The Best Sonos Speakers

Most wireless speakers get used the same handful of ways: background music while you cook, a podcast in the shower, a movie on a Friday night. What makes Sonos different is that every speaker talks to every other one. You can start an album in the kitchen, walk out to the patio, and pull that speaker into the group with a tap. That's really what you're buying. The sound is good, but the system is the reason people keep adding boxes.

None of this is cheap, and the software is the honest weak spot. When Sonos rewrote its app, sleep timers and some accessibility options went missing, and the backlash from owners was loud. Sonos has been patching ever since, but you'll still find people whose speakers drop off the app or whose groups fall apart mid-song. Bluetooth helps on the newer models, though the multi-room part still runs on Wi-Fi and the Sonos app. If that worries you, start with one or two speakers rather than wiring a whole house at once.

We looked at the full current lineup, from a pocketable waterproof speaker to a soundbar that's nearly four feet wide, and sorted them by the job you actually need done. Most people want good music in one main room with the option to grow later, and that's the shape of our top recommendation. We think that the Sonos Era 100 SL two-pack is the best Sonos setup for most people, and that the Sonos Roam 2 is the one to buy if you mostly want Sonos sound outdoors or on the road.

This guide is for anyone deciding where to start with Sonos or what to add next. If you want music in more than one room and you'd like it to be one tap rather than three apps, that's the case for the whole system. It's also for people upgrading TV audio who don't want a receiver, a rack, or speaker wire in the baseboards. If you already own Sonos gear, treat this as a map of which model plays which role.

It's not for everyone. If you only ever listen through headphones, or you want one cheap speaker for the garage and nothing more, a plain Bluetooth speaker will serve you better and cost far less. Serious two-channel listeners who want to pick their own amp and speakers should shop separately; Sonos trades that control for convenience. We've covered Sonos's current wireless speakers, soundbars, the compact subwoofer, and the Ace headphones, all sold as complete units. We haven't covered in-ceiling or architectural speakers, older discontinued models, or the wired amplifier products.

We judged every model on the same handful of things. Sound for the room: published measurements and reviews on soundstage and bass extension, weighted toward how a speaker behaves in an ordinary living room. Portability and durability: a stated water and dust rating and at least 10 hours of manufacturer-quoted battery for anything meant to go outside. How it grows: whether it stereo-pairs, works as a surround, or takes a subwoofer, because a Sonos speaker that can change jobs is worth more over time. Setup and app friction: recurring owner complaints about the Sonos app and pairing, since the app rewrite dropped features and drew sustained criticism. Inputs and services: Bluetooth, line-in, AirPlay 2, and voice support, which decide whether a guest's phone or a turntable can get a note out of it.

If you want a portable that can actually run a backyard: The Sonos Move 2 - Black - Wireless ($480) — The Move 2 is the Roam's big sibling, and the difference is not subtle. It has two tweeters instead of one for genuine stereo from a single cabinet, a tuned woofer for bass you can feel by the pool, and up to 24 hours of playback, double the original Move. There's a built-in handle and a wireless charging base, plus an IP56 rating that shrugs off rain and spilled drinks. What you give up is portability: at over six pounds it moves from room to room, not into a backpack, and it's rated for splashes rather than a dunk. Get it if the speaker lives on a patio and comes inside at night.

If you want more bass without replacing anything: The Sonos Sub Mini - Black - Compact ($399) — The Sub Mini is the add-on that makes a Beam or a pair of Era 100s sound like a much bigger system. Two woofers face inward inside a sealed cabinet, canceling each other's vibration so it doesn't buzz across the floor, and Trueplay tunes the bass for your room even if you shove it against a wall. What Hi-Fi? found it adds real low-end reach despite being roughly half the size of the full Sonos Sub. Owners pairing it with a Beam or a Five describe the jump as immediate. It's a luxury, not a fix, and setup can take a couple of tries in the app. If your speakers already sound full enough, skip it.

Here's the rest of the current Sonos lineup we looked at, framed by who each one suits. This is what our research surfaced, not every product Sonos has ever sold, and it doesn't include older discontinued models or the in-wall and in-ceiling range.

The Sonos Beam Gen 2 - Black - ($399) — The Beam (Gen 2) is the soundbar for a normal-sized room. It's about 25 inches wide, so it fits under a 43- or 50-inch TV without looking absurd, and it still handles Dolby Atmos by virtualizing the height channels rather than firing them at the ceiling. Setup takes two cables. Dialogue clarity is the thing owners mention most after replacing a cheap bar or their TV's built-in speakers. Choose it for a bedroom, an apartment, or a den where the Arc Ultra would swallow the furniture, and add a Sub Mini later if the low end feels light.

The Sonos Ace Noise Cancelling Bluetooth Over-Ear Headphones ($299) — The Ace is Sonos's take on premium over-ear headphones, and it suits the person who already has a Sonos soundbar and a household that goes to bed early. The Verge singled out TV Audio Swap: one tap moves the sound from a compatible Sonos Arc into your ears, so you can finish the movie at full volume without waking anyone. You get Dolby Atmos with head tracking, lossless over USB-C, up to 30 hours of battery with noise cancelling on, and memory foam pads that owners rate as more comfortable than the obvious Sony and Bose rivals. Owner feedback is more mixed on sound than on comfort, and some buyers report a rough first pairing. If you're shopping for headphones alone, without a Sonos bar to swap from, the case is weaker.

Sonos built its reputation on one idea: speakers that just work together, in every room, from one app. On the hardware side that reputation still holds. Published reviews and owner feedback line up closely here, praising build quality, room-filling sound from small cabinets, and setups that take minutes rather than an afternoon. The Ace headphones and the Arc Ultra both draw comparisons to Bose and Sony gear that costs about the same, and Sonos usually comes out well on comfort and clarity. The software is the asterisk. The app rewrite dropped features owners relied on, the tech press covered the backlash extensively, and complaints about dropouts and stubborn pairing haven't gone away. So the honest read is this: Sonos hardware is as good as its reputation, and Sonos software is a step behind it. If you want one great speaker and nothing more, cheaper brands compete well. If you want five rooms that behave like one system, nobody else makes it this easy.

If the Roam 2 or Move 2 is the only Sonos you actually want, this guide covers rugged portable speakers from other brands that cost far less and don't need an ecosystem. our waterproof outdoor speaker guide →

If you're shopping the Ace for a commute rather than for TV audio swap, this guide covers earbuds that block noise just as well and fit in a pocket. our noise-cancelling earbuds guide →

If Sonos prices are the sticking point, this guide walks through JBL's speakers and headphones, which trade multi-room polish for a much lower cost of entry. our JBL speakers and headphones guide →

Give your speakers the best shot before you blame them. Put a stereo pair a few feet apart and roughly at ear height when you're sitting, not stacked on one shelf. Keep a few inches behind each speaker so the bass isn't fighting a wall, then run Trueplay from the app so the tuning matches your floors and curtains. Soundbars want a flat ceiling and clear space in front of the TV. On the network side, a strong 5 GHz signal in the room does more for reliability than anything else, and giving each speaker a reserved address in your router settings heads off the disappearing-speaker problem owners complain about. Update firmware when the app asks. Wipe the grilles with a dry cloth, and rinse and dry the Roam 2 after a beach trip.

For this guide:

• We read published measurements and reviews from RTINGS, What Hi-Fi?, Tom's Guide, CNET, The Verge, and Consumer Reports covering soundstage, bass extension, and how Atmos is handled across these models.
• We compared Sonos's own specification sheets for battery life, water and dust ratings, driver counts, and connectivity on every product in this guide.
• We read through owner feedback for each model, looking for patterns in what goes wrong rather than one-off complaints, and carried the recurring themes into the flaws sections.
• We read owner reviews on every listing, weighted toward the critical ones, because that is where the recurring failures show up.
• We have a systematic way of automatically fetching the latest prices, so the numbers on this page stay current.
• This is a research-focused guide, so the team may not own every product listed — though we often do own the top winners, which gives us extra context for the recommendations.
• We don't accept free products, and the retailer commission never changes which product we recommend.