer, the low finish deepened, however I additionally observed a clearer sound within the bass frequencies.

To essentially interact the Sub Mini, I listened to the Completely satisfied Mondays’ “Step On,” a track with huge low finish courtesy of the primary drum loop and bass participant Paul Ryder. The Sub Mini does this track justice, sounding big even at reasonable volumes. Flip off the subwoofer, and the track loses most of its vitality.

Ought to You Purchase the Sonos Sub Mini?

The Sonos Sub Mini seems like an ideal companion to the second-generation Sonos Beam, which I reviewed it alongside. For those who love the Beam however really feel such as you want extra bass, the Sub Mini delivers it in spades. It’s additionally an important improve for a lot of of Sonos’s different audio system within the Play and One sequence.

Because the identify implies, the Sub Mini doesn’t present as a lot sheer quantity because the bigger third-generation Sub, however most individuals don’t want that. Until your property theater or stereo setup is in a pretty big room, the Sub Mini ought to present greater than sufficient bass.

For those who’re aiming so as to add a subwoofer to any Sonos speaker, the smaller footprint and up to date design of the Sub Mini would make it our advice over the bigger Sub most often.