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.
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
