The 10 Best Sonos Speakers
Special Honors
Symfonisk They won't sound quite as good as the real thing, but Ikea's line of Symfonisk speakers – made in collaboration with Sonos, and currently consisting of a wall mountable bookshelf model and a bedside lamp with a built-in Wi-Fi speaker – are fully compatible with Sonos software, and are the most affordable way to get started building your system. ikea.com
Wall Mounts If you're interested in starting a Sonos collection, but not sure where you'd set your speakers up, you might want to take a few moments to browse the company's selection wall mounts. With options available to accommodate virtually their whole line, there's a good chance you'll find a solution suitable to your situation. sonos.com
Editor's Notes
June 22, 2020:
This round of updates saw our rankings for this category expand considerably, in keeping pace with the company’s growing repertoire of offerings. Selections we previously included, like the Play:5 and Play:1, were replaced by their new-generation successors like the Five Gen 3, One Gen 2 and One SL, which is nearly identical to the One Gen 2, but lacks the integrated microphone that makes it Alexa compatible. Some of our further new additions include the Arc Soundbar — which packs 11 drivers and amplifiers, the Move Portable — a Bluetooth-compatible model with an 11-hour battery life, and the Outdoor Pair — one offering from the company’s line of architectural speakers, which were designed in collaboration with California company Sonance.
A few things to think about for this category:
Installation: One of the great things about Sonos is the convenience of their one-button setup and wireless design, which make it practical and easy to install them virtually anywhere. That being said, there are still some important considerations to make, regarding wall mounting and weather resistance.
Wall mounting is an easy one to cover: If you want to do it, it can be done. Sonos offers full line of proprietary brackets that make it easy for any DIYer with a basic knowledge set to wall mount any speaker that they offer. The full line is available from their website.
Weather resistance is a quality that’s found much more sparsely through Sonos’ line of offerings. Two instances of models they offer that are built for the elements are the Move Portable, which features an IP56 dust and water resistance, and the Outdoor Pair, which is the only option from the company’s line of architectural speakers built with any sort of weather resistance.
Color: Except for in the case of some limited-edition collaborative projects, Sonos doesn’t tend to dabble in color too often. However, it’s worth noting that most of their models are available in both black and white (the Move Portable is only available in black as of this writing, but its lunar white version is scheduled for imminent release), except for the Playbar — which is only available in a gray-and-black two-tone look, and its architectural speakers — which are only available in white.
Warranty: Sonos backs all of its products up with a two-year warranty, although may early adopters of the system will testify that their speakers are built to last quite a bit longer.