Sonos Play Overview: Name It a Comeback

For some time, Sonos was principally synonymous with high-quality house sound, and whereas {hardware} was a giant a part of that, its popularity was constructed simply as a lot round software program because it was the precise audio system. That’s precisely why when Sonos fumbled an app replace in 2024, it was sort of a giant deal.

The Sonos app has been a sore topic just lately and was the impetus for a giant shakeup on the firm two years in the past. I gained’t get into all of it right here, however there have been issues, and many Sonos loyalists who had constructed their house sound across the firm’s audio system weren’t glad about mentioned issues—particularly those that bricked folks’s speaker techniques.

I’m bringing all of that up to not beat a useless horse, however as a result of Sonos, which has been comparatively quiet on the {hardware} entrance since then, is a horse that’s very a lot alive, and just lately, it’s introduced a brand new pony into this world: the $299 Sonos Play, a transportable Bluetooth speaker that’s designed to do some little bit of the whole lot.

For Sonos followers,  questions concerning the Play are possible aplenty, however the one on the prime of everybody’s thoughts will possible be, can the Play put Sonos again within the race?

Hi-fi over Wi-Fi

For anybody who may not know, Sonos audio system have lengthy been targeted on Wi-Fi versus Bluetooth, and the Play is not any completely different. It’s a transportable Bluetooth speaker, which means you may whip out your cellphone and hook up with it such as you would every other speaker, however the true capabilities are unlocked as soon as it’s on your house community.

Once the whole lot is built-in into the Sonos app, the Play is supposed to be only one level of entry right into a Sonos-branded setup. You can begin with one speaker after which tack on one other to unlock stereo sound, or simply use a number of audio system to blanket completely different elements of your house—or at the least that’s the concept. This isn’t a brand new idea for Sonos, however even when it’s an previous trick, the Play, in my expertise, seems like a contemporary and strong approach to try this.

See Sonos Play at Amazon

Sonos despatched me two audio system to check so I may get the total impact, and the outcomes had been greater than passable. The sound on the Play, although it’s comparatively small, is on par with rivals just like the Bose SoundHyperlink Plus, which can be a $299 speaker, although Bose’s providing is Bluetooth solely. Like the SoundHyperlink Plus, the Play has a giant soundstage for its measurement because of its three amps, two tweeters, and woofer. Bose’s SoundHyperlink Plus sounds just a little bassier out of the field to me, however I really desire the default tuning of the Play, which has loads of bass, however perhaps rather less pronounced.

Listening to songs like Outkast’s “SpottieOttieDopaliscious,” I felt like I used to be getting a superb slice of the whole lot, together with the long-lasting horn line and sufficient low-end to intensify the groove. Even at increased volumes (I cranked it to about 75%), the playback felt distortion-free. On rock songs like Wednesday’s “Townies,” the Sonos Play was simply as spectacular, clearly relaying distorted guitars and people vocals even at increased volumes.

Sound will get much more nuanced whenever you add one other Play. I examined two of them linked collectively for stereo sound, and I see why—when you had sufficient cash—you’d wish to go that route. You have two ears, in spite of everything, so stereo sound is simply higher. Since I used to be additionally despatched Sonos’ new Era 100 SL speaker for testing, I made a decision to toss that into the combo, filling my kitchen/dwelling space up with sound from three audio system. That’s a virtually $800 speaker setup, to be clear, however the excellent news is it sounds unbelievable.

There are two methods to hyperlink audio system collectively—by way of Wi-Fi or by way of Bluetooth, the latter of which is barely improved now. To hyperlink by way of Wi-Fi, all it’s a must to do is go to the Sonos app after you’ve added your audio system, go to “Settings,” then “System,” after which select “Set up stereo pair.” From there, you’ll be prompted to comply with just a few straightforward steps.

For Bluetooth linking, you maintain the play/pause button on the second speaker, and it ought to hyperlink proper up mechanically. Previously, you needed to hyperlink the audio system by way of Wi-Fi first earlier than with the ability to play them as a pair, however now you are able to do it on the fly. This nonetheless isn’t going to provide the stereo skill like it might whereas linking the audio system at house, however it’ll play music out of each on the similar time. From a latency standpoint, the Bluetooth linkage sounds simply nearly as good because the Wi-Fi to me, although you’ll get higher sound taking part in over Wi-Fi at house as a result of Bluetooth nonetheless compresses audio.

Speaking of higher sound, it’s price noting that the Play doesn’t assist Dolby Atmos because it lacks the requisite upfiring speaker—you’ll have to purchase the Sonos Era 300 for that.

Either approach, when you’re making an attempt to deliver a much bigger sound on the go, including simpler Bluetooth coupling is a pleasant contact—you may hyperlink as much as 4 collectively when you’re an enormous Sonos head and have that many audio system mendacity round. Not everybody goes to spend $600 simply to have a much bigger sound once they’re on a picnic or no matter, however who am I to let you know what to spend cash on?

I do want that after audio system are linked by way of Wi-Fi, there was a neater solution to transition them again into taking part in independently, nevertheless. The entire concept of the Play is that it needs to be picked up and brought with you on-the-go, however when you’re tethered to a stereo pair, the best approach I discovered to revert to taking part in via just one speaker is to simply flip the second off. That’s tremendous, however what in order for you that speaker to maintain taking part in for another person in your house? Or what when you simply don’t really feel like turning your second speaker on/off? You may go into the app and unlink the pair, however that, sadly, additionally erases any Trueplay tuning, which is a Sonos characteristic that tunes the speaker to the room you’re in.

It’s a small factor, but additionally a delicate software program tweak that will assist make the Play really feel extra just like the hybrid at-home and on-the-go speaker it’s meant to be.

The app of all of it

As I discussed, Sonos is as a lot concerning the software program as it’s the {hardware}, and from a sound perspective, the Play is an immediate competitor to Bose and its SoundHyperlink Plus. In order to maximise Sonos potential, you’ll must run the whole lot via the Sonos app, although, which was—for me at the least—straightforward sufficient.

The setup course of entails some button pushing and pairing to your Wi-Fi that takes a couple of minutes at most, however when you’re linked to your house community, setting your audio system up the best way you need them is simple. You can group your Play into completely different rooms or collectively and play them as a stereo pair or individually when you have them in numerous areas of your house. I linked up two Play audio system (a stereo pair) and an Era 100 SL with ease and performed all of them on the similar time. If you wished, you can additionally create “groups” and “rooms” for audio system so you may play completely different audio system in numerous rooms. This kind of grouping and pairing is fairly core to the Sonos expertise.

To me, the whole lot felt fairly intuitive, and it will get much more useful whenever you hyperlink your most well-liked streaming service, which in my case is Spotify. Once you’ve linked that to the Sonos app, you can begin utilizing a voice assistant to launch and management music. (Note: make sure that your voice assistant is activated within the app by going to “General Settings,” then “Select Voice Assistants,” then select “Add Voice Assistant” after which choose “Sonos Voice Control.”)

Again, that is one other factor that separates the Play from different wi-fi audio system, and it makes utilizing Sonos just a bit bit extra complete. In my expertise, the Sonos Voice Assistant labored effectively with launching music and skipping songs—the essential stuff you’re possible going to wish to use it for. If you actually wished to, although, you can join Alexa or Google Assistant (now Gemini for Home), which is sensible when you have sensible audio system made by Google or Amazon. I personally favored sticking with the “Hey Sonos” command as a result of summoning my Google speaker has been a nightmare as of late.

Another characteristic that you just’ll most certainly wish to avail your self of is Trueplay, which makes use of the Play’s microphone to evaluate the acoustics in your room after which tune the speaker EQ accordingly. I activated Trueplay on the entire Play audio system I examined for this assessment and didn’t hear an enormous distinction, however your outcomes might range relying on the place you’ve gotten yours stationed. I’m a giant fan of personalised EQ like Trueplay, whether or not it’s audio system or wi-fi earbuds, so even when I didn’t discover an enormous distinction, I’m glad it’s there.

If there’s one factor that I discover just a little bit annoying about funneling the whole lot via the Sonos app, it’s that it makes quantity management on an iPhone just a little irksome—you’ll have to regulate it via your music service or the Sonos app as an alternative of your iPhone’s lock display screen or quantity buttons. You may skirt that by utilizing AirPlay to connect with your Sonos audio system as an alternative, however that does downsample the audio, not like streaming over Wi-Fi, which makes me (an annoying individual) just a little irritated. It’s not an enormous deal, however these are simply the quirks you run into whenever you’re making an attempt to create an ecosystem inside an ecosystem—that’s, a Sonos house inside iOS.

Overall, what I’m struck by is that Sonos consists of sufficient options in its app to make you are feeling such as you’re getting worth with out bloating issues, which is a troublesome line to toe—particularly nowadays. I do know the phrases “app” and “Sonos” collectively in a sentence is a recipe for controversy, however to me, the UX feels prefer it’s precisely the place it must be.

Pretty playful

As a lot as software program performs a giant position within the Sonos attraction, design additionally does loads of legwork. Personally, I feel the Sonos Play seems fairly good, although I in all probability made it look just a little worse by… utilizing them. My assessment unit audio system got here in white, and one in all them ended up with a black smudge on it, although it did rub off ultimately after some work. Black—the one different colour possibility—might be rather a lot much less revealing.

There isn’t a lot occurring when it comes to buttons, which is okay. On the highest, there are plus and minus buttons for quantity management in addition to a play/pause button within the center and a button to activate the voice assistant. On the again, there’s a tough change to show the microphone on and off and an influence button. There’s additionally a USB-C port for charging and wired audio, although you’ll need an adapter when you’re utilizing a 3.5mm line-in. If you’re carrying the Play round, there’s additionally a small loop hooked up that’s sufficiently big to suit a finger or two into—I’m a giant fan of the pastel mint-color accent, which can be on the underside of the Play.

The solely different piece of {hardware} that comes with the Sonos Play is a charging dock that has a wired USB-C connection. You don’t have to make use of it, however in order for you a house base for the play, it’s good to have. Plus, it’ll guarantee your speaker is topped up whenever you want it. I personally just like the vibe of the Sonos Play, and whereas I like the colour of the Bose SoundHyperlink Plus that I examined just a few months in the past, I can see these audio system becoming extra simply into most individuals’s house decor.

As for battery, Sonos advertises 24 hours of battery life, which is fairly good, and tracks in my testing. After about an hour of utilizing the Play at about 30% quantity by way of Bluetooth, the speaker went from 40% battery to about 30%. For reference, Bose’s SoundHyperlink Plus speaker will get about 20 hours of battery life, so the 2 could also be pretty comparable. It’s price noting right here that Sonos has additionally made the Play’s battery replaceable, so within the occasion that you just discover your battery degraded or unusable, you gained’t have to purchase a complete new speaker.

If you’re going to deliver this speaker out into the world, you’ll be glad to know that it’s IP67 rated, which signifies that it’s absolutely dustproof and waterproof and could be sumbered in as much as 1 meter of water for half-hour.

Should you press Play?

Expensive or not, the Sonos Play sounds nice, and it sounds even higher when it’s paired with one other Play. If you’re trying to construct out a sound system at house, the Play is an costly approach to take action—you can purchase the wired Sonos Era 100 or the brand new Era 100 SL for greater than $100 much less. But when you’re searching for a hybrid speaker that performs effectively at house and may include you to the seashore, the park, or wherever you could play music exterior, the Play is an effective possibility to take action, and with all the opposite advantages of getting a Wi-Fi speaker setup, Sonos nonetheless has an edge over devoted Bluetooth audio system like Bose’s SoundHyperlink Plus.

If you’ve obtained cash to throw round and also you’re able to spend money on what Sonos is placing down, the Play seems like an ideal start line.

See Sonos Play at Amazon