Sonos Play Review: Performance Meets Convenience

It’s smaller and extra transportable than the brutish Move, but giant sufficient to sound a lot fuller than the pint-sized Roam. It may sit fastened on its charging cradle to rival the homebound Sonos Era 100, or comply with you wherever. In different phrases, it’s the epitome of Sonos versatility, and now that it’s working correctly, it’ll be exhausting to cross up.

Play On

Opening the Play’s brown cardboard packaging feels equal components Scandi minimalism and sustainability, in keeping with current releases just like the Arc Ultra soundbar. Inside, a white acoustic wrapping provides approach to a stout tubular speaker with a rubberized loop hooked up, measuring 7.6 x 4.4 x 3 inches and weighing just below 3 kilos. You’ll additionally discover easy setup directions and a wi-fi charging stand, however no wall adapter. You’ll want one that may provide no less than 9 volts and a couple of amps (18 watts), however a 15-volt, 3-amp (45-watt) mannequin is really useful for “optimum” charging. Sonos says the adapter omission is about decreasing e-waste, however will fortunately sell you one for $29.

In any other case, the Sonos app is all you should get going. After the compulsory firmware replace, my Play was streaming on my house community in minutes. Sonos hosts over 100 streaming companies immediately, and it’s also possible to stream over third-party companies like Spotify Join, Tidal Join, Apple AirPlay, and extra. You’ll discover the speaker as its personal “Room” on the app’s primary web page, the place you possibly can swipe as much as group it with different Sonos merchandise in your community, or go into the settings to tweak choices like EQ, Room identify (vital in case you have multiple Play), and Sonos Trueplay to auto-adjust the sound to your atmosphere.

You’ll additionally discover a Battery Saver toggle, which is about by default to close down the facility when it’s idle for too lengthy. It’s this characteristic that, in line with Sonos, brought about my connection woes as I examined the speaker’s 24-hour battery declare. Sonos says it recognized the foundation trigger, and after the firmware replace I’ve let the speaker energy down a number of instances, with no additional community disruptions over every week of additional testing.

{Photograph}: Ryan Waniata