SonosPLAY: 5

With the PLAY:5, the American manufacturer Sonos offers a comparatively large WLAN loudspeaker in its range, which is ideal for providing sound in larger rooms, but with a purchase price of over 500 euros it is not exactly a bargain either. In our test report below, we will tell you whether you can at least look forward to a flawless sound experience for investing such a large sum.

Scope of delivery and first impression of the Sonos PLAY:5 WLAN speaker

Anyone who has already held a first-generation PLAY:5 loudspeaker in their hands will quickly notice that Sonos has given its new model a general overhaul in terms of design: Due to its adapted line structure, it now looks much fresher and more modern, although the actual look is more simple and unspectacular - but that's where the biggest advantage lies. The speaker is available in either black or white and can therefore be easily integrated into almost any environment - to be fair, however, it has to be said that the front cover of the white version is also black. The actual workmanship of the WLAN speaker also appears to be of absolutely high quality, so that you quickly get the feeling that you have invested your money in an absolute premium product: you will definitely look in vain for unsightly edges or sharp corners.

As you are used to from products from Sonos, the PLAY:5 WLAN speaker also comes with a relatively manageable scope of delivery: the device only comes with a power cable, an Ethernet cable and instructions.

Features of the Sonos PLAY:5 WiFi speaker

The Sonos PLAY:5 wireless speaker features six amplifiers and six speaker drivers. For comparison: the smaller brother PLAY:1 brings it "only" to two amplifiers. The performance of the PLAY:5 is of course correspondingly impressive: it fills even the largest rooms with excellent, crystal-clear sound without any problems, so that there is enough music at the next party, for example. If you want to listen to the same music in several rooms at the same time, you can simply expand the speaker with another speaker or enjoy an even wider stereo sound in the same way. The ingenious Trueplay speaker tuning feature helps ensure that the sound emitted sounds good in every imaginable room - even if the speaker is used standing up instead of lying down. The speaker can even be used in the bathroom without any problems thanks to its moisture-resistant finish. But be careful: This description primarily refers to humid room air - direct contact with water or water splashes should be avoided.

Handling the Sonos PLAY:5 wireless speaker

Integrating the Sonos PLAY:5 is child's play: the speaker is simply plugged into the power outlet and then set up with the Sonos app, which is available free of charge, and fed into the home network. Alternatively, you can also use the speaker with the help of the enclosed Ethernet cable Router connect – but of course it is much more convenient to use it wirelessly. In the event that the mobile end device on which the Sonos app required for control was installed is not available, the speaker can of course also be operated manually: For this purpose, a particularly elegant touchscreen control has been integrated on the top of the speaker. While a central touch point allows playing and pausing songs, the left and right touch points are intended for increasing and decreasing the volume. If you swipe from right to left (or vice versa), you can easily switch back and forth between different titles. With the help of the app, the user is of course offered significantly more functions: For example, you have immediate access to thousands of web radio stations or can link a well-known streaming service such as Spotify, Deezer or Amazon Prime Music. Incidentally, the music is streamed directly via WLAN: In contrast to Bluetooth, this has the advantage that annoying dropouts or jerks within the songs are almost impossible - this makes enjoying the music all the more fun.

Sound experience of the Sonos PLAY:5 WLAN speaker

The most important criterion of a high-quality loudspeaker is of course its sound. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Sonos PLAY:5: Even a single speaker provides an impressive, crystal-clear sound with a surprisingly juicy bass line, which never distorts or sounds otherwise unpleasant even at a very high volume. If you connect another PLAY:5 speaker or even the one that is available separately Sonos subwoofer on, the already ingenious sound experience is further optimized - this is particularly recommended for watching movies. If you compare the sound of the PLAY:5 with that of a conventional wireless speaker, you will definitely see real worlds that even laypeople will notice immediately.

Conclusion

The PLAY:5 from Sonos proves to be an extremely stylish and modern WiFi speaker that knows how to impress with an outstanding sound experience, really easy operation and convenient operation via touchscreen function and app control. If you are not deterred by the rather high purchase price of just over 500 euros and value a flawless sound, you should definitely get this ingenious speaker. From our side there is definitely a clear buy recommendation.