Best for optical
Sonos Beam (Gen 1)
3.0 feature score
Highest scored product for this feature based on supporting review evidence.
Best Sonos Speakers for optical
optical Decision Dashboard
Safest pick
Sonos Beam (Gen 2)
2.5 feature score
Balances feature score, supporting reviews, and overall product strength.
Most evidence
Sonos Arc Soundbar
1 supporting review
Has the broadest review evidence for this feature.
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Optical support was treated as a useful fallback, but one reviewer clearly disliked optical setup and called the connector fragile.
Pros: Dynamic headroom, On-device controls
Cons: Video passthrough support, Bluetooth connectivity
Optical support was treated as a fallback with a major tradeoff because it limits Dolby Atmos usefulness.
Pros: Multi-speaker pairing reliability, Spotify Connect reliability
Cons: Gaming HDMI passthrough, Video passthrough support
Optical input is useful for older TVs, but reviewers noted it blocks Dolby Atmos playback, making it a fallback rather than the best connection.
Pros: Multi-speaker pairing reliability, Voice recognition accuracy
Cons: Bluetooth connectivity, Video passthrough support