Does Sonos deserve a high five for its latest wireless speaker?
Wireless speaker | £499 | whf.cm/SonosFive
In the beginning, there was the Sonos S5, which became the Sonos Play:5. Then came the Play:5 Gen 2; and now here is the Sonos Five. Could you tell one from another in a line-up? Almost certainly not.
The Five is certainly the biggest and probably the most powerful speaker in the entire Sonos line-up (it is hard to tell for sure, because Sonos remains cautious in the extreme about publishing details such as ‘power output’). It is updated on the inside, slightly smoothed off on the outside. It’s part of what is widely acknowledged to be the best multi-room ecosystem around. But is it any good?
The Sonos Five costs £499 in the United Kingdom. Or, at least, it does if you shop directly with Sonos – there are quite a few retailers who will charge you a little less.
You hardly need us to tell you there is a fair bit of choice when it comes to wireless speakers at this sort of money. Heck, some of them even have Bluetooth connectivity. But no matter how well-specified the alternatives to the Five, do any of them have membership of the most stable, most simple, most straightforward multi-room ecosystem on the planet? Didn’t think so.
Straightforward in the manner of a brick, the Sonos Five hasn’t so much been ‘designed’ as ‘hewn’. Broadly speaking, it is the same as the products that preceded it: a sealed, slightly trapezoid cabinet that is just a little larger at the (metal grille-covered) business end than it is at the rear.
The Five is available in matt black or matt white finishes, and is – like every Sonos product – built and finished to a high standard. It is designed to sit in a ‘landscape’ arrangement if being used as a discrete speaker, but can be put into ‘portrait’ orientation if you fancy using a couple of Fives as a stereo pair.
Simplicity and friendliness
On the inside, the Five is the same as it ever was – or, rather, as its predecessors. Six blocks of Class D amplification power six individual speaker drivers: three mid/bass units (facing more or less forwards), two tweeters angled quite strongly outwards, and a third tweeter facing dead ahead. This is the arrangement Sonos long ago hit upon as providing an acceptably wide spread of sound.
Physical connectivity is kept at the rear of the cabinet. As well as mains power, there is an ethernet socket and a 3.5mm analogue input. Wireless connectivity, meanwhile, runs to Apple AirPlay 2 – you weren’t expecting Bluetooth, were yo
