Thoughts On Sonos Play:1
No matter how good the idea of wireless–internet connected–speakers are, it all comes down to implementation. So, it was only after putting a Sonos speaker in my house that the good idea turned out to be a great purchase.
That was a year ago. Here are some thoughts on the newest speaker, the Play:1.
Price
Sonos speakers aren’t cheap, there’s no way around it, but at $199 the Play:1 is reasonable for hesitant buyers. It’s a great way to see all the possibilities a connected speaker can bring.
For the price, I would get two Play:1s over one Play:5.
A Play:3’s extra $100 is actually hard to justify compared to the new speaker.
There’s a deal currently available that gives you a free bridge (making speakers fully wireless) when you buy any Sonos speaker. [Not an affiliate link]
Size
A single Play:1 isn’t a full party speaker, but it’s just about everything else. It’s a perfect bed side speaker, doubling as an alarm that can wake you up to nearly any music or radio source.
The size makes it fit nicely in places like the kitchen and even a bathroom. The Play:1 is also humidity resistant (i.e. while the shower is on).
Etc
I wish the Play:1 had a usb power port in the back to charge devices like phones.
Two Play:1s seems like a better buy than a Play:5 because they can be used as a stereo pair, surround sound speakers, or as two separate zones. The sound and loudness of two Play:1s paired is extremely impressive.
Having a battery in the Play:1 seems like a good idea at first, but considering the speaker has to be used in your house, on the network, there’s very little reason to increase the price for a battery.
I’d love to see a pair of Sonos headphones.