Best Sonos speaker 2021: contrast of Sonos Shift, One, Five, Beam and Arc
(Pocket-lint) - In recent years the demand for multi-room speakers has expanded dramatically, with fresh entrants all the time. However like Sonos, there are several brands that have been doing the job for many years. For well over a decade, the business has been around and provides one of the best app channels out there with support for many of the major streaming services, including Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.
Inside the Sonos multi-room lineup, there are multiple speakers, and there are two sound bars and a wireless subwoofer, too.
Let us help you find out which Sonos speaker is the best for you or the speakers.
Quick summary
The Sonos Step is larger and more expensive than the Sonos One but it provides streaming capabilities for water resistance, portability and Bluetooth audio, while also providing all the normal Sonos features when connected to Wi-Fi, as well as built-in voice control.
The Sonos One has a similar design and sound quality to the older Play:1, but it includes integrated voice control, capacitive touch controls and support for Apple AirPlay 2 from Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant.
The Sonos One SL has the very same sound architecture and design as the Sonos One, but without Google or Alexa built-in voice control, making it a little cheaper and a nice alternative to the older Play: 1.
The Sonos Five is a bigger, more capable speaker than the One with in-house additional drivers and more of a sound system. In the company's line-up, it replaces Play:5.
The Beam is a sound bar with a tiny form factor, built for your TV. Offering HDMI for your TV, as well as Alexa and Google Assistant voice control, it's lightweight, strong and totally connected. It supports Apple AirPlay 2 as well including the Sonos One, One SL, Step and Five.
The Sonos Arc, the larger of the two sound bars sold by Sonos, replaces the seven-year-old Play bar. It not only supports many of the Beam's features, but also includes Dolby Atmos up firing speakers and HDMI eARC capabilities.
The primary reason you'd invest in the Sub is to combine it with the Beam or Arc, while two Sonos Five speakers operating as a pair might also serve as an outstanding partner. However they're a pricey pair, so make sure you just want that extra bass.
The Wi-Fi Bookshelf Speaker from Sonos Ikea Symfonisk is a bookshelf and a speaker in one. It does not provide the same strength as a Sonos One or Sonos One SL, but it is more cost-effective and provides many of the features of Sonos as well as Apple AirPlay 2.
A table lamp and a speaker in one is the Sonos Ikea Symfonisk Table Lamp Speaker. It has the same strength as the older Play:1 and the price is the same as the Sonos One SL, but you also get a table lamp and compatibility with Apple AirPlay 2.
Sonos Move
The Sonos Transfer is Sonos' first portable speaker with Bluetooth audio capabilities in addition to Wi-Fi. The Sonos Move allows you to connect your computer with it and stream audio like you would any other Bluetooth speaker when in Bluetooth mode - there is a toggle switch on the rear.
The Sonos Move offers all the same functionality you would expect from a Sonos speaker, operated through the Sonos app, when in Wi-Fi mode. Automatic True play tuning is supported, so if you switch the Move, it will automatically adapt to its setting, and Apple AirPlay 2 is also on board.
In addition, like the Sonos One below the Sonos Move has built-in Google Assistant and Alexa voice control, and it is IP56 immune to water and dust, so you can take it everywhere you go. The battery lasts about 10 hours, but there is also a USB Type-C charging dock.
Sonos One
Like the Sonos Move, the Sonos One has incorporated Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice control, allowing you to control other Sonos speakers, for example, as well as order an Uber or control smart lights.
It has a similar style to the older and dio-continued Play:1, but instead of physical keys, the Sonos One has a color-matched speaker grille and a capacitive touch control pad. Although it doesn't give the strength of the Sonos Five, it also offers the same sound architecture as the Play: 1, the Sonos One still sounds fantastic for its size.
A second generation Sonos One model is available, with the inclusion of Bluetooth Low Energy, an upgraded processor and an improved memory over the 2017 model. It is worth noting. The sound experience, design and intelligent features remain the same as the 2017 model, but the 2017 model costs £ 179 (if you can find it and costs £ 199 for the second generation model.
Sonos One SL
The Sonos One SL is nearly similar to the Sonos One in nature, except that the SL does not have voice control and hence dismisses the top of the microphone array compared to the Sonos One.
The Sonos One SL provides the same features as the One, including Apple AirPlay 2 support, compatibility with over 100 music services, multi-room audio and True play tuning, apart from no integrated Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.
For those who don't want a smart speaker or those who may want to use the Sonos One SL as surrounds with the Sonos Beam taking over voice, for instance, the Sonos One SL replaced the older Play:1, taking over as the smallest and cheapest Sonos speaker.
You can also use a third-party Amazon Alexa or Google Home computer to monitor the Sonos One SL, and it can also be stereo combined with another Sonos One SL or a Sonos One.
Sonos Five
The Five, released as a like-for-like substitute for the Play:5, is the largest and most powerful speaker in the Sonos line-up. It features capacitive touch controls and can be vertically or horizontally positioned. There is no voice control built in but users can control the Five with their voice with an Alexa or Google Assistant-enabled system or a separate Sonos One, Switch, Beam or Arc. Apple AirPlay 2 compatibility still exists.
You get the same choice to pair two Five speakers together for a full-fledged stereo pair, provide multi-room audio, combine it with surround sound TV speakers, position the speaker where you want when connected to the Wi-Fi mesh network, as well as the streaming options and software features, as with other Sonos speakers.
Better processing, memory and more secure wireless networking are the principal changes over the older Play:5 model.
Sonos Ikea Symfonisk speakers
To sell the Symfonisk Wi-Fi Book Shelf Speaker and the Symfonisk Table Lamp Speaker, Sonos and Ikea teamed up together. Both offer all the same features as other Sonos speakers, including True play tuning, multi-room audio, over 100 music services compatibility, the ability to combine two of the same stereo and voice control via a computer powered by Alexa or Google Assistant.
The Sonos Ikea Symfonisk speakers are operated through the Sonos app, but they have dual functions in that the Book Shelf speaker may also be a bookshelf, vertically or horizontally mounted, while the Table Lamp is both a lamp and a speaker. Both are compatible with AirPlay 2.
The cheapest way to start a Sonos system is the Symfonisk Wi-Fi Book Shelf Speaker, offering a good sound for the price and size. The Symfonisk Table Lamp Speaker is more costly, but it has a fantastic sound and a rather practical design.
Sonos Arc
The Sonos Arc is an HDMI eARC 5.0.2 bar and a completely retuned Playbar experience, which it replaces in the lineup.
If you look at it from above it comes with a newer design aesthetic, with sleek, angled edges and rounded ends that look identical to the Sonos Move speaker. This links the new bar to the rest of the Sonos family.
Inside, there is a stack of speaker drivers with middle, left and right channels, plus a few angles for a broader surround effect than the Spotlight (for example). In order to give Dolby Atmos additional channels to your ceiling and down to the seating position to surround you in immersive audio, two extra drivers are angled upwards.
Sonos Beam
The Sonos Beam is a portable sound bar, offering all the features of a Sonos speaker but TV smarts too with HDMI ARC on board - taking the sound from your TV, but allowing Beam to power your TV too - as well as optical as a second option.
Sonos Sub
Although it looks similar, an upgrade to a third generation model was given to the Sonos Sub.
It is an extension of the Sonos Beam or Arc, and by adding more bass, providing a frequency response down to 25Hz, the purpose is to bring more complexity to anything you hear. You can stand upright or lay it flat on the Sonos Sub, and it features built-in rubber feet and optional feet.
To balance the Sub and the paired Sonos part, audio settings are automatically adjusted and the Sub can be operated using the Sonos app, like the rest of the Sonos device, and it will link wirelessly to your home network so that you can position it anywhere you want.
Gen 3 comes with improved processing, more memory and greater wireless connectivity, the key discrepancies between the last iteration and the last version.
Sonos Play:1
The Sonos Play: 1 is one of the smallest speakers in the multi-room offering of Sonos, but it is being phased out following the introduction of the Sonos One SL. With physical buttons on the end, it has a clean and simple design.
Like the Sonos One or Sonos Move, there is no Apple AirPlay 2 compatibility or built-in voice control, but if you have an Alexa or Google Assistant-enabled computer, like other Sonos speakers, you can still control it with your voice.
The Play:1 includes many of the same characteristics as other Sonos speakers, including the ability to stream and monitor your entire music library, music services, and internet radio through the Sonos app via PC and Mac.
It provides fantastic sound for its size and you can pair two Play:1's together, like most Sonos speakers, to create a stereo pair, or combine for a 5.1 surround sound experience with the Beam, Play bar or Play base and Sub.
Sonos Playbar
The Sonos Playbar is the old stalwart that was the bigger of the two soundbars in the Sonos portfolio for a long time, built to compliment your TV, but still works with all the regular Sonos features as a standalone speaker, including the Beam. It provides clear, bombastic sound, but optical is your only link choice, unlike the Beam, and the Arc is a substitute for it effectively.
Capacitive physical controls are present and there is no built-in voice control or compatibility with Apple AirPlay 2 as the Beam offers for less money. However, as with the Beam, you can attach the Playbar to your 3.0 home cinema sound TV, match it up to the 3.1 home cinema Sonos Sub, or take it one step further and add a few Sonos One, Sonos One SL, Play:1, Five speakers or even Ikea Symfonisk Bookshelf Speakers with a Playbar and Sub for 5.1 home cinema surround sound.
Sonos Playbase
Instead of a soundbar, the Sonos Playbase is a soundbase built for TVs that are not wall-mounted, with the intent being that its super-slim construction slides under the TV as opposed to hanging on the wall underneath it. It meets the same design guidelines as the Five, with a premium plastic exterior and capacitive touch control buttons with black and white colour options.
Like the Playbar, with an optical cable for 3.0 home cinema sound, you can link the Playbase to your TV, pair it with the Sonos Sub for 3.1 home cinema, or add two Sonos One, Sonos One SL, Play:1, Five speakers or 5.1 surround sound Ikea Symfonisk Bookshelf Speakers. It will also work with your remote TV and it is also a standalone speaker as well as a TV sound booster that is very capable.
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