The Play is a brand new transportable wifi and Bluetooth house speaker that packs the better of Sonos right into a jack of all trades that is meant to be a reset level in the firm’s restoration from its app debacle that misplaced it religion, favour and a chief government.
It is the first actually new music speaker since Sonos launched its new app in Might 2024, which junked fan-favourite options whereas inflicting stability and utilization issues for brand new and previous clients alike. The corporate has spent the finest a part of two years fixing errors, bringing again core options and making certain the system really works.
Now it could possibly get again to doing what it does finest: wonderful, expansive wifi audio system that may play music from nearly any supply in nearly anyplace, and that get higher when linked with others on the Sonos system.
The Play prices £299 (€349/$299/A$499) and positively isn’t your common transportable speaker. Sitting above the can-sized £179 Roam 2 in worth and heft, the newest Sonos is designed to be a speaker for all events, simply as completely happy to stay as your go-to music field at house on wifi because it is as a Bluetooth speaker on the highway.
It is finest considered an evolution of the a lot bigger Move 2, taking its good bits and merging them with model’s normal speaker, the Era 100, whereas shrinking in dimension and weight. The end result is a extra compact bookshelf speaker that may punch far past its dimension whereas being gentle and rugged sufficient to take on journeys to the backyard, seaside or park.
Regardless of wanting the half in the house, the high and backside of the oval-shaped speaker are rubberised to take up influence. The IP67 water resistance – comparable to many smartphones – means it could possibly survive being submerged up to 1-metre depths with out difficulty. It’s a comparatively rugged speaker that doesn’t look it.
At 1.3kg, the Play isn’t gentle by any means, however it is much less half the weight of the Move 2. The load means you are unlikely to need to pack it in a bag for a hike or a flight, so the Play is finest suited to being moved round the house or backyard, or taken to a good friend’s house through automotive.
The Play’s largest power is its integration with the remainder of Sonos’s ecosystem. Which means it connects to your router through wifi 6 to instantly stream music from the web managed through the Sonos app, Spotify Join or Apple AirPlay 2. It may be grouped with different Sonos audio system for multi-room audio, helps virtually all streaming music providers, and two Performs could be linked to create a stereo pair.
But it surely additionally has Bluetooth 5.3 to be used away from house, streaming music from your telephone or one other participant. Its occasion trick is it could possibly join to different Play or Transfer 2 audio system to create a bunch of up to 4 models all taking part in from the identical Bluetooth supply. The Play is additionally suitable with Sonos’s analogue line-in or combo ethernet adaptors.
The Play has a big 35Wh battery, which could be replaced easily at home. It lasts up to 24 hours on Bluetooth, and greater than a day’s listening at house on wifi when cranked up to 60%. The battery fees through the USB-C port or the included charging base, permitting you to merely pop it again in place to all the time hold it topped up. Leaving the speaker on the charging base does not affect the battery’s lifespan.
However the Play does not ship with a charger. It requires an 18W or higher USB-C energy adaptor, which wants to be 45W to assist quick charging. Whereas most trendy telephone or laptop computer chargers will work, you really want a devoted one to make correct use of the base.
Specs
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Dimensions: 192.3 x 112.5 x 76.7mm
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Weigh: 1.3kg
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Connectivity: wifi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 (SBC/AAC), USB-C, AirPlay 2, Spotify Join
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Battery: 35Wh (24 hours playback), 120 hours standby, three hours to cost
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Charging: included dock or USB-C 18-45W
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Water resistance: IP67 (1 metre for half-hour)
Excellent sound
What the Play lacks in light-weight portability it makes up for in sound. It has one woofer speaker dealing with straight out and two tweeters set at an angle, which creates a pleasant and extensive sound that stops just a little wanting actual stereo separation, until you sit proper in the candy spot in the center. You may create a stereo pair utilizing two Performs boosting total quantity and energy, whereas a single Play from a stereo pair can nonetheless be utilized by merely turning off the different one, so you may take it some other place in the home.
By itself, the Play sounds nice with wonderful separation of tones, good element in the highs and properly outlined mids with loads of punch. Vocals sound significantly good. It produces bass stuffed with energy, however struggles to hit actually deep notes, falling wanting the Transfer 2.
It is a really fulfilling pay attention, and sounds nice out of the field, however the Sonos app has an equaliser for changes. The automated Trueplay tuning system works nicely, optimising the sound as you progress the speaker between totally different dimension and types of room.
The Play can fill most areas with sound, however the audio high quality begins to decline above 80% quantity, shedding low-end energy. The speaker sounds finest at 60% quantity, which can be sufficient for many listening. However a single Play will wrestle as a conveyable occasion speaker because it isn’t fairly loud sufficient.
Improved app
Quite a bit went wrong for the Sonos app redesign. Whereas the interface stays comparable to the app from 2024, it now has the core options that have been missed most, together with the potential to set wake-up alarms, native music library playback and playlist modifying. It is additionally now much more responsive and issues plaguing the underlying system, together with pairing audio system, have been tremendously lowered. For the most half, it simply works once more.
As a one-stop store for all of your streaming providers, together with music, podcasts and radio, it really works nicely with unified search, the potential to save Sonos playlists and repair particular playlists, akin to your favorite from Spotify.
Establishing audio system, customising the sound, controlling the quantity, grouping audio system, and figuring out the place you’re about to play music if in case you have a number of audio system is a lot improved. However the app nonetheless has limitations, akin to not having the ability to reorder tracks in playlists by date added, artist or different filters, such as you may in Spotify or different music apps. And quite a few options don’t observe trendy logic utilized by different apps, with easy issues akin to deleting playlists buried underneath a number of menus.
General, it appears like Sonos has largely put its app debacle behind it and is again to a stable base, although regaining consumer belief will take extra time.
Sustainability
Sonos gives a minimal of 5 years’ software program assist after it stops promoting a product however has a monitor document of for much longer, together with bug and safety fixes for its legacy gadgets. The battery ought to final for 750 full charge cycles and could be changed at house costing £49.
The speaker incorporates 26% renewable plastic, recycled aluminium and metal. Sonos offers trade-in and product recycling, and breaks down the speaker’s environmental impact in its report.
Worth
The Sonos Play prices £299 (€349/$299/A$499)
For comparability, the Roam 2 prices £179, the Move 2 prices £449, the Era 100 prices £199 and the Era 300 prices £449. The Bluetooth JBL Cost 6 prices £129.99 and the Final Ears Epicboom prices £329.99.
Verdict
The Play is a return to kind for Sonos: a jack of all trades that does as nicely at house as a compact bookshelf speaker because it does out in the backyard streaming Bluetooth music from your telephone. It might be the solely speaker you want.
Whereas wanting the half on a shelf on its charging dock, it is additionally rugged sufficient not to fear about on the highway. It lasts a very long time on a cost and the battery could be changed in 5 years or so, making certain the speaker’s helpful life isn’t restricted by battery chemistry.
It stops just a little wanting being a real grasp of all of it, missing a little bit of low-end energy at increased volumes in contrast with Sonos’s comparable Era 100 plugged-in speaker, which is additionally one-third cheaper. And it is a bit massive and heavy to go on hikes with, whereas not being fairly loud sufficient for a booming Bluetooth occasion speaker. You may definitely get a greater Bluetooth speaker for the cash.
However for these already invested in the system on the lookout for a top quality, actually adaptable speaker, the Play is the better of Sonos working as one.
Execs: wifi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3, nice sound, lengthy battery life, IP67 water resistance, sturdy, design that matches house and away, extensive assist for music providers, lengthy software program assist life, could be paired up, good elective voice management, replaceable battery.
Cons: costly, no spatial audio assist/Dolby Atmos, can’t be used as a part of a house cinema setup, heavy for a conveyable speaker, no charger in the field.
Disclaimer: This article is sourced from external platforms. OverBeta has not independently verified the information. Readers are advised to verify details before relying on them.
