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The Sonos Play speaker sitting outdoors. (Nathan Ingraham for Engadget)

It’s been a rough couple of years for Sonos. In mid-2024, the company released a redesigned and thoroughly busted update to its app, which Sonos owners need to set up new products, manage their speaker groups, play music and access a host of other crucial features. The fallout from that was far-reaching — the company replaced its CEO, canceled a few planned products and released no new hardware in 2025.

The Sonos Play, announced earlier this month, is the company’s reset button, a way to remind people what the company does well. The Play is a portable speaker that sits between the $499 Sonos Move 2 (which is large, expensive and extremely loud) and the $179 Roam 2 (the cheapest Sonos speaker and tiny enough to bring anywhere). The $299 Play sits right in the middle of the company’s portable lineup in both size and price — and after spending a few weeks listening to it, I think it’s a very smart addition to the collection. Thanks to its impressive sound quality, versatility and portability, the Play is immediately one of the best speakers Sonos sells. The timing couldn’t be better, either, with warmer weather finally on the way.

Sonos / Engadget

88100Expert Score

Sonos Play

The Play sounds great, has a wide and versatile feature set and won’t break the bank. It’s a welcome return to form for Sonos.

Pros- Compact design

- Great sound quality for its size

- Features like line-in and Bluetooth grouping make it extremely versatile

- Long battery life

Cons- Doesn’t come with a power adapter

- More colors would be welcome

$299 at Sonos

Feature set

Like all other Sonos speakers, the Play is a Wi-Fi smart speaker that can stream audio from dozens of services; you can also play content on it via AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and Bluetooth. The USB-C port on the back also lets you connect to turntables, CD players and other audio devices via a line-in dongle, or you can also use that port for an Ethernet connection (again with the corresponding dongle). Finally, you can also control the Play via Amazon Alexa or the Sonos Voice Assistant. And like the Roam, the Play is IP67 rated for water and dust resistance.

That’s all standard fare at this point, but I appreciate that Sonos included Ethernet and line-in capabilities, two things the Roam doesn’t support. It makes the Play a much more versatile option for being a centerpiece of your indoor setup as well as something you can take on the go. And since the Play comes with a wireless charging base, it’s easy to keep it charged up during indoor duty and equally simple to just grab it and go without fussing with cables. (Strangely enough, it does not come with a power adapter, so you’ll need to provide your own USB-C brick.)

The real panel of the Sonos Play. (Nathan Ingraham for Engadget)

Physically, the Play reminds me of the Sonos Era 100 with its width squished down to make it more portable. Unsurprisingly, it comes in the same white and black color options; I had been hoping for a few more options like the vibrant Roam colors. The one touch of color you’ll see is on the light green grab loop attached to the back; you can remove it if you’re not a fan. At 7.6 inches, it’s slightly taller than the Era 100, but it’s much thinner and lighter. Based on the initial product renders, I expected the Play to be larger than it is in reality, but it feels quite compact and easy to move around. It’s not a “throw in your bag and forget it” speaker like the Roam, but it’s far more portable than the Move. The Move is a speaker I’d really only use in my house or in the backyard, whereas I’d toss the Play into a backpack and take with me — unless I really needed to save space or weight.

The Era 100 (left) and the Play (right). (Nathan Ingraham for Engadget)

Side view of the Sonos Era 100 and Play. (Nathan Ingraham for Engadget)

Its diminutive size is even more impressive when you consider the audio components Sonos packed inside. The Play features a speaker array nearly identical to that of the larger Era 100. It has two tweeters angled at 90 degrees for some stereo separation, along with a mid-woofer and two passive radiators for bass performance. The passive radiators are unique to the Play, specifically included to help bass levels in settings where there aren’t walls for the sound to reflect off of — like anywhere outside you might take a portable speaker.

Two Sonos Play speakers paired in stereo. (Nathan Ingraham for Engadget)

Audio quality

The Play’s flexibility only matters if it sounds good. Fortunately, Sonos has never struggled with producing a speaker that’s a pleasure to listen to, and the Play

Sonos Play review: The company&#x27;s best portable speaker so far

Sonos Play review: The company's best portable speaker so far