The Sonos Arc is one of the best soundbars we've tested, and now there's a cheaper, mic-free version incoming. It's called the Sonor Arc SL, and it will be sold exclusively at Costco in the US and Canada to begin with.
Sonos confirmed the news to Android Central. The Arc SL will land later this month at the US retailer, though there's no word on wider availability. In the US it will cost $749 – $50 cheaper than the standard Sonos Arc.
Because there's no microphone built into the Arc SL, you won't be able to speak to control it, just like the mic-less Sonos One SL (the standard Sonos One does have a mic). But you can add voice controls pretty easily – just wirelessly connect it to a voice-enabled speaker like the Sonos One, Amazon Echo or Google Home.
Plenty of customers will already have one of these voice-enabled speakers in the lounge, in which case the Arc SL would be a smart buy over the standard Arc. There's no point in having two speakers scanning for your voice after all, when one can do the job just fine.
Other than the lack of a mic, the Arc SL should be exactly the same as the Arc, with the same five-star sound and Dolby Atmos-capable eARC HDMI port. Great news indeed.
MORE:
Read our full Sonos Arc review
Looking for a cheaper option? Read our Sonos Playbar review
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