Best Sonos speaker: Which Sonos should you buy?

Sonos is the king of multiroom audio. Add two or three (or more) Sonos speakers to your home, and you’ll be amazed at how quick and easy it is to have music playing wirelessly in multiple rooms across the house. Whether you subscribe to a music streaming service or want to play music from your phone, Sonos has created an ecosystem that makes it painless to playback music – and with the addition of Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant support, you can even control a whole house full of Sonos products with your voice alone.

Not only that, the Sonos system keeps being updated with streaming services. For example, it supports Deezer Elite‘s high-definition service, as well as Tidal, Spotify and Apple Music among many others – a full list can be found on the company’s website. Whenever new services are added to the Sonos system, new software is automatically pushed out to all of the speakers on your network, which is incredibly convenient.

Sonos’ apps are available on iOS and Android and there’s also desktop software available for Windows and OS X.

How we test the best Sonos speakers

Since Sonos speakers are typically multi-purpose devices, we put each through its paces by assessing sound quality across a variety of audio sources from films and TV shows to music and podcasts.

We thoroughly test all the additional functionality and features Sonos devices offer too, such as how each speaker is tuned via TruePlayed, voice assistant control or the impact of adjusting the EQ, as well as going through just how you set up, pair and integrate a Sonos speaker into a wider sound system or multi-room arrangement.

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The best Sonos speakers to buy

There are plenty of options in the Sonos range but it can be tricky deciding which speaker is right for your home and what accessories you need. We’ve made it easier for you by detailing the best Sonos speakers below to help you get the party started.

Sonos Era 100: An upgraded Sonos One

Price when reviewed: £249 | Check price at John Lewis

While you can still purchase the Sonos One, the Sonos Era 100 is its anointed successor and will eventually take the reigns as the company’s entry-level bookshelf speaker.

The key distinctions between the two are the Sonos Era 100’s support for Bluetooth streaming and stereo audio along with its inclusion of a USB-C line-in. Its stereo performance could be more convincing but it’s certainly a sonic upgrade to a speaker that already delivered superb audio quality.

Its design remains as agreeably minimal as the Sonos One, there’s support for multiple streaming platforms and voice assistants, and, as usual, there is wider integration with the Sonos world. Even if it’s a little dearer at launch, you’ll want to buy the Era 100 ahead of the One to futureproof your sonic setup.

Read our full Sonos Era 100 review for details

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Sonos Era 300: Superb spatial audio

Price when reviewed: £449 | Check price at Amazon

The Era 300 marks a new epoch from Sonos by bringing spatial audio to a non-soundbar product for the first time. Besides this spatial aspect, it’s a speaker that produces audio capable of rocking out with bubbling bass as well as bringing precise detail to more sedate genres via its four tweeters and two woofers.

As you’d expect from a Sonos product, it’s incredibly flexible too, with stereo pairing and integration into a multiroom setup or Dolby Atmos home cinema system all easily achieved via the Sonos app.

Besides a lack of Google Assistant support, it’s hard to think of what the Era 300 could do better other than be a little cheaper. We think it might just be the best streaming speaker money can buy right now.

Read our full Sonos Era 300 review for details

Sonos One: A seriously smart speaker

Price when reviewed: £250 | Check price at Amazon

The Sonos One is the company’s only smart speaker. Coupled with Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant, you can ask Alexa general questions (such as the weather) or even set an alarm for you. You might be wondering here: what’s the difference between an Amazon Echo device then? The sound quality. The Sonos One is by far the best sounding smart speaker for its size. It reproduces super-sounding audio and also works as a multi-room speaker through Sonos’ fantastic ecosystem.

Read our full Sonos One review for details

Sonos Arc: A superb soundbar

Price when reviewed: £775 | Check price at Amazon

Yes, it is possible to create a wireless home theatre setup using the Sonos System. The Arc is Sonos’ latest soundbar – replacing the Playbar – and it offers 11 Class-D amplifiers and 11 separate drivers covering the centre channel (two woofers and a tweeter) and left/right channels (one woofer each), plus sideways-firing woofers and diagonally firing tweeters for added audio width and even two upwards-firing drivers to deal with Dolby Atmos overhead channels. Resultant is a standalone soundbar with audio that can’t be beaten for the money and teams up with your TV via its single HDMI port – hopefully, that’s enough connectivity for you. You can pair it with other Sonos speakers too, like the Sonos Sub for additional bass, making it especially enticing to those already locked into the Sonos ecosystem.

Read our full Sonos Arc review for details

Sonos Sub (Gen 3): Add some sub-bass to your Sonos setup

Price when reviewed: £649 | Check price at Amazon

The Sonos Sub (Gen 3) is ideally paired with the Arc, as it brings the low-frequency response (down to 25Hz) to add to the explosions and rumble of your movies. The Sub will also happily work with Sonos speakers that aren’t the Arc, too, so you can throw in two extra Sonos One SL speakers for full surround sound. The Sub can be oriented how you like as well, so you can have it stood upright or lie it down flat to hide away under your sofa. For punchy but controlled bass extension in an easy-to-use product, the Sub is a sublime choice.

Sonos Roam: A portable, wireless triumph

Price when reviewed: £159 | Check price at Amazon

Like its more expensive stablemate the Sonos Move, the Roam is capable of connecting via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and can be integrated into a Sonos multiroom system. However, a more compact design and IP67 rating that certifies it both dustproof and waterproof mean this is a speaker you can take just about anywhere.

The Roam delivers a surprisingly wide soundstage and plenty of low-frequency oomph for a speaker of its size, and supports both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Practically every streaming service you could ask for is accessible via the Sonos app, and the company’s Auto Trueplay EQ tuning helps ensure it sounds great no matter where you are.

It took Sonos a long time to produce a portable Bluetooth speaker designed to withstand the elements, but it was certainly worth the wait.

Read our full Sonos Roam review for more details

Sonos Move 2: A powerful portable wireless speaker

Price when reviewed: £450 | Check price at John Lewis

If you’re after a more muscular alternative to the Sonos Roam, look no further than the Sonos Move 2. Its design is largely unchanged from the first-gen model but improvements have been made to the control system, battery life (now 24 hours) and power consumption. 

The addition of a pair of angled tweeters enables the Move 2 to deliver stereo audio too, though the effect isn’t the most pronounced as both the left and right channels share a centrally firing mid-woofer. Depsite this, sound quality is clear and balanced and the bass response is very nicely judged. 

The Sonos app remains a superb way of controlling the speaker, providing integrated access to numerous popular music streaming services along with support for the Sonos and Amazon Alexa voice assistant voice assistants. 

Existing Move owners may want to hold off upgrading – especially since you can’t pair the Move 2 with the original – but those in the Sonos ecosystem seeking a portable, high-quality speaker should definitely consider the Sonos Move 2.

Read our full Sonos Move 2 review for more details

Sonos Beam 2: A smaller soundbar with stellar sound

Price when reviewed: £425 | Check price at Amazon

The Sonos Arc is one of our favourite standalone soundbars but its price puts it out of reach of many consumers. Step up the Sonos Beam 2.

It’s significantly cheaper and more compact than the Arc but still delivers a powerful sonic performance. Though it looks identical to the original Beam, it houses an upgraded processor and this time around there’s support for the Dolby Atmos object-based sound format and Amazon’s 3D Audio spatial sound.

To take advantage of Atmos you’ll need a TV with an eARC HDMI port, and the height effects aren’t as convincing as they would be from a soundbar with upfiring drivers, but audio quality is phenomenal nonetheless. There’s plenty of power and everything from stereo music mixes to thumping film soundtracks is handled expertly.

Naturally, all the usual Sonos multiroom functionality is present and correct, meaning you can pair the Beam 2 with a Sonos Sub and two Sonos One speakers to create a truly immersive surround sound home theatre experience.

Read our full Sonos Beam 2 review for more details

Sonos Sub Mini: Solid sub-bass for less

Price when reviewed: £429 | Check price at Amazon

The Sonos Sub Mini is a cheaper, more compact alternative to the Sub that’s still capable of providing some impressive low-end impact. Made to support the Sonos Ray and Beam 2 soundbars, the Sub Mini is best used in small or medium sized rooms as it lacks the heft of its bigger and more expensive sibling. It still extends down to 25Hz, however – the same as the full-size Sub – while offering many of the same features and remains the best-value pick for deeper bass.

Read our full Sonos Sub Mini review for more details

Sonos Trueplay Tuning app for iOS

Acoustic performance can be drastically affected by how you place your speakers, whether that’s close to a wall, recessed in a corner or hidden behind a curtain. The latter, according to Sonos, is a common occurrence when it talks to its users. It seems, not everyone wants to have their speakers out on display.

Sonos’ Trueplay tuning software comes as part of the Sonos Controller app. Trueplay attempts to bring “acoustic transparency” by calibrating your speaker based on the acoustic response of your room. The speaker will emit a test sound and use your iOS device to take measurements as you walk around the room. You’ll need to wave your arms and device around in circles. It will also tell you when you’re not moving enough. Cheeky.

The Trueplay software then analyses how the test frequency bounces off different surfaces in your room and then tunes the Sonos speaker(s) accordingly. Trueplay, at present, will unfortunately only work with iOS devices. Due to the vast differences in hardware configuration on Android devices, it’ll be a while till we see it ported over. Trueplay works with the Sonos One, Play:1, Play:3, Play:5, Playbase and Playbar.