Sonos Ray: Cheapest Sonos soundbar ever launches June 7 with new Sonos Voice Control

Sonos on Wednesday announced an expansion of its lineup of home theater and portable device products, via the debut of new color variants for the Sonos Roam, along with the introduction of the Sonos Ray — a new ultraportable compact soundbar.

The Roam is the company’s ultraportable Bluetooth smart speaker that now comes in Olive, Wave, and Sunset hues. In a separate announcement, meanwhile, the personal audio company also introduced Sonos Voice Control. This is the company’s first-ever custom voice experience developed exclusively for listening on its devices. With it, users can command their system hands-free, using only their voice.

Sonos Voice Control

Let’s start with the latter announcement first.

Available in the US and France starting June 1, with other markets to follow, Sonos Voice Control uses the voice and speech patterns of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul actor Giancarlo Esposito.

This feature will work on any voice-capable Sonos speaker, as well as new voice-capable products, and is a free update for existing customers. Sonos Voice Control lets users find and listen to music, with requests processed entirely on-device. In other words, nothing is sent to the cloud, stored, or listened to by anyone, the company stresses.

At launch, Sonos Voice Control will be compatible with music services like Sonos Radio, Apple Music, Deezer, and Pandora. Users can also, in addition to controlling their music and speakers in any room, use this new feature to move music around their home, save favorite songs to the libraries, and much more.

Next, let’s turn to the company’s new soundbar, the Ray, coming on June 7 for $279. Plus the announcement about new color variants for the Sonos Roam.

Ray and Roam

All three new colorways of the Roam are available around the world starting today, May 11, for $179. “As we reignite our sense of curiosity and chase new experiences, we’re being more considerate about how the things we wear and carry represent our personal style,” said Maxime Bouvat-Merlin, the company’s SVP for Hardware and Operations, in a news release. “Inspired by the places you’ll go, Roam’s newest colors are the perfect accent piece to express individuality through more ways than just sound.”

As we noted in a review last year, the Roam delivers incredible sound quality and cutting-edge features that rivals have a hard time matching. You can check out that review in full right here.

As for the Ray, it will be available globally for $279 starting June 7. Furthermore, the company is promising that its acoustic innovations will deliver “balanced sound, crisp dialogue, and solid bass.”

Features include:

• Compatibility with all of your favorite streaming services.
• Users can easily control the Ray with an existing TV remote, the Sonos app, Apple AirPlay 2, and more.
• Users can also add a pair of Sonos One speakers to a home theater setup for surround sound. Or connect to any Sonos speaker for multi-room listening.