Itâs been a rough couple of years for Sonos. In mid-2024, the company released a redesigned and thoroughly busted update to its app, which Sonos owners need to set up new products, manage their speaker groups, play music and access a host of other crucial features. The fallout from that was far-reaching â the company replaced its CEO, canceled a few planned products and released no new hardware in 2025.Â
The Sonos Play, announced earlier this month, is the companyâs reset button, a way to remind people what the company does well. The Play is a portable speaker that sits between the $499 Sonos Move 2 (which is large, expensive and extremely loud) and the $179 Roam 2 (the cheapest Sonos speaker and tiny enough to bring anywhere). The $299 Play sits right in the middle of the companyâs portable lineup in both size and price â and after spending a few weeks listening to it, I think itâs a very smart addition to the collection. Thanks to its impressive sound quality, versatility and portability, the Play is immediately one of the best speakers Sonos sells. The timing couldnât be better, either, with warmer weather finally on the way.Â
Feature set
Like all other Sonos speakers, the Play is a Wi-Fi smart speaker that can stream audio from dozens of services; you can also play content on it via AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and Bluetooth. The USB-C port on the back also lets you connect to turntables, CD players and other audio devices via a line-in dongle, or you can also use that port for an Ethernet connection (again with the corresponding dongle). Finally, you can also control the Play via Amazon Alexa or the Sonos Voice Assistant. And like the Roam, the Play is IP67 rated for water and dust resistance.Â
Thatâs all standard fare at this point, but I appreciate that Sonos included Ethernet and line-in capabilities, two things the Roam doesnât support. It makes the Play a much more versatile option for being a centerpiece of your indoor setup as well as something you can take on the go. And since the Play comes with a wireless charging base, itâs easy to keep it charged up during indoor duty and equally simple to just grab it and go without fussing with cables. (Strangely enough, it does not come with a power adapter, so youâll need to provide your own USB-C brick.)
The real panel of the Sonos Play.
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget
Physically, the Play reminds me of the Sonos Era 100 with its width squished down to make it more portable. Unsurprisingly, it comes in the same white and black color options; I had been hoping for a few more options like the vibrant Roam colors. The one touch of color youâll see is on the light green grab loop attached to the back; you can remove it if youâre not a fan. At 7.6 inches, itâs slightly taller than the Era 100, but itâs much thinner and lighter. Based on the initial product renders, I expected the Play to be larger than it is in reality, but it feels quite compact and easy to move around. Itâs not a âthrow in your bag and forget itâ speaker like the Roam, but itâs far more portable than the Move. The Move is a speaker Iâd really only use in my house or in the backyard, whereas Iâd toss the Play into a backpack and take with me â unless I really needed to save space or weight.Â
The Era 100 (left) and the Play (right).
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget
Side view of the Sonos Era 100 and Play.
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget
Its diminutive size is even more impressive when you consider the audio components Sonos packed inside. The Play features a speaker array nearly identical to that of the larger Era 100. It has two tweeters angled at 90 degrees for some stereo separation, along with a mid-woofer and two passive radiators for bass performance. The passive radiators are unique to the Play, specifically included to help bass levels in settings where there arenât walls for the sound to reflect off of â like anywhere outside you might take a portable speaker.
Two Sonos Play speakers paired in stereo.
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget
Audio quality
The Playâs flexibility only matters if it sounds good. Fortunately, Sonos has never struggled with producing a speaker thatâs a pleasure to listen to, and the Play certainly fits the bill. My top-level and unscientific analysis is that the Play sounds nearly as good as the Era 100, an impressive feat considering its comparatively small frame.Â
I tested a single Play speaker as well as a stereo pair in my small office, where I typically listen to music through a stereo pair of Era 100 speakers. I also used them in stereo on my larger and more open first floor, both streaming music and playing on my turntable via the line-in jack. Finally, I got to test them outside on my deck on a few lovely early Spring days that the Boston area was graced with recently. I used the auto Trueplay tuning feature throughout; it uses the Playâs built-in microphone to optimize audio for whenever youâve placed the speaker. Sonos has offered various versions of Trueplay for over a decade now and it consistently makes its speakers sound better. And given you donât have to do the old âwave your phone around the roomâ method to use Trueplay, thereâs really no reason not to have it on.Â
While in my office, I did a lot of A/B testing of the Era 100 vs. the Play, typically playing Apple Music lossless via the Sonos app, but I also tried AirPlay and Spotify Connect as well as other music services including YouTube Music and Bandcamp. The biggest differences I noticed between the two speakers are the Era 100 is louder and has a more pronounced mid-range. The Play comparatively feels like its EQ is âscooped,â and it just isnât quite as loud at the same volume level. The Play also doesnât maintain quality quite as well through the full volume range â I wouldnât say that it got distorted when I was playing it at 75 percent volume, but itâs not as clear as the Era 100 either.Â
These differences I mostly only noticed when I was flipping back and forth between the two speakers â when I just sat back and listened, I was extremely happy with the Playâs sound. When listening to a single Play, the angled tweeters did provide a small degree of stereo separation when things were hard-panned to the left or right channels. For example, the backing vocals in the chorus of Soundgardenâs âBlack Hole Sunâ jump from one channel to the other, and I did pick up on that effect.Â
Top controls on the Sonos Play.
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget
The Play sounds very well-balanced and neutral, capable of reproducing songs without over-emphasizing any particular frequency. My usual listening habits include a ton of â90s-era alternative and more modern indie rock, plus some modern pop and the occasional film or video game score, and the Play sounded great across the board. Daughterâs âBe On Your Wayâ is an atmospheric track juggling strings, electronic underpinnings, reverb-drenched guitar and a gorgeous vocal track, and all those elements shined here. The dance-influenced beats of Nine Inch Nailsâ âLess Thanâ had appropriate thump and power behind them, and âStay Downâ by Boygenius sounded great, whether it was the acoustic-tinged intro or the layered, full-band climax. Heavier fare like Metallicaâs âBatteryâ and Toolâs âFear Inoculumâ hit with the appropriate intensity as well, particularly when I was running two Play speakers in stereo.Â
My go-to film score for these kinds of tests is Howard Shoreâs Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and itâs often the case that doesnât sound as majestic on smaller speakers. But the Play did a great job with the intricate orchestral arrangements that jump between delicately intimate moments and full-throated majesty â the first song âGlamdringâ has all these elements in less than four minutes, and it sounded excellent. I also love Gustavo Santaolallaâs score for The Last of Us with its tortured strings and host of organic acoustic sounds alongside unsettling electronics, and all its various elements were faithfully conveyed here.Â
The line-in connection on the Sonos Play.
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget
Using the speakerâs line-in capabilities with a USB-C to 3.5mm audio input worked easily as well. The only real issue I noticed is that my particular turntableâs output meant I had to turn the Play up much louder than I would when streaming music, so its top volume level is much lower. That wasnât exactly a problem, but if you really want to push a lot of volume from a line-in source, this might not be the speaker for you. I was also worried that Iâd switch from line-in to streaming and forget to adjust the volume down, but the speaker is smart enough to re-adjust from the line-in volume down to wherever it was set previously.Â
While the Play isnât the loudest speaker out there, it has plenty of power when outside. I set the volume to around 60 and walked from my porch to the sidewalk and could still faintly hear the music (though not loud enough to be too offensive to passers-by or neighbors). Back up on the deck, the Play maintained its detailed profile despite the lack of surfaces for the sound to reflect off. It feels like a great device to have playing in the background when youâre entertaining outdoors, but something like the Move 2 will do better if you want music to be the centerpiece of a gathering.
The Playâs Wi-Fi connection is strong enough that I didnât need to switch to Bluetooth when I was outside, but itâs simple to use if you need it. Thereâs a dedicated Bluetooth button on the back; pressing it turns it on, while holding puts the speaker in pairing mode. Bluetooth is probably the easiest way to give someone else control over your Sonos system. If you start streaming music to it, you can then group other speakers with the Play to get those tunes anywhere in the house without having to give a guest access to your Sonos system.
The Sonos Play and its charging base.
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget
Sonos included a new Bluetooth feature with the Play that theyâre also bringing to the Move 2. If youâre away from Wi-Fi and playing audio via Bluetooth, other Play or Move 2 speakers can join a group just by pressing and holding the play/pause button. This works with Play or Move 2 speakers that have previously been set up on the same Sonos system, and itâs as simple as it sounds. I just paired my phone to one speaker, started playing some music and then held the play/pause button on the second speaker to get them in sync.Â
As for battery life, the Play is a huge step up over the Roamâs rather paltry 10-hour estimate. The Play is rated for up to 24 hours of playback, same as the Move 2, and I think Sonos just about hit that mark. I spent several work days playing music for eight-plus hours and the Playâs battery only dropped about 30 percent each time. Your mileage may vary, but I think the Play has plenty of battery life considering its smaller size â and given how easy it is to just drop on a charging base when youâre done, I donât think most people will run its battery down too often. Sonos also made the battery in the Play user-replaceable, a good option to keep the speaker running for years to come.
Side-by-side comparison of the Sonos Era 100 and Play.
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget
Competition
While there are loads of portable Bluetooth speakers out there, the Playâs position as a Wi-Fi speaker that can group with others in a household as well as be used on-the-go with Bluetooth makes it a rather unique option. The $269 Bose SoundLink Plus sounds great, can be paired in stereo or grouped in âparty mode,â and is a similar size as the Play. But its battery doesnât last as long and, more crucially, it only works via Bluetooth. Some people wonât care, but I prefer the much wider variety of playback options that the Play provides. JBL also has a host of portable Bluetooth speakers, as well as Wi-Fi enabled options meant for home use â but again, the combo of Wi-Fi playback and portability seems to be mainly limited to Sonos right now.
As such, the main competition for the Play comes from Sonos itself, with the Move 2, Roam and Era 100 all offering different pluses and minuses depending on what youâre looking for.
Sonos Play speaker sitting outside.
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget
Wrap-up
If it isnât obvious, Iâm a pretty big fan of the Sonos Play. While itâs not quite as portable as the tiny Sonos Roam, it sounds significantly better than the smallest Sonos speaker while still being easy to carry around. Itâs probably the most versatile speaker in the Sonos lineup right now, and a smarter choice than the $499 Move 2 for most people. Unless you really need massive outdoor volume, the Play is the best portable Sonos speaker.Â
The only catch is its price. $299 is fair when you consider its sound quality and feature set. But itâs also $80 more than the Era 100, or $110 more than the Era 100 SL (which drops the microphone but is otherwise identical to its more expensive counterpart). So youâll have to decide how much portability is worth to you. For me, the Play is an excellent addition to my existing setup. But if youâre likely to do most of your listening indoors, the Era 100 and its superior sound quality might make more sense.Â
To be clear, thatâs not a knock against the Play. The latest Sonos speaker offers impressive sound quality, flexibility and portability, and itâs the kind of product that can help Sonos rebuild its reputation after its recent difficulties.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/sonos-play-review-the-companys-best-portable-speaker-so-far-130000688.html?src=rss
