The Versatile Play Speaker Is A Great Way Into The Sonos World

It’s been astir a twelvemonth and a half since Sonos released a user product, and those past 2 releases — nan Arc Ultra and Sub 4 — were updates to existing products. The $299 Sonos Play, however, is simply a brand-new portable speaker that tin grow an existing strategy aliases beryllium nan gateway into nan Sonos world. When connected Wi-Fi, it acts for illustration immoderate different Sonos speaker — pinch features for illustration Auto Trueplay, AirPlay 2, and nan expertise to stereo brace — but it’s besides a water-resistant Bluetooth speaker.

The Play falls correct successful nan mediate of Sonos’s portable speaker lineup. While it’s not rather arsenic easy packable arsenic nan Roam 2, nan Play has much than doubly nan artillery life and is tin of filling larger spaces pinch sound. It’s a acold much grab-and-go action than nan Move 2, which astatine much than doubly nan weight of nan Play, and 2 inches bigger successful each directions, is really only luggable betwixt rooms aliases retired to nan backyard. The Play melds nan location usage of nan Move 2 pinch nan portability of nan Roam 2 to make it nan astir versatile Sonos speaker yet.

In size and shape, nan Play looks a batch for illustration personification took an Era 100 and smushed it to astir half nan depth. It has 4 buttons connected nan apical — play/pause, measurement up and down, and 1 to move sound services connected and disconnected — and a Bluetooth button, mic switch, powerfulness button, and USB-C larboard connected nan back. Like nan Move 2, it has a charging guidelines wherever it tin unrecorded erstwhile not being toted around, though nan guidelines has a hard-wired USB-C cablegram and doesn’t travel pinch a wall adapter. It requires astatine slightest an 18W charger; if you don’t person an other already, you’ll either request to bargain nan $29 1 from Sonos aliases a cheaper 1 elsewhere. The USB-C larboard connected nan backmost tin beryllium utilized to complaint nan Play erstwhile distant from its base, let nan speaker to enactment arsenic a powerfulness slope for your device, aliases — pinch nan $19 line-in adapter — to link a wired 3.5mm audio source.

Much for illustration nan Era 100 and Move 2 earlier it, nan Play features 2 angled tweeters pinch waveguides designed to supply stereo separation (although it’s very difficult to perceive a stereo image from any azygous speaker). There’s a front-firing midwoofer for midrange and bass frequencies, arsenic good arsenic 2 force-cancelling passive radiators connected either broadside of nan speaker.

The Play delivers clear vocals — whether they’re Chris Cornell aliases Ella Fitzgerald — and solo instruments for illustration Miles Davis’ trumpet guidelines retired successful nan mix. For my taste, nan sound tuning of nan Play overaccentuates nan midrange and treble a spot compared to nan Era 100, which has a smoother midrange and a spot much bass response. On nan Play, some nan string-muted guitar and cymbals of Fleetwood Mac’s “Second Hand News” sounded excessively coming and forward. Songs that already person a batch of high-end, specified arsenic nan metallic sounds successful “Super Bon Bon” by Soul Coughing, tin get shouty astatine higher volumes. And nan Play tin get loud, peculiarly pinch stone and popular that’s much compressed, wherever I tended to support nan measurement group astatine 50 (out of 100) aliases below.

As agelong arsenic you support nan mic turned on, you tin alteration Auto Trueplay, which allows nan speaker to perpetually perceive and set nan tuning based connected nan situation it’s in. In my days pinch nan speaker, I kept this connected arsenic I moved it astir to different rooms, aliases retired to nan beforehand yard, and it kept nan sound tuning consistent. Which besides intends that successful each of those situations, it still kept nan somewhat pushed precocious frequencies. There’s an EQ successful nan Sonos app, but it’s constricted to conscionable bass and treble. There’s nary measurement to backmost disconnected nan shouty precocious mids, but I recovered that boosting nan bass by a mates ticks gave maine nan low-end consequence I was looking for without needing to pump nan measurement up, and doing truthful gives much extent to nan strings during nan opening taxable of Rachmaninoff’s 2nd soft concerto.

As pinch different Sonos speakers, you tin usage nan Sonos app to link 2 Plays into a stereo pair, which allows you to person a overmuch wider soundstage and stereo separation. This is only disposable connected Wi-Fi, though. Even if you return some pinch you, they won’t support that stereo relationship connected Bluetooth. If you do return only one, nan Play will enactment arsenic a Bluetooth speaker while distant from Wi-Fi and reconnect arsenic a portion of nan stereo brace erstwhile returned and nan Bluetooth relationship is turned off. If you want to usage 1 Play connected its ain astir nan house, turning disconnected nan different 1 will temporarily disable nan stereo brace truthful you aren’t carrying astir conscionable nan near aliases correct channel.

The stereo pairing is simply a bully feature, but if I were going to make a stereo brace pinch Sonos speakers, I’d do it pinch an Era 100 and nan caller Era 100 SL. They sound better, they’re cheaper, and since they request to beryllium plugged in, you cognize they’re staying put.

The Play shines arsenic a portable speaker. It weighs 2.87 pounds (less than half nan 6.6 pounds of nan Move 2), has a built-in durable rubber carrying loop, and is IP67 rated to support it dust-tight and protected from being dunked successful water. Sonos claims nan artillery lasts up to 24 hours, which is accordant pinch my testing, and successful nan early erstwhile it nary longer holds a charge, you tin switch it yourself utilizing Sonos’ battery replacement kit.

When you’re retired and nary longer connected Wi-Fi, you tin link to nan Play via Bluetooth. And you tin group aggregate Play aliases Move 2 speakers utilizing a proprietary speaker-to-speaker grouping exertion pinch nary audible lag (it’s for illustration statement modes connected different portable speakers). The pairing process is quick, and nan added speakers person an awesome range. I was capable to transportation a 2nd Play speaker astir 200 feet distant earlier losing nan connection. This isn’t nan aforesaid arsenic nan stereo pairing you tin do connected Wi-Fi. In this mode, each speaker is getting nan aforesaid signal, not divided betwixt near and correct channels. And since you’re connected Bluetooth and not Wi-Fi, you can’t stock what’s playing connected nan remainder of your Sonos system.

When you prime up nan Play, it’s champion to get into nan wont of grabbing for nan loop alternatively of nan speaker body. Its size and style are awesome for grabbing it by its side, but connected a fewer occasions erstwhile I did that, 1 of my fingers would accidentally property either nan Bluetooth fastener aliases nan powerfulness button, stopping my euphony playback.

In nan app you tin take betwixt Sonos Voice Control aliases Alexa (still nary Google Assistant). The Sonos sound adjunct tin complete Sonos strategy tasks good — stopping and starting music, changing volume, moving your euphony to different speakers — but tin person problem pinch much circumstantial requests, specified arsenic searching for songs.

My acquisition pinch nan Sonos Play speakers was smooth, isolated from for an rumor I ran into pinch 1 of my 2 reappraisal samples, which stopped moving aliases charging aft a short while. Sonos was speedy to nonstop retired a replacement, and this would beryllium covered by nan one-year warranty, aliases nan 30-day return policy.

The Sonos Play speaker is simply a highly tin portable Bluetooth speaker pinch great, albeit mid- and high-end focused, sound that’s rugged and tin easy grow pinch different Sonos speakers. If you’re conscionable looking for a portable Bluetooth speaker, though, location are tons of little costly options pinch akin performance, for illustration nan Bose SoundLink Plus, JBL Charge 6, aliases Ultimate Ears Megaboom 4 — though each of them person flaws successful their sound profiles (for instance, nan Bose tin get a small distorted astatine higher volumes, and nan Megaboom doesn’t get excessively loud).

But nan Play isn’t conscionable a portable Bluetooth speaker, it’s a measurement to build — aliases commencement — a Sonos location system. If you want to beryllium capable to easily, and temporarily, bring your Sonos strategy into a room that doesn’t person a speaker — for a relaxation playlist while taking a bath, possibly — nan Play is nan champion measurement to do that. The Move 2 has amended sound, but is overmuch bulkier, little water-resistant, and $100 much expensive; nan Roam 2 is $160 cheaper, and a batch smaller, but pinch a corresponding alteration successful sound value and volume.

An Era 100 — aliases a pair, pinch an Era 100 SL — is still a amended prime for a stationary setup. It’s cheaper and it sounds better. But if you were reasoning of buying thing like nan Era 100, and you besides want a speaker you tin transportation around, nan Play is simply a awesome prime for some existing Sonos users looking to grow aliases personification that’s been waiting to effort retired nan system. It’s nan astir elastic Sonos speaker, pinch nan fewest compromises yet.

Photography by John Higgins / The Verge