Hey there! Before You Buy the Sonos Arc Soundbar, Read This

As one of the most popular premium soundbars available, the Sonos Arc seems like a quality way to upgrade your home theater audio. However, several significant limitations make me hesitant to fully recommend the Arc, especially at its nearly $900 price point.

In this guide, I break down 6 drawbacks of the Sonos Arc compared to other high-end soundbars on the market. My goal is to provide helpful insights so you can decide if the Arc‘s stylish design and reputation are worth the connectivity and compatibility tradeoffs.

Let‘s dive in!

Overview of the Drawbacks

Before getting into specifics, here is a high-level overview of the 6 reasons covered in this guide why you may want to avoid the Sonos Arc:

Single HDMI port – Limits hooking up all your media devices
No HDMI passthrough – Cuts off vital support for streaming gadgets
Higher pricing – More money for less capabilities vs. rivals
No Bluetooth streaming – Leaves Android mobile users stranded
Trueplay tuning requires iOS – Prevents Android room calibration
No DTS:X support – For full surround sound, extra equipment needed

I‘ll now break down each factor more thoroughly with data, expert perspectives, and real-world context.

Reason 1: That Single HDMI Port Gets Limiting

The Sonos Arc only has one HDMI input to connect the soundbar to your TV. While not an issue if the Arc is your sole entertainment device, most households today have an array of HDMI-based media gadgets like:

Blu-ray players
Gaming consoles
Streaming set-top boxes
Satellite/cable boxes

Consumer research firm The NPD Group reports that 45% of TV owners also use a plug-in streaming player. And Statista found 71% of US households have a dedicated gaming console as of 2022.

Many rival Dolby Atmos soundbars in the Sonos Arc‘s premium price range provide two, three, or even four HDMI ports for connecting all your devices simultaneously:

Sony HT-A5000 – 3 HDMI in
LG S95QR – 2 HDMI in + 1 out
Bose Smart Soundbar 900 – 1 HDMI in + 1 out
Polk MagniFi Max SR – 4 HDMI in

As home theater expert Chris Boylan argues, the Arc‘s single input is "limiting if you have multiple HDMI-based gear you want to attach at the same time." Without constantly unplugging cables, you can realistically only utilize the Arc with a single entertainment device.

And that might mean adding an external HDMI switch into the mix – another piece of hardware requiring both extra money and clutter beneath your TV.

Not exactly an ideal setup considering the Sonos Arc‘s premium $900 asking price.

Reason 2: No HDMI Passthrough Hampers Your Streaming

In addition to the Arc‘s constrained input options, it also lacks any kind of HDMI passthrough or input switching capabilities.

Passthrough means you can connect streaming media players, Blu-ray players, or video game systems directly to extra ports on a soundbar. The soundbar passes through both audio and video to the TV via a single HDMI cable.

It allows you to bypass using up precious HDMI real estate on your TV while retaining full media device functionality. Many popular streamers like the Roku Streaming Stick+, Chromecast with Google TV, and NVIDIA Shield all utilize passthrough to make setup seamless.

However, without HDMI passthrough, you lose this benefit when connecting devices directly into the Sonos Arc‘s lone port.

See, the Arc‘s HDMI input only supports the audio return channel (ARC) specification for piping TV audio into soundbars. No video transmission enabled.

Your TV requires HDMI eARC (enhanced audio return channel) to handle video signals via passthrough from the Arc. But eARC is still a relatively new feature only available on select modern television sets.

According to Chris Boylan, "If your TV lacks eARC, the Sonos Arc loses video passthrough ability from a streaming stick or Blu-ray player to your TV. Very frustrating for a $900 soundbar."

Review site Digital Trends also called the omission of passthrough "a huge missed opportunity by Sonos."

Without eARC, you‘d need to directly plug streaming and disc media devices into TV ports – adding wiring clutter and losing the passthrough convenience factor.

And if your older TV is short on HDMI ports as it is? You‘ll be forced into adding yet another external HDMI switcher into the topology.

Many passthrough-capable soundbars provide the simplified all-in-one connectivity buyers expect for around $900. But with the Sonos Arc, you pay a premium price to end up piecing together makeshift workarounds.

Reason 3: That Price Tag Looks Lot Less Justified

Costing $899 at full retail, the Sonos Arc sits at the upper echelon of the soundbar market in terms of sheer price. Popular rivals like the Bose Smart Soundbar 900, LG S95QR, Sony HT-A9, and Samsung HW-Q950B all spec out similarly but cost hundreds less than the Arc:

Bose Smart Soundbar 900 – $799
LG S95QR – $896.99
Samsung HW-Q950B – $799.99
Sony HT-A9 – $798.00

Now, Sonos products have always commanded a pricing premium compared to competitors. And there‘s no denying the Arc delivers crips, clear audio with immersive Dolby Atmos surround effects.

However, as outlined already, you demonstrably get less hardware capabilities for those extra dollars compared to other high-end bars. singly HDMI port, no passthrough, etc.

As consumer tech site DealBanx puts it:

"It‘s hard to wholeheartedly recommend the Sonos Arc given its price tag. Many soundbars accomplish as much if not more for hundreds less…"

When assessing pure value for money against the rest of the premium soundbar market, that steeper Sonos tax becomes harder to justify.

You ultimately end up paying more money for a more limited feature set around connectivity and expansion capabilities.

Reason 4: No Bluetooth? No Music for Android Folks

Here‘s a head-scratcher – the Sonos Arc does not support any Bluetooth streaming functionality.

No playing audio from your smartphone music library or Android apps. No pairing to Windows tablets or laptops in your home office.

For a brand new $900 soundbar in 2023, the omission of universal Bluetooth connectivity surprises many buyers expecting it as a standard feature.

It ultimately means Android mobile users have zero native wireless playback options on the Arc. No Spotify, Tidal or streaming service access unless you group the soundbar with other Sonos speakers via the app.

Now, iOS users can utilize Apple AirPlay 2 for audio streaming from any iPhone or iPad device. But that leaves almost half of smartphone consumers stranded without Bluetooth as a "plan B" according to market share data:

Global Smartphone Market Share 2022

Operating System	% Market Share
Android	71.93%
iOS	27.57%

(Source: StatCounter)

Bluetooth streaming doesn‘t match Wi-Fi or AirPlay 2 quality, but it provides a universal wired-free option owners expect in 2023 – especially at this price.

As speaker manufacturer Edifier notes, the Sonos Arc‘s "lack of Bluetooth connectivity eliminates a key feature to easily play music from your mobile devices."

No good workaround exists either unless you invest in more Sonos products. For Android folks hoping to directly play music from their handset, no Bluetooth is a definite downgrade.

Reason 5: Optimizing the Sound? iOS Only, Please

Here‘s another surprise obstacle: The Sonos Arc‘s Trueplay room calibration software only works with Apple iOS devices.

Trueplay uses your iPhone or iPad microphone to analyze room measurements and tuning the soundbar audio output to your environment‘s unique acoustic signature.

It helps provide the clearest, most optimized playback experience possible regardless of是否, shape or building materials.

The problem? You need an iOS device to run it, cutting Android mobile users off from personalizing the Arc‘s sound…again.

Considering Apple‘s mobile operating system accounts for less than 30% of the smartphone market, this iOS-only restriction seems unnecessarily draconian by Sonos.

As home theater analyst Dennis Burger argues:

"Every customer who buys this speaker should be able to get the same out-of-box experience regardless of their smartphone…"

Locking Trueplay tuning to iOS devices only immediately puts Android users at a disadvantage for customizing playback to their space.

Many rival calibration softwares like Sony‘s Immersive AE app, LG‘s AI Room Calibration, and Bose‘s ADAPTiQ room correction platform work universally across all mobile and desktop platforms – no device discrimination.

With the Sonos Arc, enjoying fully tailored audio aligning to your room‘s properties remains an Apple-only party.

Reason 6: Where‘s the DTS:X Support Tho?

If you desire a truly enveloping Dolby Atmos surround sound experience from the Sonos Arc, get ready to splurge on extra components.

Out of the box, the Sonos Arc is a 3.0.2 channel system with left, right, center channels and 2 upward-firing drivers for height cues. Impressive width for a single bar, but no real sense of rear dimensionality.

Most competing soundbars in the Arc‘s price echelon provide dedicated wireless surround speakers and a subwoofer for a complete 5.1.2 setup:

Sony HT-A9 – Includes wireless rears + sub for 5.1.2
Bose Smart Soundbar 900 – Add surround speakers + bass module
LG S90QY – Comes packaged with rear speakers, subwoofer

More channels means a wider, more enveloping bubble of sound no single unit can produce alone.

But here‘s the other kicker:

The Sonos Arc only supports Dolby Atmos as its immersive audio format. No backward compatibility for the other leading multidimensional surround codec – DTS:X – included.

While Dolby Atmos reigns supreme in cinema, DTS:X enjoys wider adoption in niche gaming and music applications.

Lacking DTS:X means Sonos Arc owners miss out on a key piece of the surround sound puzzle – an odd omission given the speaker‘s premium aspirations.

More budget-friendly Atmos models like the Hisense U5H still find room for onboard next-gen DTS:X.

But with the Sonos Arc, anticipating more speaker add-ons feels inevitable to fully experience modern 3D spacial audio in the format of your choosing.

If you‘re turned off by the connectivity constraints and omitted features outlined so far, several other top soundbars match if not exceed the Sonos Arc‘s capabilities at more affordable prices:

Bose Smart Soundbar 900 – $799

The Bose Smart Soundbar 900 costs $100 less than the Sonos Arc while adding key advantages like:

HDMI eARC + optical audio inputs
Bluetooth + Wi-Fi streaming
ADAPTiQ systemwide audio calibration
Surround speakers + bass module expandability
Included phase guides for Dolby Atmos height effects

Michael Brown at TechHive calls it "an excellent investment if you’re looking for Dolby Atmos surround sound."

LG S95QR – $1296.99

The S95QR from LG ships with a wireless subwoofer and surround speakers for 5.1.2 dimensions out of the box. The soundbar itself touts:

HDMI eARC, 2x HDMI inputs
Wi-Fi + Bluetooth connectivity
AI Room Calibration software
Dolby Atmos + DTS:X decoding

According to What Hi-Fi, the S95QR "sets the new standard for premium all-in-one home cinema systems."

Sony HT-A5000 – $799.99

Matching the Sonos Arc‘s price but doubling its input flexibility, the Sony HT-5000 provides:

Vertical surround engine for height effects
Hi-Res Audio support up to 32-bit/192kHz
Quick setup via HDMi eARC or optical
Wireless subwoofer pairing
Works with Sony 360 Reality Audio tracks

As TechRadar said, the HT-A5000 "offers a cheaper route to audio heaven than the Sonos Arc."

The Sonos Arc sports a slick contemporary design and enjoys acclaim for powerfully crisp surround sound capabilities.

However, limitations around connectivity options, wireless streaming, immersive format support, and tuning technology make me hesitate fully recommending it – especially at $900.

If you can work within constraints of: