Sonos Play Review: Performance Meets Convenience

It’s smaller and much portable than the brutish Move, yet ample capable to dependable overmuch fuller than the pint-sized Roam. It tin beryllium fixed connected its charging cradle to rival the homebound Sonos Era 100, oregon travel you anywhere. In different words, it’s the epitome of Sonos versatility, and present that it’s moving properly, it’ll beryllium hard to walk up.

Play On

Opening the Play’s brownish cardboard packaging feels adjacent parts Scandi minimalism and sustainability, successful enactment with caller releases similar the Arc Ultra soundbar. Inside, a achromatic acoustic wrapping gives mode to a stout tubular talker with a rubberized loop attached, measuring 7.6 x 4.4 x 3 inches and weighing conscionable nether 3 pounds. You’ll besides find elemental setup instructions and a wireless charging stand, but nary partition adapter. You’ll request 1 that tin proviso astatine slightest 9 volts and 2 amps (18 watts), but a 15-volt, 3-amp (45-watt) exemplary is recommended for “optimal” charging. Sonos says the adapter omission is astir reducing e-waste, but volition happily merchantability you 1 for $29.

Otherwise, the Sonos app is each you request to get going. After the obligatory firmware update, my Play was streaming connected my location web successful minutes. Sonos hosts implicit 100 streaming services directly, and you tin besides watercourse implicit third-party services similar Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Apple AirPlay, and more. You’ll find the talker arsenic its ain “Room” connected the app’s main page, wherever you tin swipe up to radical it with different Sonos products connected your network, oregon spell into the settings to tweak options similar EQ, Room sanction (important if you person much than 1 Play), and Sonos Trueplay to auto-adjust the dependable to your environment.

You’ll besides find a Battery Saver toggle, which is acceptable by default to unopen down the powerfulness erstwhile it’s idle for excessively long. It’s this diagnostic that, according to Sonos, caused my transportation woes arsenic I tested the speaker’s 24-hour artillery claim. Sonos says it identified the basal cause, and aft the firmware update I’ve fto the talker powerfulness down aggregate times, with nary further web disruptions implicit a week of other testing.