Sonos Just Launched Play, A New $299 Portable Speaker

Sonos is returning to attraction connected nan strategy that made it a driving unit successful whole-home audio. And to support that system, it’s releasing its first caller user speakers since 2024, nan Sonos Play and Era 100 SL, which subordinate nan Amp Multi that nan institution precocious announced for civilization installs.

The $299 Play is simply a portable speaker that’s designed to unrecorded successful your home, but tin besides beryllium taken retired into nan world. It includes a removable inferior loop to transportation aliases bent it, weighs nether 3 pounds, and has a cylindrical oval style that’s astir 7.5 inches tall, 4.5 inches wide, and 3 inches deep. There are beingness controls connected apical of nan speaker to play / region tracks, skip, replay, alteration volume, shut up nan sound assistant, and moreover group and ungroup speakers.

Inside, location are a brace of force-canceling passive radiators for bass response, a midwoofer, and 2 angled tweeters powered by 3 class-H amplifiers. If it’s been enabled successful nan Sonos app while connected Wi-Fi, nan Play supports automatic Trueplay to perpetually tune nan speaker to its situation (as agelong arsenic its mic is turned on), whether you’re astatine location aliases away. Treble, bass, and measurement tin besides beryllium adjusted successful nan Sonos app.

It’s IP67 rated to support it safe from h2o and particulate erstwhile you return it pinch you, provides up to 24 hours of playback, and tin beryllium utilized arsenic a powerfulness slope to complaint your devices via USB-C. While connected nan go, nan Play tin besides beryllium grouped pinch up to 3 further Play aliases Move 2 speakers complete Bluetooth — a first for Sonos — truthful you’re not restricted to only grouping complete Wi-Fi.

When astatine home, nan Play tin unrecorded connected its charging guidelines to support nan artillery topped off. And if you ever request to switch nan battery, there’s an optional artillery replacement kit disposable for $69, which Sonos told maine is incredibly easy to replace.

The Era 100 SL, meanwhile, is simply a simplified type of nan Era 100. It’s nan aforesaid size and has nan aforesaid speaker configuration (two angled tweeters pinch a azygous midwoofer), truthful it’s sonically matched to nan Era 100; it conscionable doesn’t person a built-in mic. At $189, nan speaker allows existing Sonos customers to build retired their strategy astatine a little value constituent aliases for caller customers to person an easier constituent of introduction to nan Sonos experience.

The past mates of years person been unsmooth for Sonos. Its app motorboat successful 2024 was a disaster, causing multiple rounds of layoffs, prompting CEO Patrick Spence to measurement down, and starring to a notable diminution successful revenue. But now that clip has passed and interim CEO Tom Conrad is in nan position permanently, nan institution has refocused. I deliberation it’s an encouraging motion that Sonos is moving past that turbulent play and getting backmost to what it does best.

Both nan Play and Era 100 SL are disposable for preorder now, pinch wide readiness starting March 31st.