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When I had just purchased a home, I was looking into having it wired for whole-house audio. Looking into multi-room systems on Amazon, it was apparent to me that it wouldn't be cheap: a cost of the speakers, controllers, PLUS the cost of running wires throughout the house. When I saw the SONOS PLAY:1 promotion, I found its wireless solution to be more cost-effective, and with better speakers to boot. I have since tried the SONOS PLAY ONE speakers that were realized in late 2017. Below are the pros and cons that led me to decide on the Sonos system.
NOTE 1: a Sonos BRIDGE is NOT needed to use the PLAY ONE. See the INSTALLATION section of this review.
NOTE 2: the PLAY:1 is the same as the PLAY ONE without voice and touch integration. As such, the PLAY:1 is less expensive.
PROS
- Hi-Fi. Speakers sound better than the multi-room, wired systems I looked at for less than $500.
- Resale Value. Wired speakers don't add much resale value to your house. So, why spend $1000s , only to leave the audio system behind when you sell the property or move? With wireless, I could take my expensive speakers with me to my new home.
- Freedom to move around.
With wireless, you are free to take the speakers anywhere you want throughout the whole house. For neighborhood block parties, I could even hook up the speakers to an extension cord out to the street, and stream music from my home. Or take it outside to your backyard. They are moisture-proof, but I wouldn't use them as permanent outdoor speakers unless you enclose them in protective casings.
NOTE on wireless: each SONOS component is its own wireless client and repeater. Sonos wireless is a private, wireless "mesh" system, separate from your home WiFi. What does that mean to you? It routes music through its own wireless, leaving your home WiFi untouched. There's an additional benefit for that, as I'll explain after the installation note below. Most of the Sonos components (PLAY:1 and PLAY ONE are NOT one of them) have 2 network ports. This means, you can plug in the component into the network jack, and use the 2nd one on the speaker to connect your laptop.
- Alexa integration: the speakers now support voice control, though it is a work-in-progress. Sonos updates the capabilities via software updates over time. Google Assistant support is scheduled to come in 2018, making the PLAY ONE a more desirable option than having a Google Home and Amazon Echo in the house. I do get frustrated far more often with Alexa not understanding me or my request. My whole family enjoys Google Assistant's better answers and ability to understand us. We can't wait for Sonos to bring the Google Assistant to the PLAY ONE.
Sarah.G