Sonos Play review: A versatile portable speaker

The box comes with a charging cradle, which is essentially an oval-shaped plastic dock with a 2-metre USB-C cable. The Play starts charging once you slot it in place and the magnetic contact points align. One thing to note is that Sonos does not include a power adapter in the box, so you’ll have to get your own. If it’s any consolation, USB-C power adapters are easy to find these days, and the Play will work with any that’s rated at 18W or higher. The Play can also be charged via its USB-C port directly if you prefer, or if you are travelling without the cradle. If you’re using a 45W charger, Sonos says it takes 60 minutes to go from 0% to 50% charge, and an additional 120 minutes to achieve a full charge. In our tests, these numbers seem entirely reasonable.

The top of the speaker has touch-sensitive controls for media control, volume adjustment, and voice assistant activation. They can be challenging to see since the icons are the same colour as the speaker’s body.  You do get used to the layout, since there are only four controls, but it feels like an unnecessary concession to aesthetics over usability. The power button is located on the back panel, which is fine when you are setting the speaker up, but less convenient when you want to quickly wake it from sleep. We would have liked to see a tap-to-wake function on the top panel.

Features and connectivity

The Play supports Wi-Fi 6 (802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax, 2.4GHz and 5GHz, to be exact) and Bluetooth 5.3. When connected to your home network, it functions as a full Sonos system speaker with access to the company’s app, multi-room grouping, and Hi-Res Audio streaming from supported services. It also supports streaming via Apple AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect.

If you want to use a wired connection, the USB-C port on the rear supports line-in audio via Sonos’ optional adapter (sold separately). This lets you connect sources like turntables, CD players, or any other source with an analogue output that can be converted into a 3.5mm input. The same port also accepts an Ethernet adapter for a wired network connection. These are features the smaller Roam 2 lacks, and they make the Play noticeably more versatile as a home speaker.

A new feature that the Play has is Bluetooth Grouping. This allows you to sync multiple portable Sonos speakers over Bluetooth when you are away from your home Wi-Fi network, so you can connect your phone to one speaker and have the audio shared across the group. You can link up to four speakers this way, and it can be handy if you have multiple Play speakers that you want to use in an outdoor setting.

The Play also supports stereo pairing with a second unit. In this manner, it can be used as a standard pair of stereo speakers or as rear surrounds in a Sonos home theatre configuration. However, once two units are placed in a stereo pair, the Sonos app treats them as a single group. If you want to grab one speaker and take it to another room on a whim, you will need to unpair them first through the app, which also resets any Trueplay tuning. This is a small friction point that works against the Play’s grab-and-go personality.

Battery life is rated at up to 24 hours from a 35Wh battery, and in our experience, that figure holds up well. The exact number depends on whether you are streaming over Wi-Fi (which uses more power) or Bluetooth, and on your volume level, but we found that the speaker comfortably lasted through several days of intermittent desktop use on a single charge. The battery is also user-replaceable, which is a welcome design decision for long-term ownership and sustainability. As a bonus, the USB-C port can be used to charge external devices. In other words, the Play can double as a power bank in a pinch.

Voice control is available through Amazon Alexa and Sonos Voice Control. The far-field microphone array uses beamforming and multichannel echo cancellation for voice pickup. A hardware switch on the rear panel fully disconnects the microphone from the system for privacy, though toggling this off also disables Automatic Trueplay since both features rely on the same mic array.

Sound quality

The Play’s internal speaker array consists of two angled tweeters, one midwoofer, and two passive bass radiators, powered by three Class H amplifiers. The passive radiators are intended to improve bass performance in open-air environments where there are no walls for the sound to reflect off.

The bass is the first thing you notice. For a speaker this compact, the low-end extension is impressive, and the two passive radiators give the Play noticeably more grunt than you would expect. The bass is punchy and present, though it can be a touch heavy-handed depending on the surface the speaker is placed on. On a wooden table, for instance, there can be a slightly boomy quality to some tracks. This is a common characteristic of passive radiator designs, and it is a trade-off for the amount of low-end impact the Play delivers.

The mid-range is solid and well-defined. Complex mixes retain their individual elements rather than collapsing into a muddy blur, which is a weakness of many portable speakers at lower price points. Vocals come through with good weight and presence, and the transition from mid-range down into the bass registers is smooth.

The two angled tweeters deliver clear, well-separated highs that sit nicely above the rest of the mix. Sonos has promoted the idea of stereo sound from a single Play, and while the angled tweeters do create a slightly wider soundstage than a single front-facing driver would, the stereo effect from one speaker alone is minimal. 

You will need a stereo pair for genuine left-right separation. Unfortunately, we only have a single speaker to test, but we did manage to get a quick listen to a pair of Sonos Play during a closed-door media event, and it was remarkable how much better it sounded than a single Play setup. It really is a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. If the budget allows, a pair of Play speakers is the way to go.

Closing thoughts and buying advice

All in all, the Play is a solid new addition to Sonos’ speaker lineup. It’s everything you’d expect from a Sonos speaker, and it’s reasonably priced. S$549 isn’t chump change, but the Play sounds better and offers more features than the smaller and cheaper Roam 2. And if portability is a priority, the Play is considerably more portable than the larger, heavier Move 2. 

For us, the Play’s biggest advantage is its flexibility. It works well on its own and can be used as a permanent fixture or as a speaker that you can take with you. It can also be paired to create a fantastic-sounding stereo setup. You can add additional Sonos speakers to it, and they will all work together in harmony. In this sense, it’s a great starter speaker for anyone who is new to Sonos. But for those who already have other Sonos products, the Play can be an excellent addition, whether as standalone speakers or as rear surrounds to an existing setup like the Arc Ultra. It’s this flexibility that makes it such a compelling option for anyone who is shopping for a relatively compact speaker to add to their home.

Note: You can find the Sonos Play on Lazada, Shopee, and from Tat Chuan Acoustics.