Sonos Play:3

Although there’s no doubt that Sonos is the best multi-room audio system you can buy, the downside has always been price. It’s something that the company has tried to address over the years, and now with the Play:3 you can get Sonos for less than £300.

The Play:3 is a standalone player with integrated speakers, which looks like a smaller Sonos Play:5 (renamed from its original ZonePlayer S5 to match the company’s new branding).

As well as being £100 cheaper than its bigger brother, the Play:3’s smaller size also makes it a good choice for those parts of your house where you don’t have much room, such as a kitchen or bedroom; the Play:5 is a rather hefty beast that you need a good amount of room for.

It connects to your network via a wired connection (there’s only one 10/100 Ethernet port, and no pass-through, as on previous players), although it can connect wirelessly using the proprietary Sonos wireless mesh network if you’re adding this player to an existing system. If the Play:3 is your first purchase and you want to put it away from your router, you’ll need the optional Bridge, which has had a hefty price drop to £39.

Provided you’ve got an Android smartphone, iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, you can use the free app to wirelessly control your music. If you can afford it, the touchscreen Sonos Control (expensive at £279) is a great extra, as it remains constantly connected to the Sonos network, making it quicker to respond. Plus, it has the advantage that if your phone is the only controller, you can go out and other people in your home can still play music.