Over at the Sonos Pop-up store at Starhill Gallery, I took the opportunity to mess around with the brand’s self-named Sonos Play, the portable speaker that I believe is trying to moonlight as a home entertainment system.
The design of the Play is, in keeping with the brand’s design philosophy: a simple machine-milled chassis; easy to access and press buttons, controls, and ports; and beefy, punchy sound. More on the latter in a bit.
As an in-between the Roam and Move 2, Sonos is really pushing for the Play to be worth the investment and while it’s still early days for me, I get it: it’s a meaty, weighty piece of portability, and all that weight is there because of the obvious reason: the hardware and the battery.
Three Classh-H digital amps, two angled tweeters, one midwoofer, and a far-field microphone array, plus a 35Whr battery to keep it running for what Sonos claims to be 24-hours of continuous play. I am honestly intrigued by that claim, although I will have to wait until I get my hands on a review unit to really test it out.
Couple that with the simple machine-milled grill that envelops the entire front half of the Play, and you really get a stunner. And the sound? The jury’s still out, but my initial experience with the speaker felt a little flat: mids and highs are clearly a focus here, but the demonstration the staff at TCAcoustic gave didn’t really feel as open as I think it could be, although the speaker does project a warmth that seems synonymous with Sonos speakers.
But once again, I really will need to test out the Sonos Play in a more controlled environment, and showcasing it in the Starhill Gallery’s foyer isn’t quite an ideal place to test it out. Getting back to a more physical note, holding it in my hands feels nice, and the little strap at the back is a nice touch, adding to its portability.
Oh, and if you’re phone’s low on battery, the Sonos Play will act as a powerbank in a pinch, although it’s unclear just how much juice it will actually provide, given that Sonos doesn’t actually say what sort of voltage the speaker runs with.
The Sonos Play is already available and retails for RM1,899.
