Sonos Ray Soundbar Reportedly Coming in June, Pics Leak – CNET [CNET]

The soundbar will cost $250 and lack HDMI, according to reports.

Sonos plans to release a new, budget-friendly soundbar in the next few weeks called the Sonos Ray, according to multiple reports. 

Twitter account SnoopyTech has posted what it claims are official pictures of the new device, as reported by What Hi-Fi, and these seem to correlate to The Verge’s previous renders. The ‘bar has a similar appearance to the Beam Gen 2 with what appears to be a plastic grille on the front.

The new Ray soundbar is supposedly smaller than the Sonos Beam and will lack both Dolby Atmos and HDMI, with only a digital optical connection. The soundbar could have a price point of about $250, which is cheaper than $450 Beam Gen 2, but this brings it in line with the $219 One smart speaker. Unlike other speakers including the Sonos Roam it’s reported that it will also lack voice assistant functionality.

Like the Beam and the Arc, Sonos’ $900 soundbar model, the latest soundbar is expected to be offered in black and white. The release date for the new soundbar is expected to be June 7, according to reports.

The Sonos Ray could help bring the company’s multiroom range to a new audience, along with more affordable models like the $99 Ikea Symfonisk. It will compete with budget-oriented soundbars such as the Polk Signa S3 and the Vizio V21 

In addition to new hardware, the company is said to be working on its own Sonos voice assistant which will work on the newer S2 speakers.

Sonos did not respond immediately to CNET’s request for comment.

Updated May 6: This article was originally published on Apr 21 and now includes the reportedly leaked pictures of the device and the new name.