Which Sonos Speakers Should You Buy?
From the Move to the Beam, we’ve tested nearly every speaker from the venerable brand. We like them all—but here are…
Here at WIRED, we like Sonos speakers. We really do. Throughout the past decade, we’ve reviewed all of the company’s wirelessly connectable speakers, from its small shelf speakers to its TV soundbars, and we’ve recommended every one of them. But turning your home into a Sonos-powered shrine to sound isn’t cheap. Like Apple products, Sonos speakers sell at a premium, starting at $100 for a basic bookshelf speaker. But which ones should you buy? Read on for our recommendations.
Updated October 2021: We’ve added the Sonos Roam Bluetooth speaker and Beam (Gen 2) Soundbar and updated pricing and retailers.
Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-Year Subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you’d like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.
Best Overall Sonos Speaker
The Sonos One (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is just about the smallest Sonos speaker, but it packs enough oomph to fill most rooms, and its hands-free Alexa and Google Assistant integration makes it a lot more versatile. Alexa and Google voice commands work like normal (though you must choose between them). It can play music, tell you the weather, find a recipe, and answer simple questions, like any of our other favorite smart speakers. It also works with Siri via AirPlay 2.
We recommend other Sonos speakers in this guide, but you also can’t go wrong by just getting more Sonos Ones to fill up your house. They’re much more affordable than other Sonos speakers, and their small size means you can hide them in almost any room.
A Mic-Free Alternative: The Sonos One SL is $199 at Sonos. It’s nearly identical to the One but doesn’t have microphones, so you can only control it from your phone or the touch buttons on it (and you don’t have to worry about someone listening in to your home). The SL is also a good way to add more satellite speakers to your home. And if you want a speaker that can really belt it out, the Sonos Five ($549) sounds fantastic and is mic-less.
Best Speakers to Fill Out a Room
If you want to network a few speakers together for a larger room, or connected rooms, this is the cheapest way to do it. Sonos collaborated with Ikea on this bookshelf speaker, which is why it’s more affordable and slightly less pristine than the others in this guide. (It’s been awhile since a Sonos speaker had physical buttons.) Looks aside, it sounds almost as good as a Sonos One. You can mount it right to your wall or stand it upright on a bookshelf or table.
About The Author
