8.1 Score
We all know that the first ever Sonos speakers that really took the entire market by storm was the Play series and it was iconic for a lot of reasons. It’s even revered as one of the best ones to exist. The Play then became the One series and now the One is replaced with the Era. But somehow Sonos thought, let’s bring back the “Play” name to a speaker that does things different and in 2026, we have this Sonos Play and after using for months, its a great at-home speaker with the ability to step out once in a while.
Sonos Play Long Term Review
It’s Portable but Not like the Move or the Roam
Immediately you look at the Sonos Play, you’ll realize that it feels like it takes a similar dimensions to the Era 100, which to me is a little surprising. Because you see, if you compare with the other two offerings Sonos have in the portability segment, the Roam 2 is a little underpowered to deliver nice music on the move and the Move 2 is humongous to a point that you just might find it a hassle to bring it around.
But not the Sonos Play. I’d say that it is big, sure, but it isn’t too big to a point I can’t bring it around easily and it’s not too small that it delivers a limited sound staging. The Sonos Play weighs at 1.3kg and it is as heavy as a productivity centric laptop, like the Macbook Neo.
Basic Functions Shares the Same with the Move and Roam
If you want the kind of speaker that stays at home most of the time and want to bring it around when you really need to, say, for a party or for a gathering, the Sonos Play can do that. There’s a neat little silicone tag on the bag that lets you hold it too. Back to the functionality, this Sonos Play is not just a wifi speaker but it also works with Bluetooth and comes with built in battery that claims to last about 24 hours. It’s even rated at IP67 and for comparison, the Move 2 only has IP56.
But it does things a little Better too
Unlike the big Move 2 and the small Roam 2, the Play somehow offers better experience because for starters, users can charge their phones with the Play speakers by connecting via USB-C. This very USB-C port can also be used for line-in audio, you’ll need to purchase a USB-C dongle or the proprietary USB-C to 3.5mm cable, which is a shame because I wish it came included with the speaker.
Let’s talk about the Sound
The Sonos Play is a very bass heavy speaker right outside the box and I have a little gripe over that. But before I do that, the driver configuration on the Sonos Play is neat: you get two angled tweeters and one mid-woofer. Now back to the sound experience, the entire speaker sound is a little bit… not what I’d expect from Sonos. Now this is without the TruePlay enabled. The speaker has the kind of bass that feels very oomph-y, like you can somewhat feel like this wave hitting you. And that’s the thing, despite Sonos ethos on how they focus on high fidelity, this didn’t feel like one.
For starters, using it on WiFi is when it sounds best, because you use the services binded to your account and the one did well was Apple Music due to the support for lossless. However, at the time of writing, there’s been interruption to the service since September and it’s not been resolved. So the speaker resorted to my other service, Spotify.
Not to say its bad but you can definitely tell the difference between both the streaming options. Apple Music was rich whereas Spotify had slightly muted profile due to the lack of Lossless, which is still a thing in Malaysia. Now back to the audio quality, I must say that the bass on this is pretty overwhelming and I did bring around and I could tell that the bass is properly heavy. The two tweeters do deliver the mids and the highs, well it’s okay for highs but the mids are, well, mid.
I really wished it had that richness I enjoyed from speakers like the One SL or even the Era 100 because those nailed the quality so well. Connecting via Bluetooth nukes the sound quality as it only has SBC and AAC, which is fine for outdoor use.
But yeah, if you do try to adjust the EQ, it’s not possible and the bass and the high control isn’t enough for me to get the best out of these, especially when I know its possible. The TruePlay Feature does help a little with the sound calibration to adjust the audio accordingly but again, controls in the hands of users would be nice too.
I wish the App gave more Controls
One of the biggest downfall for Sonos was not their product but that once-a-great-app. In fact, go on reddit and watch the plethora of complaints they share. But I do have to admit that from time to time, the Official Sonos team do step in to admit their mistakes and how they are improving the app experience.
Though it is a shame that we lost the once, amazing application. Unlike android, where you can use the older apk to make it work, the Sonos Play doesn’t work as it is made with the new app support from the ground up.
The app gives you extremely limited controls for the Sonos Play. You get this oversimplified Bass and Treble slider, which they call it EQ. I wish it was at least an 8-band EQ which allows me to tweak it as per my liking. And then the customization is pretty limited, you get to do the usual, disabling mic, enabling trueplay, changing certain behaviours like what do you want to do when the speaker is not on the dock, that sort of thing.
While I am okay with the rest, I do wish the EQ band controls were a thing. I know I am not the only one asking for it.
Some Important thing to Note
You Need USB-PD Adapter for the Dock
The box does not include an adapter and you need a specific kind of PD Adapter, preferably a USB-C PD because the dock uses USB-C cable. And make sure the adapter can do minimum 18W because if not your dock is not going to work.
Bluetooth only offers SBC and AAC
Would have been nice to see some additional codec support but it’s a shame we don’t see anything other than SBC and AAC but for outdoors its okay I suppose.
No Google Assistant or Gemini
In case you didn’t know, Google and Sonos does have an ongoing legal situation going on due to Patent infringements and because of that, the newer speakers don’t support Google Assistant. But if you are in regions where Alexa works, then you can use that but if you just want voice control for music, then Sonos own built in Voice Control does a not so shabby job.
App Requires WiFi Connectivity even on Bluetooth
The thing I find it odd is this. So, say you take this speaker out and about, you can connect via Bluetooth but the controls still depends on WiFi and requires WiFi connectivity. Something Sonos should look into and fix this.
Conclusion
All in all, the Sonos Play is a decent hybrid speaker but it’s a speaker I’d recommend to purchase in pair rather than just one unit. Throughout our review, we only had one to use and test but there are reports that having a pair did much better. But again, that also comes at a cost. Ultimately, the Sonos Play will be a great addition to your existing Sonos space, with WiFi. And having Bluetooth and a built-in battery into this speaker is more of a nice-to- have.
But if your idea is to get the Sonos Play solely for its Bluetooth capabilities, I’d say it would be wasted on you and you can look for the Roam 2 instead which is much more affordable. So, get the Play if the speaker spends like 80% at home and 20% outside. Not the other way around, because it is still primarily a home speaker afterall.
For more tech, gaming, and lifestyle content, make sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Better yet, stay tuned to The Adventures of Vesper.
