Sonos' newest soundbar uses Dolby Atmos technology to fill your room with audio from all directions — here's our full review

• Sonos' new flagship soundbar, the Sonos Arc, is the company's most advanced home theater speaker to date.
• At $799.00, the Arc is an investment for your living room rather than just a casual purchase, but it's one that's geared towards providing entertainment value for many years to come.
• The soundbar features Dolby Atmos immersive audio support, along with wireless playback and voice assistant capabilities.

Sonos launched its first entry into the home theater space with its Playbar soundbar in 2013. Since then, it's put out the Playbase, Beam, and now the Arc.

With each new model aimed at living rooms, the company has become more focused on what it wants to provide. While the Playbar was tuned to be a TV speaker, it now feels generic and underwhelming compared to the new Arc.

This is in large part due to the Arc's support for Dolby Atmos. Designed to provide an immersive audio experience, Dolby Atmos uses special mixing technology and up-firing speaker drivers to create the sense that sound is coming from all directions — even from above your head.

At $799.00, the Sonos Arc is aimed squarely at consumers who want premium sound without the extra hassle of an AV receiver or the clutter that often comes with a multiple speaker setup. Frankly, at this price the Arc costs more than a lot of good TV sets. It's not an impulse buy type of purchase, but the soundbar's performance justifies its cost for people who want a convenient, all-in-one Dolby Atmos audio solution for their living room.

I've used a Playbar for the last five years, as well as other Sonos speakers, so I have a pretty good idea where the Arc sits in relation to the company's past and the future. Overall, it's a remarkable soundbar and a good value for customers who are interested in its premium features.

Setup

During my testing time, I connected the Arc soundbar to an LG OLED TV, and I used an Apple TV 4K for streaming content. To get Dolby Atmos audio playback you'll need to use the HDMI connection on the soundbar and your connected device — not optical from the TV to the soundbar. Your display or media player must also support Dolby Atmos in order for the soundbar to receive this format.

The Sonos Arc supports 5.0.2 channels of audio on its own. This translates to a front left, front center, and front right channel, along with simulated rear left and rear right channels. Two up-firing speakers are integrated as well to bounce sound off of the ceiling during Dolby Atmos playback.

In addition to listening to the soundbar on its own, I also paired the Arc with two rear Sonos Play:1 speakers and a Sonos Sub to create a full 5.1.2 system with dedicated bass and genuine surround channels. The Play:1 and Sub are both sold separately.

In all, it takes around 10 minuted to go from unboxing to listening. This has less to do with the Arc specifically and more to do with the seamless wireless ecosystem Sonos has been building for the last decade. There's an included HDMI cable in the box, along with an optical cable if needed. It should be noted, however, that the soundbar lacks video passthrough support. This means that you can't feed video from a Blu-ray player or streaming box through the soundbar to your TV.

During setup there's also an option for Trueplay tuning which will adjust the sound for your specific room shape and size. I skipped this initially to get a sense for the device's out-of-box sound, but I went back and completed this process the next day. Trueplay tuning definitely changes the sound, and the adjustments provide an improvement in my room. Your mileage may vary, however, depending on your preferences.

The Arc is designed to be used with the new Sonos mobile app, called S2, which launched on June 8. This app makes it easy to see what audio format the soundbar is receiving from your playback source. This feature is especially helpful when you want to confirm whether the soundbar is correctly playing Dolby Atmos audio or not.

Specifications

• 11 Class-D digital amplifiers (eight elliptical woofers, three angled silk-dome tweeters)
• Four Far-field microphone array
• Adjustable EQ + Night Sound and Speech Enhancement
• AirPlay 2
• Alexa or Google Assistant voice commands
• Dolby Atmos
• Wi-Fi connectivity
• 45" x 4.5" x 3.4"

Sound performance

The Arc offers wonderful audio quality for a soundbar of this type, with brilliant dynamic range and incredibly detailed sound. This isn't a surprise, though, because the Playbar before it also sounded great. But, unlike the Playbar, Arc is louder and features a wider physical design to give it an even more spacious quality.

Even if used outside of a home theater setting, the Arc is easily one of the best speakers that Sonos makes. The Play:5, or now the Sonos Five, might sound a little meatier because of its larger drivers, but as a music-listening device, the Arc still excels.

I spent time listening to music directly through the Sonos app, via AirPlay, and using Apple TV. The source audio obviously makes a difference, and if you can listen using a service like Tidal for lossless audio streaming you will hear an improvement in the clarity and fullness.

In every context, however, it's as if the Arc is able to fade away from view so that only the audio is left front and center. When listening to the soundbar, instrument placement is distinct and it often feels as if I'm right there in the room with the musician.

General audio quality for TV shows and movies is similarly impressive. The better the source, the more the speaker disappears, allowing me to become immersed in the show or movie with sound coming from all directions.

In addition to standard listening, the Arc also features a Night Mode and Speech Enhancement feature. Night Mode lowers intense sounds for a more balanced and soft listening level. Meanwhile, Speech Enhancement boosts the EQ frequency associated with the human voice. Night Mode works well, but is more of a nicety than a necessary function. Speech Enhancement also comes in handy to further bring out dialogue, but I never really find voices to be hard to hear when using the regular mode.

Being as the soundbar already comes in at $799 without a subwoofer or satellite speakers, plenty of people will find themselves relying solely on the Arc without buying any additional Sonos speakers or the Sonos Sub. On its own, it's still surprisingly impressive and offers a larger sound than its physical size would imply.

Projecting convincing rear audio effects from a single soundbar is incredibly difficult, but sound easily fills the area in front of you for a wide, 180-degree soundfield. And thanks to the soundbar's up-firing drivers for height effects, it never feels like you need satellite speakers, though they do enhance the sound experience even more if you can add them.

On the downside, like most standalone soundbars, the Arc is a bit lacking when it comes to bass. On its own, it's very respectable in smaller rooms, but in larger living rooms, it just can't provide the deep low frequencies and rumble that a dedicated subwoofer offers. Thankfully, it's easy to upgrade the system with a wireless Sonos Sub if you decide you want extra bass later on.

Dolby Atmos performance

While the Arc's performance is impressive no matter what audio format you listen to, Dolby Atmos support is the soundbar's defining feature. With that in mind, I spent a lot of my time with the speaker focused on listening to Atmos content, both from music and movies, to get a sense of the scope of audio it provides.

Dolby Atmos titles are currently available on a variety of streaming services and Blu-ray discs. Disney Plus offers Dolby Atmos on select movies and shows as part of its service without charging extra. Netflix also supports Atmos but you need to subscribe to the platform's Premium tier to get the better audio. You can also buy or rent digital movies with Atmos from services like iTunes and Vudu. On the music side, Tidal just released Dolby Atmos albums on its Apple TV app, though the catalog is pretty limited right now.

The goal of Dolby Atmos is to provide an immersive audio experience that is even more engaging than just regular surround sound. To do this, many Atmos systems, like the Sonos Arc, feature up-firing speaker drivers. These special drivers are angled to bounce sound off of your ceiling, simulating the effect of audio coming from above your head.

Because the speaker in my living room is closer to the right wall, the Atmos effect is more pronounced on the right side. Similarly, the height of your room's ceiling will also determine the effectiveness of the sound coming from the top. Trueplay tuning should help with this as it tells the system how big your room is and where the soundbar is in relation to the walls.

Some movies, like "Spider Man: Into The Spider-Verse," "Avengers: Endgame," "Black Panther," and "Baby Driver," offer great examples of the benefits that Atmos can provide. The fight scene set in the red throne room in "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is also a particularly good demonstration, resulting in an impressive dome of audio. A lot of the added immersion comes in the form of enveloping ambient sounds and background effects that fill the room. Try closing your eyes throughout some Atmos movies to really focus on the enhanced effects.

On the music side, "Expectation" from Grouplove is a fun listen in Dolby Atmos, as the format allows it to produce a wider soundfield. Tidal's current catalog of Dolby Atmos tracks is very limited, but albums from The Weeknd, Halsey, and Norah Jones are among the other artists included.

As a whole, Dolby Atmos makes content pop and provides even more spatial separation. If you've already invested in a smart TV, streaming box, or Blu-ray player that supports Dolby Atmos, then a soundbar like the Arc could be the missing piece you need to complete your home theater setup. If you don't have any Dolby Atmos sources to hook up to the Arc, however, then you won't be getting the soundbar's full value.

Features and design

Beyond Dolby Atmos, Arc includes features like AirPlay, Alexa or Google Assistant voice control, and access to hundreds of streaming audio services. Arc is a full-fledged Sonos speaker so the company's standard wireless features, like support for grouping with other Sonos speakers, are all present as well.

Just like the Beam or Move, the Sonos Arc features built-in microphones for voice assistant capabilities. You can use either Alexa or Google Assistant depending on which one you prefer — but you can't use both at the same time. If you do use Alexa, you can also use it to turn the TV on or off, or change the channel.

On the design front, Arc is molded out of matte black or matte white plastic. Even so, it oozes a premium look and feel. It's a vast upgrade over the Playbar's fabric exterior. While dust will still stick to it, it's much easier to quickly wipe down than the Playbar's fabric, which was always a pain.

At 45-inches it won't fit every media console. In fact, you'll want to place it on top, rather than inside, a cabinet to get the full benefit of those up-firing speakers. You'll definitely want to measure your setup first. If you prefer, the soundbar can also be mounted to the wall. Despite its length, the Arc really does seem to disappear once you start listening to it.

The bottom line

For buyers that want a convenient home theater audio setup, the Sonos Arc is a tremendously impressive soundbar. Is it for you? If you've invested in a TV or media player that supports Dolby Atmos, and you have access to streaming services or Blu-ray discs that include Dolby Atmos audio mixes, then the Arc could be exactly what you're looking for. It's a soundbar that can handle all types of content, from music to movies.

If, however, you're not going to take advantage of all its capabilities, like Dolby Atmos and voice control, then the $799 price makes it hard to recommend. The Arc is a fantastic premium soundbar, but for buyers with more casual audio needs, there are less costly models to consider.

What are your alternatives?

Generally speaking, Sonos' Arc is expensive for a soundbar, but it's actually reasonably priced compared to a lot of competing models that support Dolby Atmos. On the lower end, there's Vizio's SB36312 soundbar, while the higher end features Sony's ST5000 and Yamaha's YSP-5600.

At a current price of $446.69, Vizio's option is more affordable and even comes with a wireless subwoofer. With that said, it uses fewer drivers than the Arc and its speaker array is less sophisticated. It also lacks integrated microphones for built-in voice control.

The Sony ST5000 and Yamaha YSP-5600 both offer support for even more audio channels, with 7.1.2 capabilities. They also include added support for DTS:X, which is a competing audio format that's similar to Dolby Atmos. On the downside, they each cost over $1,200 and they lack built-in microphones.

Sonos also has an advantage with its highly rated multi-room audio experience. This makes the Arc an especially good fit for buyers who want a home theater soundbar to add to their existing Sonos ecosystem.

Pros: Dolby Atmos capabilities, best-in-class sound, AirPlay, voice commands, standard Sonos wireless speaker features

Cons: High price, physical dimension might be too long for some TV stands, doesn't include a separate subwoofer