Sonos Audio Electronics
With a name like Sonos, it's not surprising that the company focuses on speakers. Every audio solution needs speakers, and Sonos systems are no exception. In addition to speakers such as the Sonos One, the company also makes devices like the Playbase and Playbar, which bring wireless sound to your TV or home theatre setup. Sonos is all about filling your life with music.
Why Wi-Fi Instead of Bluetooth?
While many wireless speakers use Bluetooth connectivity, Sonos units like the Sonos Play 1 and Sonos Play 5 rely on Wi-Fi instead. The reasons behind it are simple: different wireless technologies have different advantages and for Sonos the advantages of Wi-Fi outweigh those of Bluetooth and if you compare the features it's easy to see why:
- Wi-Fi: Ties the music to your network, so it's not dependent on any one device. This also means that you can play different songs in different rooms using the same network and different speakers.
- Bluetooth: Ties the music to a single device. It's more portable because you can take the music anywhere you take the device, but all Bluetooth speakers are going to play the same song from the device they pair to.
Which Sonos is for You?
While it's easy to determine whether you need the Sonos Playbase or even the Playbar, it can be less easy to make a decision between the other Sonos speakers.
- Sonos Play 1: The baby Sonos; it's a small wireless speaker with Wi-Fi connectivity and a big sound for those who want it. It's also water resistant for outdoor and poolside use, or for those who like to hear someone else sing while they're in the shower.
- Sonos Play 3: Bringing stereo to one unit, the mid-size Sonos can mount horizontally or vertically. It can also integrate into a Sonos home theatre setup for surround sound.
- Sonos Play 5: Bigger is deeper, and with line-in the Play 5 can play more music than just what's available on your network. Enjoy the advantages of deep base, and the ease of top mounted controls.
- Sonos One: Based on the Play 1, this speaker leverages Sonos connect to the next stage in home audio. Once the service becomes available in Australia it will combine existing Sonos capabilities with voice activation and control for streaming services.
Listening to Sonos
What makes Sonos stand out is the quality of the speakers. Home wireless speakers are nothing new; good quality ones though are worth their weight in sound. One advantage of Wi-Fi over Bluetooth is bandwidth. Sonos speakers and subwoofers have more bandwidth available so they don't need to compress the music again to get to the speakers, but instead can rely on the full audio resolution of the music source. It's just one more thing Sonos does to give you the best listening experience they can.