Best Sonos Speaker: Six top choices reviewed and ranked

The Roam series is the most affordable entry into the world of Sonos’ speakers.

It is a portable speaker shaped like a Toblerone bar that supports both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, so it can be used indoors on Wi-Fi and connected to other Sonos speakers, or outdoors with its Bluetooth connection. Another option for a portable speaker is the Sonos Move, which has the same features though its size doesn’t make it as portable as the smaller Roam.

Used indoors it functions like a smart speaker with access to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant; plus there’s the Sonos app that brings access to a wide range of music streaming services. Neither voice assistance nor the Sonos app can be accessed over a Bluetooth connection, and if you’re not interested in voice control, that’s where the Roam SL comes into play.

Battery life is 11 hours on a single charge, and with an IP67 rating, it’s both dust and water resistant for outdoor usage. Auto Trueplay serves to optimise its audio performance wherever it is and in whichever orientation the speaker is placed in (it can stand vertically or lie down horizontally).

We rated audio quality as excellent for a portable speaker of its size. It goes for a balanced, neutral performance; with vocals clearly relayed and the midrange clear and natural in tone. Treble has bite and detail, and there’s good levels of dynamism, but low frequencies aren’t the best on this speaker. A rival like the Ultimate Ears Boom 2 offers more presence to the bass, and the Roam isn’t as good as the Bang & Olufsen’s Beosound A1 2nd Gen.

The Roam has been replaced by the Roam 2 but the older model is still available while stocks last.

Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Sonos Roam

The Era 300 is Sonos’ first non-soundbar speaker that supports Dolby Atmos. The Era 300 is much bigger in size than the Era 100, and as a result it’s able to produce a bigger sound courtesy of Atmos spatial audio.

The driver set-up allows the Era 300 to fire audio in front of the speaker, above it and out to the sides. Whereas the Era 100 sounds more on the bassy side, the Era 300 delivers a crisper, clearer and defter sound. It does take a rather safety first approach to brightness where high frequencies are concerned but its treble performance is crisp and clear.

With Dolby Atmos audio it sounds expansive, producing a soundstage that’s wider, deeper and taller than the speaker’s dimensions, however this depends on how the track was mixed. You can also edit the height of the performance in the Sonos app if you want a more expansive performance.

Like the Era 100 it doesn’t support Google Assistant but does have the Quick Tune version of Trueplay so it’s a more accessible speaker for Android users. There’s a USB-C port on the rear along with a button that enables Bluetooth pairing and you can turn the microphones completely off if you don’t want voice assistants listening all the time.

The Era 300 supports stereo pairing with another Era 300 or used as a rear Atmos speaker within a Sonos surround sound set-up. And like the Era 100 it can be connected to other external devices or broadband router through an adapter, although disappointingly these are sold separately. Of all the Atmos wireless speakers, the Era 300 ranks as one of the best. It leaves intrigued as to where the Era series could go next.

Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Sonos Era 300

The Move 2 is Sonos’ biggest portable speaker, although – as with the original – calling it portable is a stretch in light of its size. We’d describe it as an outdoor speaker best suited for the garden with large groups of people.

Its IP rating isn’t as strong as the Roam at IP56, but that level of build quality is tough enough to repel water, dust and liquids; though it won’t survive being submerged in water. It’s also what Sonos describes as ‘drop resistant’ so if it falls from a low height it should survive unscathed. Having (wincingly) dropped it a few times on a concrete surface, the Move survived with just a few marks that were able to be brushed off.

It comes in a choice of Shadow Black and Lunar White finishes, both of which protect the speaker from overheating when outside. And just like the Roam, it can switch between Bluetooth and Wi-Fi with the press of a button. On a Wi-Fi connection there’s support for Alexa, Google Assistant and Sonos Voice Control, and you can connect to any other Sonos speaker on the same network to create a multi-room audio set-up.

Auto Trueplay uses the onboard mics to constantly tweak the audio performance with regards to where it is, and since the launch of the Move, Sonos has made sure that it works on both a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connection. The effect of Auto Trueplay is one we found to be subtle at first, but once it’s up to speed we could hear a slight difference in tone.

Battery is a whopping 24 hours, nearly double what we got on the previous model.

Reviewer: David Ludlow
Full Review: Sonos Move 2

The Era 100 is effectively a replacement for the Sonos One (although that will continue on sale until stock runs out).

It sports a taller, slimmer looking design than the One, and features a new speaker set-up with two angled tweeters to help disperse high frequencies into a room plus a woofer that can provide more bass than the One or One SL models.

We didn’t feel it sounded as clear or detailed in the midrange and high frequencies, the weightiness of the bass affects the tonal balance across the frequency range. The Era 100 provides more power and oomph, though we prefer the One models for their clarity and detail. Bluetooth performance is fine, but the volume does need to be turned up high to get a similar level of quality over a Bluetooth connection.

Other changes from the One models include dropping the Ethernet connection for a USB-C port on the rear, adding Bluetooth playback, and you can choose to turn off the microphones inside the Era 100 via a switch on the back, though this does mean you won’t benefit from either Trueplay tuning or voice assistance.

Amazon Alexa and Sonos Voice Control are supported but Google Assistant is left out. The Era 100 supports a new version of Trueplay that only requires a tap in the Sonos app to begin the process, using the speaker’s built-in microphones to measure its surroundings and optimise the audio output. The Quick Tune version of Trueplay also allows for Android users to be able to use Trueplay.

Finally, the Era 100 is more expensive than the One by $50 / £50, so you’ll want to weigh the bigger bass and more accessible feature set against the One’s more measured and balanced sound.

Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Sonos Era 100

The step Beam Gen 2 is only a fraction bigger the Sonos’ cheapest soundbar but manages to fit in support for Dolby Atmos.

It doesn’t feature upfiring speakers to create the Atmos effect, doing so instead with virtual processing. It’s compact size makes it a partner for TVs up to 55-inches and for use in smaller rooms. Unlike the Ray, it has an HDMI eARC input and if your TV has the corresponding eARC input then the Beam can playback Atmos in its highest quality.

You also get Trueplay, voice control and HDMI CEC, which enables the Beam to be operated by the TV’s remote inputs such as volume. Through the Sonos app you can also connect to other Sonos speakers in the home to create a multi-room set-up, or you can add rear speakers and a subwoofer (preferaly the Sub Mini) to create a home cinema surround sound system.

You can stream from a wide variety of music apps such as Spotify, Tidal, and Qobuz; while for voice assistances, the Beam Gen 2 supports Alexa, Google Assistant, and Sonos’ own Voice Control.

In terms of the audio performance, the Gen 2 Beam offers excellent balance and range, with enough bass to provide excitement and presence than a TV could, plus a wide soundstage with the soundbar able to push sound effects towards the viewer. With music it’s a capable performer. It can subtlety as well as handle bass heavy tracks without causing distortion.

Reviewer: David Ludlow
Full Review: Sonos Beam Gen 2

The Sub Mini is a subwoofer designed to partner small soundbars such as the Ray and Beam Gen 2, as well as perform best in small rooms.

This subwoofer improves the dynamic range of any Sonos system it’s built into, making the speakers sound better without any of the booming bass you could get if you chose the Sonos Sub. With music it lends a nice warmth to the music that we played, providing more impact and sounding cleaner than a single speaker could do on its own.

Like every other Sonos speaker on this list, you can connect to any other speaker, bar the portable models such as the Roam and Move 2. The crossover in terms of which speaker handles the bass frequencies can be fine-tuned in the app to provide a better sense of bass integration for the room you’re in. You can also choose to apply the Trueplay correction if you want to automatically optimise the subwoofer.

From a design perspective, this is a cylindrical unit that stands upright, which means you can’t lay it horizontally and slide underneath your sofa if you want to keep it out the way. It’s a small unit but a hefty one at 6.35kg, and while it looks great, you’ll have to concede that it’ll take up a little bit of space in your room.

Reviewer: David Ludlow
Full Review: Sonos Sub Mini