Sonos Play:1

Not impressed – I bought 2 Sonos speakers about 2 years ago on the basis that they could be linked. In the entire time we have had them we have been unable to link them. We have even tried Sonos tech support without success. We have spent the last 2 days trying again, without success. Either one will come on but not the other, or they play completely different songs simultaneously. Show details

Best money I’ve spent – Well done Sonos, This is my first Sonos speaker, I’ve always had Bose, Everything from packaging, design, sound quality, app connectivity and user friendliness is top notch, Very happy with it. Show details

Great Sound, reliable product – I have had the Sonos Play 1 (original version) for 3 years and it has performed performed well over the period. Sonos regularly updates the App and there has never been a pairing issue. The sound is outstanding and can be played from my iPhone, iPad or iMac. The only drawback is the playback must be done through the Sonos app, no direct playing from your playlist. Show details

Best streaming wireless speakers around – Super simple to set up. True sound quality. Works well in weak wifi area. High reliability. Great partnership with lots of streaming services. Easy to connect with other sonos great. Easy to use app. Expensive if you need to set up a lot of rooms etc. Show details

Software failure- unusable – Updates on software over the last 1 year has been appalling. Network dropouts/speakers disappearing on the network constantly/ playlists being lost and split between speakers even when all speakers are connected as a group. My router/mesh network system is the fastest and most reliable on the market and in all other applications it works… Read more

impeccably and consistently. SONOS 1 is the only application that fails every time I use it. Puts you off listening to music - let alone plan an event. On the night of my wife’s 60th birthday party SONOS kept dropping out/losing playlists every 20-30 minutes. Don’t buy SONOS.

Oh Dear! My Play won't play – My Sonos Play 1 worked wonderfully until Sonos introduced their S2 upgrade. Now my Play 1 is a Play Nothing. I took a look around the Internet to discover that hundreds of people have had the same problem. ... and Sonos Customer Service is blaming the customer. Oh and Sonos customer service blamed me. My Play 1 doesn't play anymore. Show details

performance has crashed – Very happy with sonos speakers when I first bought them. But recently connectivity issues have made my enjoyment of them virtually nil. Upgrading to S2 system would require upgrading half my speakers, which I'm not prepared to do, Sonos shouldn't just cancel support of existing speakers. Very disappointed.

Great little speaker with very decent sound! – This speaker is great! We have it mounted outside under the back awning, and it provides ample sound for the whole yard when we are outside. (we never pump it up further than 70% as that is plenty) The sound quality is good, and can be changed via the equalizer on the sonos app. The only negative is that it has fallen out of sync with our sonos… Read more

home app a few times, but it is easily re-added. ( this has happened 3 times in 4 years, so no big deal..)

Sonos speakers – I came across these speakers at a friends house. Was very impressed of the sound quality and performance. I purchased the sound bar, sub woofer and two speakers from Harvey Norman. Very please with the investment Show details

Connection to app not great – Connection to the app is often intermittent and you are restricted to what you can play. non support of airplay is a big negative. Sound quality is great don't expect too much base, for that these smart guys want you to buy a sub seperate. Show details

complete disregard for the consumer – never in my life have I experience worse customer service than what i have received from this company. complete disregard for my concerns and told that this is not there problem.  Show details

Unreliable, constant "updates", unsupported – My experience with Sonos: Unreliable. Disposable. Do not waste your money. Will not play Music and requires resetting every few weeks to overcome. Many many software "upgrades". These typically require some intervention to get the devices to work again. No opt out option. Sonos don't update promptly, or at all, to be compatible with upgraded OS..… Read more

in my experience Mac Catalina and ios Product features that existed when I purchased in 2015 now simply dont work ...they have been progressively dropped by sonos Only really for streaming (Spotify etc) now. Music library support nearly non existent. Over $2000 spent on Sonos and a bigger waste of money I have never experienced. By contrast I possess a traditional audiophile quality system I purchased about 15 years and it has never missed a beat...No constant updates, no lack of compatibility, no freeze ups, no repeated resetting. Appalling condescending Unprofessional and incompetent "support". Sonos forum is infested by people who belittle any request for support, I presume these are sonos staff trying to fend off any complaint.

Beware – Great product but is completely dependent on Sonos’ proprietary operating system. They have a well known track record of not supporting old devices and forcing upgrades. Many long term users are furious, particularly considering that Sonos units are expensive. If you want something to last more than 5 years and don’t have a ton of spare cash go with something else.

Not worth the hassle – I love that I can use Spotify on the speaker as my alarm but the amount of times I've had to physically turn the speaker off to stop the alarm because the app won't open, doesn't show the alarm is playing and/or at least 3 times a week it removes my alarms and I have to rest it again. I've reported the problem to Sonos multiple times but they only provide basic trouble shooting and passive aggressive condescension in their emails. Show details

Don't WASTE YOUR MONEY!!! – I paid big money for a system, that I constantly have to update or do something, put another code in and update bride. I just want to turn it on and listen to "MUSIC", it's that simple Show details

Unreliable and the customer support is terrible – Sonos has great sound when everything is working well. But sometimes it cuts out, and when there are issues the customer support has been either terrible or non existent. Spoken to different people, and they have offered me the exact same advice, after I've already done it. Havn't been able to speak to someone on the phone yet. I'm in a new house for over a month and still don't have my wireless setup. Show details

Disappointing – Sonos focus on streaming sources and voice activation as described in their own blog. Disappointing sonos just change direction and walk away from customers as they drive to make more money for doing less. It seems that Sonos sacked most of the personnel that worked to establish the business in the first place (in 2016). And now they are really… Read more

only interested in streaming music (Spotify, TIDEL, Apple Music etc) "letting go of some Sonos employees who have played important roles getting us to this point" and "two big areas that were leaning into: paid streaming services, and voice control. https://blog.sonos.com/en/industry-in-transition-invest-in-future/ - so I reckon they divested themselves of the skill set needed to support Catalina....which is why that doesnt work any more either. Constant undocumented (who knows what they do) software updates that you must accept or the application and the speaker ceases to work properly.

If you have your own music library this is defiantly not the product to use.

Works ok to play internet radio in the garage.

Don't buy if you want to play music stored on iPhone – I invested almost $2k in Sonos speakers. The sound quality is great but they no longer support playing music from iPhone - will only stream Spotify from your mobile device. https://support.sonos.com/s/article/2922?language=en_US What a total waste. I have gone and bought a couple of little Megaboom speakers. They work perfectly with streaming my iPhone playlists. Now I have $2k worth of useless Sonos speakers. Show details

Can’t play from iPhone – I have bought 4 sonos speakers over time and could play music stored on my iPhone. Now they have discontinued supporting this capability. Wasted my money on this. Don’t buy it. Show details

Un-usable – The speaker has not made it through 2 songs without completely cutting out. It fails to load songs so any tiny disruption in Wifi will completely ruin any playlist. #dontmakethesamemistakeidid Show details

My favourite speaker! – I love this speaker. I use it almost every day, easy to connect to play music, and has the best sound for a room. One speaker is enough for a big room. Looks good as well. I find it drops out a lot and doesn’t connect at times, which is an ongoing problem with the speaker. Show details

Love these – Can be used individually or as part of home theater system which is amazing. The only thing we didnt like was the alexa integration as anytime the TV said anytthing that sounded remotely like Alexa the sound cut out. We turned that feature off after a while. Show details

Speakers – Great quality sound but it trys to be a cimputer. Micro manages updates, makes you pay for music, dosnnt let you use free music. Dont recommend unless you want the apple managent scenario Show details

Impossible to set up, choose another wireless speaker system – This system is very difficult to get to work. If you are an it man or woman you probably will have great luck otherwise, choose another system. I have a few different homes and we'll move the system two different wireless routers and it usually takes somewhere between 30 minutes to an hour to get the system to see the new network. If you are an… Read more

apple person and expecting plug-and-play, think again with this system. It is not intuitive and almost impossible to set up. You will be spending hours and hours trying to get it to work on your network. There are many other easier to use systems. This is unfortunate because the speaker quality is good, but usability is -10.

Good but can have issues – Good sound but it can have connection issues if your wifi isn’t strong. It is nice being able to stream music and control the speakers using your phone. Can build in modular fashion. Annoying when music is disconnected or interrupted. Hopefully they will come ntinue to improve software to increase reliability.  Show details

Garbage – Forced WiFi, has its own app? Absolutely terrible. I can’t even use Spotify since it won’t connect, its not blue tooth either which makes no sense. Why would this product not be blue tooth and have its own app it just makes no sense. I’m returning to tomorrow since it was a genuine waste of 140.  Show details

Frustrating Alexa – Great sound particularly with a pair linked in stereo. I am very happy with the sound from these speakers from Opera,to Country and to World music of all different genres I also have a Google Home which is most affable to use, But Alexa in the Sonos 1 speakers is the most frustrating voice assistant ever. Its voice recognition is patchy to say… Read more

the least! I have it connected to Spotify which it may or may not find what I request. It works OK when I connect thru Mobile Spotify app. And it certainly does not " Learn" ----Not happy at all with Alexa

But the Sonos 1 speakers are just great

Great sound TERRIBLE SET UP AND OPERATING SYSTEM IN GENERAL – - The sound is good once you get it working no REMOTE CONTROL is a real issue ,Does not give the consumer options besides using phone app . - If a phone call comes in and Im playing music from my iPhone it doesn't cut out so you have to find the app wait for it to load and mute or mute manually if your close to the system. - The SONOS app is… Read more

really unreliable and if it doesnt connect ( which happens way to often ) you cannot use the remote , it also takes ages to load , so its not really user friendly .

- The Sonos Support is very mediocre while they get back to you instantly the info provided you is bog standard messaging they send out to everyone that inquires.

- Wouldn't recommend this brand and would go with BOSE.

- Sound is very good , so its a shame that the system lets this brand down.

Awesome sound – This speaker is great! Works on WiFi and can be connected to Alexa. I love the sound that it creates, low, mids and highs are clear. It's amazing how the sound travels to farther areas without the volume being too high. I guess the initial set up is important for the speaker to recognise the whole area. Initially, I bought one to test and already ordered the second one.  Show details

Good once I got it going – The audio quality is brilliant on this speaker. Application will take a little bit of getting used to. It did take me about 2.5 hours to get the thing starting because it would not recognize the device (even when I had Ethernet plugged in). Never the less, after a few 'switch on- switch offs' it found itself and worked  Show details

Small box big sound – As the title says absolutely great sound in this little box. I bought two of these great looking speakers for my living room and yes that filled the room worth great clear music every time I play them. That work with your wifi so you can use your phone normal and no interruptions when attending calls unlikely Bluetooth you have to be in range and interrupted calls. Loving them so far and planning to buy bar and base as well.  Show details

No line in – There is no line in, which greatly limits the usefullness of this product for me. I couldn't believe that they did not include this in a speaker which costs several hundreds of dollers, it would have been a matter of cents for the physical components required to do this. - in short i cannot use this product as a general purpose speaker, for… Read more

tasks like: - playing audio through my pc desktop. - playing audio outside my wifi area (taking on holiday etc). - playing audio for youtube. - playing audio from netflix through my laptop etc.

I can only use it for: - Certain music streaming services - Radio streaming services - AudioBook streaming services

The user experience in the app is also quite bad.

March 3rd 2019 Update: Useless

Cannot connect to modern wifi networks! 2.4ghz only cannot connect to a 5ghz network. No bluetooth connection option. No physical line in option. Totally useless! Get yourself a bluetooth speaker instead.

Added to my system and still loving it – I have the Play:5 and bought the Play:1 to go into my sewing room downstairs. Really happy with the sound, for such a small unit. I was able to add the new speaker with no issues. Negatives are the same as with the 5 - you need to have reliable wifi. * there is no usb port in the speakers. Had I fully comprehended I would have gone with… Read more

another system that had usb ports.

But the majority of the time it does what i want and plays the music i want to hear.

Only Good For Spotify Premium Members – Very disappointed with the Sonos speakers. These were sold to us with the understanding that we could Bluetooth our music throughout our house in various rooms from our phones, iPad, computers etc, our children having their own music in their area, our living room entertained by other music, and music by the pool entertaining by alternative… Read more

music.

All we are now left with after spending the money (along with additional wall mounts - which can I say are an extortionate cost nearly exceeding the price of the speakers itself) we are left with random radio stations from around the world.

I love music, but if there is one thing I can't tolerate, it's radio stations with repetitive adverts and cheesy - unfunny radio hosts, and to much talking.

We even paid extra for electricians to install the additional power points and mounts, only to be left with RADIO STATIONS to entertain our guests.

Spotify serves well with our range of music taste, and I do know that I can subscribe to a premium Spotify membership, which I refuse to do because I shouldn't have to pay $15 per month for something I use only 1-2 days each month to entertain friends.

Fail for Spotify free users – Great sound not worth the money when you can’t use it for everything you want, wouldn’t have purchased if I had known you have to get Spotify premium to use Spotify. Couldn’t decide between the Bose system and Sonos when purchasing should have gone with the Bose. At least with the bose speakers you can use them with anything you want at no extra cost.  Show details