Sonos Arc vs Polk Audio Magnifi Mini Soundbar (2016)

The Sonos Arc makes for an outstanding Soundbar at $898. The Polk Audio Magnifi Mini Soundbar (2016) (MAGMINI), however, while overall a good product for its asking price, doesn't quite manage to stand out from its competition - there are better Soundbars that can be found for around $260 available here.

The Sonos Arc has done great in a couple of roundups conducted by highly trusted sources that perform objective in-depth testing, like Tom's Guide, CNET, Rtings, and TechGearLab - it earned the "The best Dolby Atmos soundbar for value" title from Tom's Guide, "Best under $1,000" from CNET, and "Best Standalone Soundbar For Dialogue" from Rtings. Any product that's held in high regard by such reliable sources should be considered by anyone that's looking for a Soundbar at this price point.

As for the Polk Audio Magnifi Mini Soundbar (2016) (MAGMINI) - it was really well-received by reviewers at Tom's Guide, a great source that's known for conducting high-quality in-depth testing. It performed great in its "The best soundbar in 2023: Boost your TV sound with these top buys" roundup and was named its "The best soundbar for smaller spaces", which, on its own, makes it a product that warrants a closer look.

Out of the sources that tested and rated both of these Soundbars, What Hi-Fi? and TrustedReviews preferred the Sonos Arc, whereas reviewers at Tom's Guide liked the Polk Audio Magnifi Mini Soundbar (2016) (MAGMINI) better. CNET and Expert Reviews gave them identical review scores.

We also took a look at which sources liked these products best - the highest Sonos Arc rating came from TechGearLab, whereas the Polk Audio Magnifi Mini Soundbar (2016) (MAGMINI) most impressed reviewers at techaeris.com; they earned scores of 10 and 9.3, respectively.

Lastly, we averaged out all of the reviews scores that we could find on these two products and compared them to other Soundbars on the market. We learned that both of them performed far better than most of their competitors - the overall review average earned by Soundbars being 7.6 out of 10, whereas the Sonos Arc and Polk Audio Magnifi Mini Soundbar (2016) (MAGMINI) managed averages of 8.5 and 8.1 points, respectively.

Due to the difference in their prices, however, it's important to keep in mind that a direct Sonos Arc vs. Polk Audio Magnifi Mini Soundbar (2016) (MAGMINI) comparison might not be entirely fair - some sources don't take value for money into account when assigning their scores and therefore have a tendency to rate more premium products better.