The Sonos Playbar and Sonos Arc are the manufacturer’s flagship soundbars. The old Playbar was launched in 2013 and is now only available from Sonos Refurbished.
The Sonos Arc is the official successor and has been on the market since 2020. But is it worth upgrading to the significantly more expensive Arc?
I compare both devices and show the differences.
Sonos Arc: Longer and more speakers
The most obvious difference is the dimensions: The Sonos Arc has a proud length of 1.14m and is therefore designed for larger televisions or projectors. The old Playbar is only 90cm long.
This is also due to the number of integrated speakers: the new Arc has eight diaphragms for mid-range and bass tones and three more for the treble. The Playbar only has six mid-woofers and three tweeters.
New touch buttons
Another external difference is the buttons: the old Playbar still has real, haptic switches for play/pause, volume up and volume down, while the Arc has touch buttons that you only need to touch.
These touch buttons also allow swipe gestures to skip backwards or forwards through a title. However, they are also quite sensitive and are easily activated unintentionally when dusting.
Control via TV remote control
Both soundbars can be controlled not only via the Sonos apps but also with the TV remote control.
The Playbar even has two built-in infrared receivers, as it can be set up in two different positions.
The Sonos Arc only has one receiver. However, the functionality is identical.
Different connections
The old Playbar has two LAN ports and an optical Toslink input for the sound from the TV, while the Arc only has a connection for the LAN cable and, more recently, an HDMI connection for the TV.
However, both soundbars come with an adapter from optical Toslink to HDMI and vice versa, so you actually have all the options.
The Playbar’s dual LAN connection is very practical if you don’t have enough ports for different devices on your router or hub.
The second connection allows other devices to be connected directly to the Playbar.
Sonos Arc: voice assistants and AirPlay
Under the hood, the Sonos Arc has a few new features that the Playbar can’t offer.
This includes integrated microphones for voice assistants: Alexa from Amazon, Sonos’ own voice assistant and Hey Google can currently be activated via the Sonos app.
Siri from Apple is not yet integrated, but could follow in the future.
The Sonos Arc also has Apple AirPlay 2 integrated. This means you can send music directly from your iPhone, iPad or Mac to the speaker without using the Sonos app.
Which soundbar sounds better?
It is always difficult to compare the sound: speakers sound different in every room and in every home.
This is because the installation location plays a major role: Size, furniture, reverberation and subsurface.
That’s why there are only two options: either try them out yourself in your own four walls, Sonos now even offers a 100-day return policy if you don’t like them.
Or trust my judgment: I think both soundbars sound fantastic – especially with a separate Sonos subwoofer and separate rear speakers.
The latter should be placed on the appropriate stands for optimum positioning.
If you occasionally listen to music at room volume via the soundbars, watch series on Netflix and watch the news on TV, you won’t hear a huge difference.
Yes, the Sonos Arc plays a little more detailed and has slightly more powerful bass, but this is hardly noticeable in everyday life.
However, if you listen to music at higher volumes – i.e. well above normal room volume – you will notice a clear difference.
If you are an absolute home theater freak and watch movies with a lot of impact at a higher volume, then the Arc performs a little better.
Sonos Arc with Dolby Atmos
Like the smaller Sonos Beam (Gen 2), the Sonos Arc is capable of the new Dolby Atmos. This should give the impression that the sound is coming from all sides – even from above.
This can be quite impressive, but is currently still quite complicated to implement: The TV needs a so-called eARC connection for the HDMI cable.
The movie or series must be available in Dolby Atmos – and with Netflix you need the largest and most expensive subscription model for Dolby Atmos.
I use the Sonos Arc with a slightly older projector and the AppleTV. Because the projector doesn’t have an eARC output, I also have to use the rather expensive HDMI switch from Feintech VAX04101.
So if you really want to enjoy a lot of movies in perfect sound and music at higher volumes, the Sonos Arc could be worthwhile – for all other applications, the Playbar is definitely sufficient.
However, these are only available as refurbished products from Sonos. These “refurbished devices” look like new – they are just significantly cheaper.
Alternatively,the smaller Sonos Beam or the latest Sonos Ray would also be interesting for applications such as bedrooms or children’s rooms.
Lars Grudzinski has been working as a sound and lighting technician since the 90s, was a DJ for electronic music, has a large collection of vintage speakers, and has been working for various radio stations in Germany for 20 years. At home, he enjoys high-quality home theater products such as soundbars and projectors and has installed an extensive Sonos system in his own home.