Sonos Arc Review

The Sonos Arc is a great soundbar for those looking for top-notch home theater sound from a simple, single-speaker solution. WiFi connectivity enables the use of Google Assistant, Alexa, and Apple Airplay 2 as well as access to many streaming services. The Android users among us wish that there was a Bluetooth connection.

Performance Comparison

Sound Quality

This soundbar delivers industry-leading sound quality. While it's not our absolute favorite for home theater applications, we feel it's the best model for enjoying music and worth some serious consideration if you plan on using the Arc for all sonic needs.

Cinematic Experience

This large soundbar creates a decently immersive soundstage despite not having a satellite subwoofer. The success of the Arc's surround sound mimicry is largely due to its use of Dolby Atmos — a sound format that makes for greater separation of sounds, allowing them to be more discreetly "spread out" within an artificial soundscape. The Arc makes it seem like all these different sounds are coming from different areas by bouncing them off the walls and other surfaces in your living room. Tuning the soundbar to your specific room using Sonos's Trueplay tuning, which involves walking around the room with an iOS device (sorry, Android users) while the soundbar emits submarine noises, vastly improves the soundbar's ability to do this.

In ideal conditions, the Arc is capable of tricking us into thinking the sound is coming from more places than just the soundbar itself. These "ideal conditions" include a standard, flat ceiling, and a couch pushed right against the back wall, making it easy for the soundbar to bounce sound this way and that. When we put the Arc in a room with higher vaulted ceilings and listened from a couch placed in the center of the room this surround sound experience was greatly diminished. However, even in these more difficult situations, the Arc still felt noticeably more immersive than many of its competitors. It is important to note that you'll only experience the full effect of this surround sound when listening to Dolby Atmos-enabled media. Luckily more and more streaming services (including NetFlix, iTunes, and Amazon Prime Video) are offering more and more Atmos-enabled titles.

Music

Outside of surround sound mimicry, the bare bones of the Arc's sound are also exceptional. Perhaps most notable is the bass power. Likely thanks to its large size, this soundbar can really rumble. This is one of the few models we've ever tested that we don't think would be vastly improved with the addition of an external subwoofer (though Sonos does make one if you're so inclined). The Arc manages to keep that bass power controlled, however, with the low notes of music staying powerful yet crisp and well-defined. The mid and treble ranges enjoy similar clarity.

Ease of Use

The Arc is generally quite easy to use, but some idiosyncrasies of the Sonos ecosystem may annoy some people.

Setup

Setting up the Arc is quite easy, if slightly time-consuming-- just connect to your TV via the HDMI or optical inputs (HDMI is better if you have the option) and finish setup through the Sonos app. This is the time-consuming part. If you don't already have a Sonos account you'll have to make one. Then you'll have to link the Arc to your WiFi, sign in to any music streaming services you'd like to use with the soundbar, choose whether you prefer Alexa or Google Assistant, and finally tune the soundbar to your room. To do this the Arc emits a sonar-type sound while the app prompts you to walk around the room, moving your phone up and down. During the process, the Arc uses the microphone on your phone to create an auditory map of the room and optimizes its acoustics accordingly. All told this took us about 15 minutes.

This is where the Sonos idiosyncrasies start. In order to tune the soundbar (a process that Sonos has dubbed "Trueplay"), you'll need an iOS device. If you're an Android user it's pretty simple to borrow a friend's iOS device just to accomplish the tuning, but it's an extra step that is certainly annoying (you can still use the soundbar without tuning to the room, but doing so improves the audio experience). Additionally, the Arc is one of the few models we've tested that doesn't offer Bluetooth connectivity. Here again, iOS users are favored, as the AirPlay compatibility effectively replaces Bluetooth if you use Apple devices.

We should also note that the Arc is quite heavy (nearly 14 pounds) and large (45" long). We felt a bit nervous navigating such a large and unwieldy thing next to a fancy TV, so just be careful when placing it on your TV stand.

Sound Customization

The Arc offers a useful set of sound modes and adjustments. First, within the app you can change bass and treble levels using a set of sliders, as well as can set a maximum volume limit. There is also a speech enhancement mode that brings dialogue to the forefront, and a night mode that dampens loud noises so you don't disturb your neighbors.

Volume

By our measurements, this soundbar is by no means the loudest, and there are several less expensive models that can fill larger rooms. The Arc tops out at "only" 87 decibels, where the loudest models in the tests blasted out a solid 102 decibels. However, don't let this be what steers you away from the Arc, as 87 decibels is still excessively loud for watching television and film. Also, integration with the Sonos ecosystem is a big selling point for this soundbar, and Sonos enthusiasts will likely already have other speakers to help power their parties and fill their homes with sound.

Design/Style

The Sonos Arc sports classic aesthetics with clean lines, a high-quality all-metal finish, and a monochrome exterior (available in black and white). The only downside to its looks is its size. Measuring a full 45" in length, this bar is wider than any TV that measures less than 55" on the diagonal. Case in point, it looked absurdly large when we put it in front of a 40" TV.

Value

The Sonos Arc is one of the most expensive soundbars on the market. While you can get better value-per-dollar from many of the less expensive models, the Arc is a clear step above pretty much all of them. As long as you're ok paying a bit of a premium for the premium performance, the Arc is worth the money.

Conclusion