Sonos Arc soundbar review: An all-in-one Dolby Atmos speaker with killer sound and lots of smart features

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The Sonos Arc is one of the company's best soundbars. It's designed to provide immersive audio performance from just a single soundbar unit and it even includes Dolby Atmos support for a truly enveloping home theater experience. Dolby Atmos uses object-based mixing and upfiring speaker drivers to create the sense that sound is coming from all directions — even from above your head.  

At $899, the Sonos Arc is aimed squarely at customers who want premium sound without the extra hassle of an AV receiver or the clutter that comes with a multi-speaker setup. At this price, the Arc isn't an impulse buy 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.

Getting the Sonos Arc set up is easy, but its large size won't fit all TV stands

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 fabric exterior used on Sonos' older Playbar. 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 however, the Arc won't fit every media console. You'll also need to place it on top, rather than inside, a cabinet to get the full benefit of its upfiring speakers. If you prefer, the soundbar can be mounted to a wall. 

During my testing, I connected the Arc to an LG OLED TV and I used an Apple TV 4K for streaming. To get Dolby Atmos 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. 

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 upfiring speakers are integrated as well to bounce sound off your 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 minutes 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. 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 device 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 depending on your preferences.

The Arc is designed to be used with the Sonos S2 mobile app, which makes it easy to see what audio format the bar 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.

Movies, TV shows, and music come through with clear, crisp audio

The Arc offers wonderful audio quality with brilliant dynamic range and incredibly detailed sound. Even if used outside of a home theater setting, the Arc is easily one of the best speakers that Sonos makes. The Sonos Five might sound a little meatier because of its larger drivers, but as a music-listening device, the Arc 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 one of the  best music streaming services like Tidal for lossless audio streaming you'll 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 its audio is left front and center. 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 you to become immersed in the show or movie with sound coming from all directions.

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 upfiring drivers for height effects, it never feels like you need satellite speakers, though they can enhance the experience even more if you add them.

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.

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.

The Arc really comes alive when playing Dolby Atmos surround sound content

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 it provides.

Dolby Atmos titles are currently available on a lot of the best 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 it. You can also buy or rent digital movies with Atmos from services like Apple TV and Vudu. On the music side, Tidal, Amazon Music Unlimited, and Apple Music all offer a selection of albums in Dolby Atmos.

The goal of Dolby Atmos is to provide an immersive audio experience that's even more engaging than just regular surround sound. To do this, many Atmos systems, like the Sonos Arc, feature upfiring speaker drivers. These 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 when listening to 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. Albums from The Weeknd, Halsey, and Norah Jones also sound great in Atmos.

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.

The soundbar also supports tons of smart features

Beyond Dolby Atmos, the 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.

Should you buy it?

For buyers that want a convenient all-in-one home theater system, the Sonos Arc is a tremendously impressive soundbar. 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 single-unit soundbar that can handle all types of content, from music to movies, and it pairs perfectly with the best 4K TVs that you can buy.

If, however, you're not going to take advantage of all its capabilities, like Dolby Atmos and voice control, then the $899 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. Conversely, buyers who want a soundbar system that includes true satellite speakers and a subwoofer might want to consider the Vizio Elevate to get an even more immersive experience, albeit at the cost of the Arc's all-in-one convenience.