It’s been a rough couple of years for Sonos.
In mid-2024, the company released a redesigned and thoroughly busted update to its app, which Sonos owners need to set up new products, manage their speaker groups, play music and access a host of other crucial features.
The fallout from that was far-reaching — the company replaced its CEO, canceled a few planned products and released no new hardware in 2025.
The Sonos Play, announced earlier this month , is the company’s reset button, a way to remind people what the company does well.
The Play is a portable speaker that sits between the $499 Sonos Move 2 (which is large, expensive and extremely loud) and the $179 Roam 2 (the cheapest Sonos speaker and tiny enough to bring anywhere).
The $299 Play sits right in the middle of the company’s portable lineup in both size and price — and after spending a few weeks listening to it, I think it’s a very smart addition to the collection.
Thanks to its impressive sound quality, versatility and portability, the Play is immediately one of the best speakers Sonos sells.