The New Sonos Play Portable Speaker Hit Almost All the Right Notes for Me

8.3 / 10

Score

Cnet Score

CNET provides expert, unbiased reviews of products and services. When we assign a score, we use a scale of 1-10. Each product we score is evaluated by criteria specific to its category with most assessing pricing, quality, features and performance.

Read more on: How we test

Sonos Play Portable

$299 at Amazon

Pros

• Relatively compact with a premium build
• Impressive sound for its size
• IP67 dustproof and waterproof
• Strong battery life with up to 24 hours of playback at moderate volume levels
• Wireless charging base included
• Can charge your phone via USB-C port
• Built-in voice controls and replaceable battery
• Easily switch from a Sonos multi-room home Wi-Fi setup to Bluetooth for on thego use

Cons

• Power adapter not included
• No speakerphone capability, even though it has built-in microphones
• Stereo separation is lacking unless you link two Play speakers in stereo mode

Following a problematic app update that alienated its customers a couple of years ago, Sonos has had a bumpy ride in recent times. But that hasn't stopped it from releasing new hardware, including its new-for-2026 Play speaker, which may just be its best portable speaker yet, earning a CNET Editors' Choice award.

Sonos speakers tend to be pricier than typical portable Bluetooth speakers. But their build quality is top tier, and they're also Wi-Fi-enabled, so you can integrate them into your Sonos home network as you would any of the company's wired speakers. Priced at $299, the 2.87-pound Play is $200 cheaper than the larger 6.61-pound Move 2 ($499) and $120 more expensive than the smaller 0.95-pound Roam 2 ($179). Also, as with the larger Move 2, you can replace the Play's battery ($69), a feature few portable speakers offer.

Why the Sonos Play stands out

The real key here is that while the Move 2 does produce more bass and volume, you don't lose that much sound quality by stepping down to the much more compact Play. It also delivers significantly richer sound with more bass than the Roam 2.

Equipped with two tweeters and a midwoofer, the 7.57-inch tall speaker delivers bigger sound than you'd expect for its compact size (like a lot of today's portable speakers) and features punchy bass, decent clarity and natural-sounding mids (where voices live) that are a bit forward at the default sound setting. From a size standpoint, it's similar in height to the new battery-less Era 100 SL ($189) and standard Era 100 ($219), which CNET editor Ty Pendelbury called the "best smart speaker." However, the Era 100 models have about 2 inches more depth to them and weigh over 4.3 pounds. 

You can tweak the sound of the Sonos Play with the equalizer settings in the app. I ended up pushing up the bass and backing off the treble to get a smoother, warmer sound profile. You can also activate Sonos' Automatic Trueplay "self-activating" tuning technology that optimizes the Play's sound for any room or environment you place it in, using the speaker's built-in microphones to analyze the space. 

I tended to play the speaker at about 60% volume, though pushing it higher will allow for more room-filling sound (the Play can fill a small to medium-size room). Sonos touts the Play as having stereo sound, and while there is some audio trickery to expand the soundstage, the upgrade in sound quality and stereo separation you get when pairing two of these speakers in stereo mode is pretty dramatic.

The Play can also be linked to other Sonos speakers, whether to expand sound in a single room or simply to add it to a specific space as part of a multi-room audio setup. To compare the Play with the Move 2 and Roam 2, I linked them all side by side in my home office and alternated turning on one speaker's volume to a set level while turning off the other two.

I should note that, for the first time, you can group multiple Sonos speakers directly via Bluetooth -- Bluetooth 5.3 -- when away from home. (You can link the Play to up to three other Play or Move 2 speakers, but not the Roam 2.) This is a common feature for most Bluetooth speakers, but Sonos previously limited you to linking its portable speakers only over Wi-Fi via the Sonos app for iOS and Android. 

You can push the volume up more on the Move 2 than on the Play (and Roam 2) without risking distortion. The Play is pretty good about avoiding distorting at higher volumes, but it's not immune to it, particularly with certain tracks. Also, certain frequencies can get a little clipped when you're playing a more complicated track with a lot of instruments playing at the same time. As expected, you do get a small sound quality bump using Wi-Fi on your home network instead of Bluetooth, but it isn't a huge difference.

Read more: Best Sonos speakers for 2026 

Bose comparison

I compared the Play with the similarly priced Bose SoundLink Plus, which retails for $269 and also earned a CNET Editors' Choice award. Both the Play and SoundLink Plus have an IP67 rating, which means they're fully dustproof and waterproof, and can be submerged in up to 1 meter (about 3.3 feet) of water for up to 30 minutes. Both have a "utility" loop for carrying the speaker around. The Bose floats, but the Sonos doesn't.

In my tests, I found that the SoundLink Plus had a slightly wider soundstage than the Play, and it sounded slightly warmer out of the box. For their size, both sound impressive, but I liked the Bose better overall for its more open soundstage. That said, the Bose doesn't have Wi-Fi for multi-room audio, and you can't replace its battery. 

Strong battery life

The speaker comes with a wireless charging base but no power adapter (you should use a power adapter with at least an 18-watt power rating; the fastest, optimal charge is from a 45-watt power adapter). You can also charge the speaker directly via USB-C when you're on the go or use the USB-C port to charge out and turn the speaker into a power bank for juicing up your phone in a pinch. (Sonos also sells an line-In adapter that converts the USB-C port into an auxiliary port so you can connect a turntable or another audio device with a 3.5mm cable).  

The Play is rated for up to 24 hours of playback at moderate volume levels (around 50%). If you push the volume up, as I did for some battery tests, you should expect to get more like 14 to 17 hours, which is still quite good.

Aside from being able to charge out, another notable feature is the speaker's voice controls. While Sonos' newer speakers don't support Google Assistant, you can set them up to control playback with Amazon Alexa or Sonos Voice Control. I opted for Sonos Voice Control, which worked well (you can see a list of voice commands here), though I did have to raise my voice considerably to issue a command when I had the music was playing loudly.

There are also physical buttons on top of the speaker if you simply want to raise or lower the volume the old-fashioned way.

Sonos Play final thoughts

You can find a lot of top Bluetooth speakers in this price range or even a little less that deliver similarly impressive sound quality. I mentioned the Bose SoundLink Plus, which I like a lot, but there are plenty of other excellent options, including the Marshall Middleton 2 ($300), Sony ULT Field 5 ($250), UE Epicboom ($240) and several Anker Soundcore speakers that deliver very good bang for the buck. The upside of the Sonos Play is that it not only works in a Sonos multi-room Wi-Fi home setup but also easily switches to Bluetooth mode for on the go use. On top of that, it's nicely designed, seems pretty durable, and its life can be extended by replacing its battery down the road.  

If you're looking for a wireless speaker and don't have a Sonos setup, you're probably better off with one of the aforementioned Bluetooth-only options that cost $50 to $100 less in some cases (or maybe more if you opt for something like the Anker Soundcore Boom 2 at around $120). The Play's sound quality isn't a major step down from the Move 2's, but it does cost $200 less. Despite being a little expensive, it hits a sweet spot for Sonos portable speakers, both in terms of size and price.