We all have speakers, and some of us have several, but listen to a few and you’ll quickly find that not every speaker is created equal. Some are clearly better than others.
While most speakers these days provide sound from your phone to a larger box — and one that manages to forgo the cords and cables — these days it’s the extra features that tend to grab our attention, as well.
Every speaker is loud. Every speaker is wireless. But not every speaker syncs up music between multiple devices and is made to be waterproof, as well.
That’s the style of wireless speaker Sonos kicked off in 2019 with the Sonos Move, and since then we’ve seen variations on a theme with the sequel to the original Move, not to mention the compact Roam.
But if the Move is too big and the Roam is too small, and you have yourself a real Goldilocks situation going for you, the latest from Sonos could give you something to get excited over.
A mid-range Play
The first of the speakers is a bit of a revival of a Sonos name, but one that held a different meaning.
Over a decade ago, Sonos offered a Play:1 and Play:5, a choice of what was essentially little and big speakers that went away when Sonos ditched the “Play” name and just made it numbers and names.
Several years later, Play is back, but it means something different this time around.
In 2026, the Sonos Play is a sort of a mid-range option that fits between the little Roam 2 and the larger Move 2 models, and brings with it a speaker contained in a design that fits between both.
While the Sonos Play sits between the two Sonos portable speakers, it includes familiar features, such as IP67 water resistance, up to 24 hours of battery, and the ability to turn that battery into a power bank for your phone. You can even replace the battery in the speaker later on.
In a way, the Sonos Play looks like what would happen if Sonos grabbed its Era 100 and encased it in a portable and waterproof design, complete with a specific wireless charger, similar to what the Move range has long offered.
And that’s probably a fitting analogy, because there’s one other speaker on the way.
A speaker sans-mics
Sonos is also introducing one other speaker for the first half of the year, taking the Era 100 from a few years ago and cutting out the microphone, a feature not everyone wants or needs.
That’s what the Era 100 SL is, a model that keeps the USB-C port, handy if you want to plug in another source, but kills the microphone and smart assistant, because you mightn’t want Breaking Bad‘s Gus Fring talking to you through your speaker.
Instead, it can be a passive system controlled by the app and touch controls up top, a speaker system for a record player, or even just a rear wireless speaker or two for a Sonos soundbar.
Given there are folks owning the Arc, Arc Ultra, Beam Gen 2, and Ray out there, not to mention older models, there are definite reasons to consider a rear speaker.
But the 3D sound of Dolby Atmos isn’t one of them.
While the Era 300 included top-firing speakers to cover the more dimensional Atmos sound, the Era 100 is more like a replacement for the Sonos One and Sonos Play 1 before it. And given Sonos now has a new “Play” speaker, it makes sense for the Sonos Era 100 to have a new speaker option, as well.
Australian pricing and availability
In terms of pricing and availability for Australians, both speakers will be arriving, and clearly fit in with their respective siblings.
For instance, the Era 100 SL is $30 less than its mic-equipped Era 100 sibling, priced at $289 versus the Era 100 standard at $319. Apparently a smart assistant is worth $30 these days.
Meanwhile, the Sonos Play is a little more, giving a battery and water resistance to the Era 100 style.
Those features alone bring the cost to the Sonos Play to $499 in Australia, wedged between the $299 Roam 2 and the $799 Move 2. Clearly, it’s a little different, and like our Goldilocks analogy from earlier, aims to fit in with a speaker that’s just right.
Australians can expect the speakers from March 31, with preorder going into effect now.