Overview
- Sonos, which began shipping the Play and Era 100 SL on Thursday, lists the speakers at $299 and $189 with orders live on Sonos.com and at major retailers.
- The Play is a battery-powered speaker built for home and travel that streams over Wi‑Fi or Bluetooth and can group up to four Sonos portables over Bluetooth for synchronized music.
- Reviewers clocked battery life near the stated 24 hours and confirmed IP67 water and dust protection, a charging base, a carry loop, and a user‑replaceable battery that can also top up a phone via USB‑C.
- Sound is praised as balanced and room‑filling for the size, though The Verge reports sharper mids at higher volumes and reviewers note the $299 price faces cheaper Bluetooth‑only rivals from JBL, UE, and Bose.
- The Era 100 SL is a plug‑in, mic‑free version of the Era 100 at $189, positioning both models as lower‑cost entry points as Forbes notes Sonos works to rebuild confidence in its app and ecosystem after last year’s software stumble.