So whenever a company puts the word “Mini” in their product name, like the iPad Mini or the long gone iPhone Mini, it usually means a mini-sized version or a lower spec version compared to the bigger siblings, but the Sonos Sub Mini though, while it is smaller in size compared to the Sonos Sub, but it is BIG in sound, so here is my review after using this after a month.
Unboxing
So the unboxing experience was very Sonos-Like, where as usual, there is a tab to open the box’s seal.
Opening the box, firstly, there is a smaller box, which has the user manual, the product info leaflet, and a 3-pin plug.
Then there is the Sonos Sub Mini; once again, in the usual Sonos fashion, it is covered with a white color cloth.
Design & Build
Now, if you clicked on this video by mistake or you are just curious on what exactly the Sonos Sub Mini is, well, I’m glad you are here because it is a subwoofer that is built to accompany other Sonos speaker systems.
Now, while I already have the Sonos Sub Gen 3, which I absolutely loved. But for me, I felt it was a little pricey for me to fork out to get another one for myself, hence I decided to get myself this Sub Mini instead.
So if you have something like the Sonos Five, Sonos Ray, Beam, One, or the One SL, then the Sonos Sub Mini will be the perfect addition to your home entertainment setup. Speaking of which, here is the list of all the products that the Sub Mini is compatible with, especially if you have the older Sonos Speakers.
Source: https://support.sonos.com/en/article/sonos-products-that-support-sub-mini
Then another very Sonos-like thing that was done on the Sub Mini is the sleek, compact, and minimalist design, where it had just the Sonos logo on top, an Ethernet port, and the power input underneath. Then finally, there is the pairing button at the back, and that’s it!
Overall it is very well-built, and it measures about 23 centimeters wide and 30.5 centimeters tall, and weighs at 6.35kg.
It comes in a nice matte look, either in white, which is the correct color, where the center tunnel in the middle is black, as you guys can see, which gives it a classy two-tone look, and there is also an all-black color version as well.
Now, essentially there are two woofers facing inward which is an acoustically sealed cabinet structure, which neutralizes the distortion and improves the bass response and extension as well, which I will go into later when it comes to the performance and of course the overall sound test of the Sonos Sub Mini.
There’s also a force-canceling effect to reduce the floor rumble, and even if you put something like a coin or even your ring while the music is playing, it won’t vibrate at all.
Hardware, Software, Features
So the Sub Mini has a dual Wi-Fi connection of either 5GHz and 2.4GHz support, and if you prefer a cable connection, that’s where you can just plug into the Ethernet port underneath, as mentioned earlier.
Being a wireless speaker, there is a huge flexibility on where exactly you want to place it, but of course, you would definitely want to put it near the soundbar or perhaps to where exactly you are sitting because if it were in another room, that wouldn’t make sense, right?
And for you spec nerds out there, the Sonos Sub Mini’s woofer drivers are 6 inches and are designed to reach below 25Hz.
Setting up the Sub Mini was a piece of cake, not literally, although it does look like a wedding cake, right?
So after plugging in the power cord, open the Sonos app, which will prompt you to set up a new device, and you will be asked to hold your smartphone near the top of the Sub Mini to transfer your Wi-Fi and your other Sonos details over via NFC.
And in the last step, the app will ask you which existing soundbar or speaker that you would like to pair the Sub Mini with.
And by the way, the Sonos Sub Mini does not work with other Sonos portable speakers, like the Sonos Roam or the Sonos Move, and if you are like me, who has the Sonos Sub Gen 3, you cannot pair the Sub Mini to that, or even pair two Sonos Sub Minis, like how you can do it with the Sub Gen 3, so keep that in mind.
So depending on which speakers that you have got connected to, the majority of the low frequencies will be offloaded to the Sonos Sub Mini, while your original audio device will handle most of the mids and treble.
As with other Sonos speakers, it is best to tune your setup with the help of Sonos’ Trueplay feature, which unfortunately is not available for Android users, where it is exclusively available for iOS or even if you are using an iPad, up until now.
Then speaking of the app, since it is just a Sub speaker, there is not much to be done in there, aside from toggling it off the sub or adjusting the sub levels between -15 to +15, and based on my daily usage, I found the settings of -4 being the sweet spot for most media including movies as well.
Now, during my one month of use, I did not experience any playback issues or any connectivity dropouts throughout the review, which was a very good sign.
Performance
So, does this deliver on its big bass promise? Compared to the non-sub Sonos speaker setup, I would say for sure. The Sonos Sub Mini adds range and dynamics to the overall sound and certainly some welcomed thump in music and movies as well.
Movies like “Baby Driver”, “The Joker”, and “Glass Onion” sounded so much fuller and were more enjoyable overall when I tested them on the Sonos Ray and also the Sonos Beam Gen 2 in the studio together with the Sonos Sub Mini.
And if I had to compare between the two, I would say that you will find a massive difference in bass levels when you pair it with the Sonos Ray compared to the Sonos Beam Gen 2, and this is because the Sonos Beam Gen 2 has already some decent levels of bass, but yes, you can tell the difference when you add the Sonos Sub Mini.
However, if you are planning to pair this with the Sonos Arc, it would be better for a smaller-sized room, so the difference would be even more minor, and here is where I would recommend for you all to go with the Sonos Sub Gen 3 instead, especially if you have a slightly bigger sized living room.
Regardless of the genre, I noticed a punchier and richer bottom end, and what I really like is there was minimal to almost no floor vibration.
Wrapping up
So with all of this being mentioned, after using the Sonos Sub Mini for a month, if you are wondering whether or not you should get the Sonos Sub Mini and if you would feel the difference, I would say YES!
Because in my opinion, the Sonos Sub Mini will be a welcome addition to those who own existing Sonos soundbars or speakers like the Sonos One’s to add that extra oomph to the overall sound from a low-end perspective.
And with a price of RM2,999, which I will leave a link to TC Acoustic’s website down below for you guys to get it at the latest offered pricing.
While it’s not “cheap” for sure, but you’ll be paying for Sonos’ signature design, the overall great build quality, sound engineering, fantastic user experience and of course to build the Sonos Ecosystem even further.
But for those of you who want an even bigger sound, then the Sonos Sub Gen 3 is the way to go.
But for most people, especially if you are living in a smaller space and want to really maximize the sound, then the Sonos Sub Mini will be just fine and speaking of the Sonos Ray earlier, do check out my review of that over here.
Get the Sonos Sub Mini at the link below:-
https://my.tcacoustic.asia/collections/sonos/products/sonos-sub-mini
