Sony HT-Z9F Soundbar (2018) vs Sonos Playbase (2017)

The Sony HT-Z9F Soundbar (2018) (HT-ZF9) and Sonos Playbase (2017) (PBASEUS1BLK) make for good, if unremarkable, Soundbars at their respective budgets.

With that said, while they both should serve reasonably well, you might want to look into other options at the $1,000 and $490 price points - it's likely that there are some better alternatives available.

If you want to learn more about the Sony HT-Z9F Soundbar (2018) (HT-ZF9) and the Sonos Playbase (2017) (PBASEUS1BLK), however, we prepared a summary of the information that we have:

The Sony HT-Z9F Soundbar (2018) (HT-ZF9) was loved by reviewers at Rtings, a highly trusted source that performs reliable in-depth testing. It did great in its "The 3 Best Sony Soundbars of 2021" roundup where it was named its "Best Sony Soundbar For Dialogue", which, in itself, makes it a product worth considering.

As for the Sonos Playbase (2017) (PBASEUS1BLK), it was really well-received by reviewers at SoundGuys, a reliable source that's known for conducting its own, high-quality, in-depth testing. It performed great in its "Best Sonos speakers" roundup and was named its "Best for TV's", 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, Techradar preferred the Sony HT-Z9F Soundbar (2018) (HT-ZF9), whereas reviewers at Pocket-lint, Digitaltrends, and TrustedReviews liked the Sonos Playbase (2017) (PBASEUS1BLK) better. What Hi-Fi? gave them identical review scores.

We also took a look at which sources liked these products best - the highest Sony HT-Z9F Soundbar (2018) (HT-ZF9) rating came from Techradar, whereas the Sonos Playbase (2017) (PBASEUS1BLK) most impressed reviewers at Pocket-lint; they earned scores of 8 and 9, 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 Sony HT-Z9F Soundbar (2018) (HT-ZF9) and Sonos Playbase (2017) (PBASEUS1BLK) managed averages of 7.9 and 8.2 points, respectively.

Due to the difference in their prices, however, it's important to keep in mind that a direct Sony HT-Z9F Soundbar (2018) (HT-ZF9) vs. Sonos Playbase (2017) (PBASEUS1BLK) 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.