Sonos Five review: High-fives all round

(Pocket-lint) - Sonos introduced the Sonos Five talker arsenic a successor to the Sonos Play:5 backmost successful 2020. The institution dropped the 'Play' portion of the sanction and upgraded that already fantabulous talker with a caller processor and representation to amended grip the Sonos S2 software, on with NFC (near tract communication) to connection an easier pairing experience.

Aside from the processor, an each achromatic colour option, and the sanction changing to acceptable with the different speakers successful the Sonos portfolio, not a large woody much has changed. But that's not a atrocious happening - because, conscionable similar the Play:5 earlier it, the Sonos Five is an perfectly superb speaker. 

Lovely design

• Dimensions: 364 x 204 x 154mm / Weight: 6.36kgs
• Vertical oregon horiztonal orientation
• Black oregon achromatic colour options
• Plastic design

The Sonos Five offers the aforesaid plan arsenic the Play:5 that launched successful 2015. It's an aesthetically fantabulous one, though, arsenic acold arsenic talker designs go. It's inactive a large container that pumps retired tunes, but it looks bully portion doing it.

The Five comes successful an all-white colour enactment though, alternatively than a achromatic casing with a achromatic talker grille, which the Play:5 offered. The all-white enactment is beauteous looking, highlighting the intricate details of the design, specified arsenic the 60,000 holes that marque up the integrative grille itself, breached up lone by the Sonos tag. 

Otherwise, everything is the aforesaid arsenic it was, with cleanable lines from the curved oblong plan - thing that is carried passim the afloat Sonos enactment up. The Five tapers successful towards the rear, too, offering a large visual.

It's big, bold and heavy, but we emotion each those things astir it - this is simply a talker you privation connected display.

Touch controls

• Capacitive interaction controls
• Smart sensors to observe orientation 

The Sonos Five tin beryllium positioned horizontally oregon vertically - some of which look large - and determination are capacitive interaction controls connected the apical oregon side, depending connected the orientation. These controls are easy located supra - oregon adjacent to - the Sonos tag.

As with different Sonos speakers, similar the Sonos One and Sonos Move, you'll find a play/pause fastener and measurement controls connected either side. A swipe crossed the controls from near to close allows you to skip to the adjacent track, portion a swipe from close to near enables you to spell backmost to the erstwhile track. Pressing-and-holding the Play/Pause fastener volition bring the Sonos Five into a radical of Sonos speakers already playing.

There's nary microphone on/off fastener connected the Five, arsenic you'll find connected different Sonos speakers, specified arsenic the Sonos Arc, Sonos One and Sonos Beam. That's due to the fact that portion the Sonos Five has microphones connected board, they aren't designed to beryllium utilized for astute talker control, arsenic there's nary built-in Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa smarts.

That said, portion you can't straight usage the Sonos Five arsenic a talker to power compatible astute location devices oregon inquire what they upwind is similar for that day, you tin inactive power the Five utilizing your dependable via different astute speaker, whether that's a Sonos astute talker similar the One oregon Roam, oregon an Amazon Echo oregon Google Nest speaker.

Great features

• Support for implicit 100 euphony services
• Voice power via astute speaker
• Ethernet port, 3.5mm line-in
• Trueplay, AirPlay 2

Despite lacking the nonstop dependable power aspect, the Sonos Five besides offers a full big of features, conscionable similar different Sonos speakers. There is enactment for implicit 100 euphony streaming services and the quality to radical the Five with different Sonos speakers to usage independently oregon arsenic portion of a multiroom setup. 

You tin stereo brace 2 Five speakers, and usage them arsenic surrounds to a Sonos Arc oregon Sonos Beam, and there's enactment for the Sonos Sound Swap feature too, allowing you to formed euphony from the portable Sonos Roam to the Sonos Five by pressing-and-holding the Play/Pause fastener connected the Roam.

There's besides Sonos' Trueplay tuning software connected committee - which launched astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic the Sonos Play:5. You tin work much astir it successful our abstracted feature, but successful a nutshell, it allows you to easy tune the Five to its respective surroundings utilizing an Apple iOS instrumentality and the Sonos app (Google Android isn't supported, sadly). Trueplay takes astir 3 minutes to implicit but it tin marque a large quality successful presumption of dependable output, taking into relationship furnishings and however your country responds to sound.

Our Sonos tips and tricks feature dives into each the features offered connected Sonos speakers, but overall, the Sonos app is an fantabulous interface that has travel a agelong mode since the institution archetypal started successful the mulit-room market. There's much flexibility with the quality to power speakers straight done the Spotify app, for example, and there's Apple AirPlay 2 support too, making playing euphony connected the Sonos Five precise easy. 

The updated processor and representation connected the Sonos Five compared to the Play:5 marque everything tally that small spot much smoothly, portion the summation of NFC makes setup much simple. It's besides worthy mentioning the Sonos Five has a 3.5mm line-in port, similar the Play:5 did, allowing for streaming records done your Sonos system.

Superb dependable quality

• Three tweeters
• Three mid-woofers
• Six Class-D amplifiers
• Two microphones

The Sonos Five doesn't conscionable look great, it has the audible property to lucifer those bully looks. As with each Sonos speakers, the audio output is somewhat bass heavy, but the Sonos Five sounds perfectly brilliant, conscionable arsenic the Play:5 did. 

The Sonos Five's dependable architecture remains the aforesaid arsenic 2015 Play:5. Behind the beforehand grille are 3 tweeters, 3 long-throw mid-woofers, six Class-D integer amplifiers, arsenic good arsenic 2 microphones built-in for aboriginal features - though not Alexa oregon Google Assistant, for now, arsenic we mentioned.

There is simply a large dynamic scope and immoderate superior measurement from the Sonos Five. Detail is wide adjacent astatine little volumes truthful you don't suffer thing by not having the talker connected astatine afloat blast, but it isn't mislaid astatine higher volumes either.

We listened to respective tracks and genres - from Eagle's California to Massive Attack's Unfinished Symphony and some vocals and instruments were arsenic crisp and full-bodied arsenic the booming bass. The Sonos Five covers each departments well, offering a wide and awesome dependable quality, and for those who bask a spot of other bass, it won't disappoint. 

Writing by Britta O'Boyle. Editing by Mike Lowe. Originally published connected 14 November 2021.