Unlike most traditional Bluetooth-connecting speakers, Sonos operates over your home internet network. Though because of its diminutive size, it's recommended to partner with some of its smaller, more affordable models such as theBeam Gen 2,Ray,One,One SLorSymfoniskspeakers in small to medium-sized rooms. The Sub Mini could be the ideal choice for those looking to bring a touch of low-end to a smaller space. Pair identical speakers for richer stereo sound, build a surround sound system for home cinema, and feel even more immersed when you add Sonos to every room. array doing a quite remarkable job of convincing your ears you’ve got speakers in the far-left and far-right corners of your room.

It remains a great-sounding wireless speaker, and a decent passage into multi-room for those on a tight budget. The decision by Sonos to use processing power and forward-facing drivers to recreate Dolby Atmos has paid off with a more capable and effective handling of the format than many more expensive soundbars with upward-firing drivers. That's because it can be placed upright or horizontally, and will deliver sound in stereo on its own (when positioned on its long side) but when synced with another Five, each will deliver half of the sound in a more conventional stereo pair configuration. When you do get listening you’re going to be immediately impressed by the width and three-dimensionality of the sonic presentation, particularly if you’ve previously been listening to your telly’s own speakers. You’ll need to grant Sonos permission to use the microphone on your device for Trueplay to work so make sure you’ve agreed to that in your settings.

If you’re eyeing up a Sonos Playbase, you’re probably the sort of person who isn’t too bothered about a lack of hi-res support, and that’s fine. If you’d rather not deal with Wi-Fi at all, you can always connect the speaker to your router using an Ethernet cable. After running Trueplay once, you can toggle it on and off in the settings, as well as further tweaking your speaker to your tastes. What Sonos offers is simplicity, style and a stunning sonic upgrade over any and every flatscreen telly in existence. Prior to gaining her MA in Journalism in 2018, Becky freelanced as an arts critic alongside a 22-year career as a professional dancer and aerialist – any love of dance starts with a love of music.

But while a soundbar makes lots of sense when it can be wall-mounted under an also-wall-mounted TV, those who stand their telly on a pedestal or other piece of furniture can’t always find a place for a long, awkward bar of speakers.

However, its main driver uses stronger-than-average magnets to allow the speaker cone to move back and forward further than normal. Like the Era 300 above, it too packs both Bluetooth and a USB-C line-in port, and a new volume slider on the top panel.

More than that, though, the new processor puts to rest any doubts you might have about future compatibility and firmware updates (even though the older Play:5 was already compatible with the company's S2 platform).Plus, PLAY:1 projects a wide field of sound, delivering a great listening experience no matter where you are sitting in the room. It is on the expensive side, too, putting it up against some stronger sonic competition from rivals like Dali Katch G2 and even the Era 300. But there’s one important addition: an HDMI socket, which gives the Amp all of the TV-partnering features of the Sonos Beam, including automatic switching to TV audio when required and volume control via your TV’s original remote.