SONOS PLAY:3 Smart Wireless Speaker, Black

Product Information

Use your voice to control your Sonos system with any voice-enabled Sonos product—play and control content, turn the volume up or down, and more. For sound quality, the Sonos Five actually isn't just good value, it's absolutely great value. But it's a case of different strokes for different folks; if Bluetooth streaming is important to you and you own an Android phone, you should look elsewhere. With so much choice out there, not just from within the Sonos system itself, but from competitors too, is the Play:3 still worth considering if you can get your hands on one? Here's our review.

Clean only with dry soft cloth. Household cleaners or solvents can damage the finish on your Sonos products. The name-plate is positioned so that when you flip it to it's upright orientation, it still reads. (Image credit: TechRadar) Sonos Five review: DesignThe Sonos Play:3 is an unassuming little box. 26cm wide and 16cm deep, it’s small enough to fit on a bedside cabinet without poking over the edge. If that foot print is still too large for your liking, this box is also designed to function just fine on its side, making it just 13cm wide. There are little rubber feet on one side as well as the bottom, to avoid scratches, while a built-in accelerometer lets the box know when it’s on its side, and to change the sound processing accordingly. The Gen3 version of the Sonos Sub features updated internals with increased memory, processing power and enhanced ability to accept future upgrades. When combined with the new Sonos S2 app, the Sub becomes the smartest subwoofer around. The app also gives you access to an adjustable EQ, for sound tailored to your preferences.

Under the hood, the speaker array remains exactly the same as its Play:5 predecessor –and Sonos actually makes no bones about this. You're getting the same six custom-designed drivers driven by six class D amplifiers for a combined power output of 120W: three high excursion 10cm mid-woofers across the bottom of the unit and three tweeters above them, two of which are angled outwards. See those little feet –on the side?! It can be positioned upright too, you see, to create a stereo pair comprising two Fives or as part of a home theater system with a Sonos Arc, say. (Image credit: TechRadar) Sonos Five review: Sound qualityThat's not to say it's bass-heavy overall though. Listen to Fontaines D.C.'s Skinty Fia and you'll hear a low-end that, while impactful and unwavering, never bloats or muddies other musical passages such as accordions, drum riffs, angered vocals and keys. Overall, the Sonos Playbase is a good-sounding speaker for those who don’t want to fumble with a surround sound system or simply don’t have the room for one. There’s no need for a receiver, making it truly plug-and-play. Sonos’ philosophy of making music enjoyment as frictionless as possible continues with the Playbase – the Sonos app is easy to use and the integrated universal search across music services is something we wished every speaker had. Band of Horses’ delightful No One’s Gonna Love You, for example, sounds beautifully smooth and solid, but with lots of detail and punch.

The Sonos Five is a hefty beast with a smart, slightly curved grille on the front. (Image credit: TechRadar) The rear of the Sonos Five reveals its power cable, Ethernet and 3.5mm ports –so your turntable is catered for too. (Image credit: TechRadar) Sonos Five review: Features So why did it even refresh the product? Well, you're also getting an upgraded processor here, which is key – it signifies that Sonos is likely future-proofing this speaker for potential firmware upgrades, ie. the oft-rumored addition of hi-res music support. So, there's that. Google Assistant: you’ll need the Sonos app and the Google Assistant app. You’ll make some changes in both apps during setup. Learn moreYou can also link two Play:3s together to make a stereo pair, and now, thanks to an update, stream music directly from your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. Last but far from least, the company has now added the Sonos Playbar. Sound There are over 30 additional services you can plug into the Play:3 in the UK, including – Spotify, Apple Music, Last.fm, Deezer, Aupeo!, Napster, Wolfgang’s Vault, Stitcher SmartRadio and Grooveshark. This should be more than enough to satisfy most buyers.. Siri: you’ll need the Apple Home app. Add your AirPlay2-compatible Sonos speakers to the Apple Home app and then use an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV to ask Siri to play music (currently limited to Apple Music). Learn more Protect the power cable from being walked on or pinched, particularly at plugs, convenience receptacles, and the point where they exit from the apparatus. The best news about the Play:3, though, is that it sounds much better than its price and size might suggest. Feed it lossless or uncompressed rips from a computer or network-attached storage device and it really shines.

Three years after the company released its first ever soundbar, the Playbar, Sonos has created the Playbase, a unique form factor sound system that combines a stable pedestal for your TV with an audio cabinet. Why did Sonos create a second home entertainment device? The team did extensive research into how people used their Playbar at home and found that most people didn’t wall mount their televisions or Playbars. To that end, the Playbase was created to allow people to set their televisions right on top of the speaker, allowing for a compact home theater solution. In traditional Sonos style, the Five is not interested in a shy, retiring sound – it's here to bring the bass and make you feel it, and we're not complaining. However (and we've said this before) it's important to note that we like it more if you can use TruePlay tuning, and not everyone is granted that privilege.Although it's about the size of a large shoe-box (and heavier than it looks, at 6.36kg) the Sonos Five isn't quite a cuboid since its grille portion is slightly bigger than its rear end and the baffle is slightly bowed out and angled upwards too, to aid with sound dispersal. And talking of positioning, the fact that the Play:3 can be oriented vertically or horizontally means it will fit in almost any space. Sound is still definitely positional – the Play:3 can produce serious volume, but it’s not hard to pinpoint where the sound’s coming from compared with the larger Play:5. This ensures it can’t replace a full hi-fi on its own, but Sonos has a solution for that too. The sound signature is definitely on the warm, bassy side, but you are given some minor control over it within the iPhone app. A Music Equilization submenu lets you tweak the bass, treble and balance, and turn the Loudness mode on and off. The two frequency sliders only have a subtle effect on the sound – Sonos doesn’t give you the opportunity to ruin the sound quality here, but the Loudness option makes quite an impact. Primarily, it increases bass output to help the Play:3 maintain a decent sense of scale at higher volumes in spite of its fairly small-sized drivers. It can make the box sound a little bass-heavy, but this can then be tamed a little with the bass slider. It even senses which way it’s orientated and automatically adjusts the EQ for maximum dispersion – and this thing will fill a room far better than you might expect. Streaming