SONOS PLAY:5 Smart Wireless Speaker, Black

Product Information

Atmos aside, it sounds incredible, besting the Gen 1 with more refinement, a warmer treble, and a wider dynamic range. Overall the listening experience is richer, more nuanced, and varied. And that's without even mentioning the return of the usual features like Apple Airplay 2, Alexa and Google Assistant support, and eARC connectivity. If you're in the market for a small Sonos speaker though, there is of course also the Sonos Roam and Roam SL to consider, which while smaller than the Era 100, offer portability and waterproofing, alongside decent sound for their size.

Sometimes it's a bigger effect, like the drum beats going for a lengthy walk away from the speaker during Come Together, or the way voices are layered with a sense of depth across Lady Gaga's Chromatica album. Auto Trueplay smarts mean the Move 2 can detect when it’s been moved and adjust its audio output to suit the new surroundings. You can also tweak the EQ in the excellent partner app. It’s super easy to integrate into your Sonos setup – and when you add countless streaming services and voice assistant support into the mix, it shapes up as a no-brainer. Classically understated, the Move’s robust build means it won’t conk out at the beach. Positioned vertically or horizontally, Auto TruePlay smarts adjust the sonic output based on where you place it. For a speaker of this size, sound quality is seriously impressive, easily matching its best competitors for bass impact and balance. The speaker will connect to your home wi-fi when in range, and switch over to Bluetooth when you're on the go, such as connecting to your smartphone (it'll reconnect automatically after you've connected for the first time).If you want help making dialogue more intelligible while boosting your overall TV sound without spending too much, then quite possibly. We initially gave it three stars out of five because of that buzzing sound – since it was fixed, we upped that score to four. Ultimately, I think the Era 100 is a step up in sound over the Sonos One, but a smaller one than I expected once you factor in that the bass is a little loose – if you already have a pair of Sonos Ones and are wondering about replacing them with two of these purely to get richer bass, then I'd spend that money on adding a Sonos Sub Mini to them instead. The Sonos Arc’s audio capabilities are seriously great. Eight elliptical woofers combine to deliver a solid overall bass response and the tuning balances a nice amount of warmth through the mids with an impressive level of clarity. IKEA and Sonos's second-generation Symfonisk table lamp is official. This time round, you can snap up the base separately, pairing it with two different types of shades – a glass offering, or a softer fabric shade. And while Sonos likes to say that it provides music without a 'sweet spot', the sound quality does subtly drop off when you go too far to the side. There's roughly a 90-degree angle from the front where you get the full beans, and if you step further round than that, a layer of texture is lost. It's not like when you step to the side of a TV and you can't see anything properly anymore – it's fine during parties. It's just that if you're listening for the quality of the music, you want to stay central.

A device (such as your TV or a streaming box like the Apple TV) may support Atmos, but not for all apps running on it. The setup process is designed to be as simple as possible, all done through the Sonos S2 smartphone app. (Image credit: Future) A new Sound Swap feature, by holding down the speaker's play/pause button, will immediately switch the music playing on the Roam to the nearest Sonos speaker in your home. If you don't care for voice control and simply want Sonos integration, the One SL makes a lot of sense for you and your bank account. But it also serves another purpose for those who do want voice control: to work in a stereo pair with the One. Pair aOneand One SL together in stereo – a set-up that looks and sounds good for the money – and you’ve created a pair of stereo speakers where the One can handle voice activation.

Not bothered about access to smart assistants? Sonos has launched a microphone-free version of the Roam, which we'll get to in a moment. Launched in 2019, the Move was Sonos's first-ever portable Bluetooth speaker, giving users the option to take their audio into the garden, or even into the bathroom to keep them company. There’s Bluetooth for easy streaming, but the Move also features Wi-Fi connectivity for easy integration into your Sonos setup. When you’re using the Roam at home, Sound Swap can automatically switch audio to the nearest speaker. It also supports a host of streaming services, plus Alexa and Google Assistant. Battery life isn’t world-beating at 10 hours, but its feature set, sound quality and connectivity options make the Roam a properly versatile option for go-anywhere audio.

There are connections on the rear for power and USB-C input, and you'll find the Bluetooth control button and the switch to cut the microphone here.The Era 300 can also be used as Dolby Atmos rears in a surround system with the Sonos Arc or Beam Gen 2soundbars and a Sub. However, for similar size, stature and features, the Braun LE01, Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin or Sonus Faber Omnia are considerably pricier – so depending on your priorities, the Sonos Five does still represent value. Let's start with the speakers in the Sonos Era 300. Interestingly, Sonos has gone for compression drivers for the most part, which are much harder to integrate well into small home-friendly speakers than standard dynamic drivers (because they require an extra structure to shape and amplify their sound) – but they can be more efficient, easier to steer for directional sound, and lower-distortion when done right. If you want Sonos' cheapest Bluetooth speaker, the Roam SL has your name written all over it. We've yet to review the SL in full, but it's shaping up to be a great entry-level option.