SONOS PLAY:1 REVIEW
Firstly, like to thank Sonos for supplying the PLAY:1 for this review
Features and Design
Sonos are the leaders in the wireless streaming speaker world and have produce great speakers. The PLAY:1 is the newest and also the cheapest of the range, but don’t let the price full you, these little speakers produce great sound, that can be driven hard and produce exceptional punch and impact.
What surprised me when opening the packaging is the weight of the PLAY:1 itself. This is a solid little unit, weighing close to 2 KG. This comes from the two Class-D digital amplifiers that power the tweeter and mid woofer respectively. The PLAY:1 is wrapped in a metallic grill with the dimensions (H x W x D) is 6.36 x 4.69 x 4.69 (in) / 161.45 X 119.7 x 119.7 (mm). With the PLAY:1 you get a power cable, Ethernet cable and your product information booklet. At the top of the PLAY:1, you’ll find a volume rocker, a play/pause button and a status light. You’ll be able to quickly change the volume using the volume rocker or your volume on your device. The light is only used to advise that the speaker is turned on and to help with the pairing process – other than that, it isn’t used for much and can actually be turned off using the SONOS app. On the back of the speaker, you’ll find a mounting hole (1/4 inch (6.35mm) / 20-thread) to attach the speaker to a mount and an Ethernet port, should you not have wireless available.
The PLAY:1 is very easy to set up. All you need is to download the SONOS app for your smartphone or your Desktop and setting the speaker up is very simple and only takes a couple of minutes. Once connected, you are now connected to the best steaming setup available. You can stream music from a ever growing number of online streaming services, like Spotify, Tidal and Rdio to Pandora, Google Play and many more. Apple Music will also be available later on in the year, but that should not deter you, as you can also play from local files on your device, even iTunes. A great feature that set SONOS aside from Bluetooth speakers, is that even if you disconnect your device from the speaker, the music can keep playing if you are connect with an online streaming service like Spotify or have your music stored on the network.
SONOS are not just famous for great sounding speakers, they are also the leaders in multi-room sound. One PLAY:1 is great if you plan to listen in one room, but adding another one to your network is even better. You can stream the music in different areas, where the PLAY:1 is setup, and even have different music playing on each connect PLAY:1 at the same time, even using a single Spotify account. Using the SONOS app, you can name each location, eg Bedroom or lounge, and make different playlist for each location as well. You can even change the volume for the specific areas too. If you have the a SONOS PLAYBAR and SUB, you can set the PLAY:1 as your surrounds for a 5.1 home theater system. Even simpler, you can use them in one room as your left and right stereo speakers. Everything regarding setup for your SONOS can be done through the app.
Sound
The PLAY:1 is exceptional, everything I threw at it, the PLAY:1 handled with ease. The speaker filled the room with clear and powerful sound. Heavy bass tracks sound great for such a small speaker. Playing Cheerleader by OMI played with easy, and the bass went low, even at a high volume, the bass kept its cool and never distorted. Moving to Alone Again by Tok Tok Tok, vocals, double bass and sax felt smooth and present with great depth. Adding the 2nd PLAY:1 for a stereo listen, the sound stage was decent, but separation of the instruments wasn’t the best. I played many types of music from Classical to Jazz to Hip Pop and even Heavy Metal. The PLAY:1 handled all genres will easy, and is truly a universal speaker for all. I found that vocal, acoustic and jazz music played the best for me. Spoken word from podcasts were also clear and forward.
Playing tracks from online sources are usually coded as 320kps, and they still sounded good, but if you have access to high res streaming from the likes of Tidal or Deezer Elite (exclusive to Sonos products), which stream at 1411kps, the PLAY:1 really comes to life. Tracks are clearer and extend more to the bottom and top. Treble seam to cut through nicely, and the overall sound whether you stream hi res or not is best described as warm and smooth, with mids set back a tad. No matter what music you listen to, the PLAY:1 can handle it with easy and sounds great.
Overall
SONOS has been in the wireless streaming game for many years, and there is a reason they are the leaders. Having the ability to connect to a multitude of online streaming services and the ability to multi-room and even the ability to perform as a 5.1 setup makes the Sonos ecosystem hard to resist. The PLAY:1 is a great entry into the SONOS system, with punchy sound and decent range, you wont be disappointed. The PLAY:1 retails for $329AUD or $199USD.
