Echo Studio Vs Sonos Play 5
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Displaying i - 5 of 8
Best Standalone Dwelling Wireless Speaker
Bose Home Speaker 500
REASONS TO BUY
Excellent sound
Swell volume
Many connexion options
Relatively compact
REASONS TO AVOID
Expensive
Cumbersome multi-speaker direction
If you're looking for a unmarried speaker that is stylish, sleek, and at the touch of a push button can alluvion your master living areas with rich audio, the Bose Home Speaker 500 is the best of the bunch. It eschews nearly Bose speakers' relatively bass-heavy sound contour for exceptional clarity that beautifully renders every unmarried note. At the same fourth dimension, it retains enough bass heft to anchor that clarity in a soundscape that makes merely about every genre of music sound spectacular. Backing that up with the convenience of Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, along with Alexa born, we believe this is a platform that can easily handle all of your musical needs.
Aside from the expensive cost tag, our only existent gripe with the Habitation Speaker 500 is that information technology doesn't nest into a multi-speaker organization almost as easily as the comparable models from Sonos. While this speaker tin can link upwards to a lot of Bose's more recent offerings, it won't work with all Bose products you may already accept. Be sure to bank check compatibility if that'south important to you. Even if you're lucky enough to have compatible products, nosotros've still establish the Bose app isn't anywhere most every bit intuitive equally the Sonos app when managing multiple speakers. The Abode Speaker 500 is our pinnacle recommendation if you're looking for a unmarried speaker to make full upwardly your main living space, just we'd await to a different model if you're hoping to build a multi-speaker system.
Read review: Bose Home Speaker 500
The Bose Home Speaker 500 is one of the best sounding speakers we've tested.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Best Multi-Speaker Organization Centerpiece
Sonos Five
REASONS TO BUY
Excellent sound quality
Great volume
Piece of cake to connect/control multiple speakers
REASONS TO Avert
Expensive
No simple Bluetooth connection
If you're looking for a abominable behemoth to anchor your multi-speaker organization, wait no further than the Sonos Five. This recently redesigned speaker offered both the loudest sound and all-time quality in our testing, earning it top marks in fullness, bass power, and overall clarity. We too love that information technology nests perfectly within the Sonos ecosystem, which in our stance, is the best and most convenient platform for building and managing a multi-speaker system.
1 downside of Sonos speakers is that they lack Bluetooth connectivity. Although this isn't a big deal in almost instances, it won't be useful anywhere there isn't WiFi, or if your WiFi goes downwardly (Apple users tin can work around this with AirPlay). Likewise, the top-shelf audio comes at a hefty price. Finally, this new speaker is ane of the company's beginning that is not compatible with its older models. The merely non-compatible devices are from the very early days of the company and thus shouldn't touch on nigh customers, but if yous practise ain older Sonos products, make sure to check that they're compatible with the latest version of the Five. Overall, if you are willing to pay a premium for best-in-class audio quality and can make do without a Bluetooth connection, the Five definitely deserves a identify in your living room.
Read review: Sonos V
With powerful drivers and iii woofers, the Sonos Five easily fills a room with high-clarity sound backed by the best bass of any speaker nosotros tested.
Credit: Laura Casner
All-time Portability
Bose SoundLink Circumduct+ 2
REASONS TO Purchase
Lightweight
Fantabulous battery life
Multi-speaker syncing
REASONS TO Avoid
Limited wireless connectivity
If you want a speaker to be brought throughout your house and on the go while however maximizing sound quality, the Bose SoundLink Revolve+ Two is the ideal. The lightest speaker we tested, we were consistently impressed by its first-class sound pattern, which was never sacrificed at the altar of portability. In the event that yous feel the need to push this speaker beyond its singular capabilities, our testing plant that the Bose SoundLink Revolve+ Two'due south appropriately titled "party mode" immune seamless pairing with other Bose SoundLink speakers. It can too link with the Bose Home series speakers via Bose SimpleSync. Furthermore, this speaker has an incredible bombardment life, a testament to this speaker's tremendous portability both within the habitation and on excursions out.
Although this pocket-sized speaker is powerful enough to compete in this category, the Bose SoundLink Revolve+ 2 lacks some features. Unlike much of the contest, this speaker does not come enabled with many of the capabilities such as Alexa or Google Home; instead, it operates but with programs such as Google Assistant. Its range of connectivity is also non as diverse, with Bluetooth operation as the simply selection to play music wirelessly on the device. This model lacks the ability to connect to streaming services via WiFi. Despite the limitations of the grade, the Bose SoundLink Revolve+ 2 still provides a solid sound experience, whether at abode or on the become.
Read review: Bose SoundLink Revolve+ II
This speaker's cylindrical shape projects high-quality sound in all directions, and is powerful enough to be heard clearly on both sides of the puddle.
Credit: Laura Casner
Best for Indoor/Outdoor Use
Sonos Move
REASONS TO BUY
Great audio quality
Loud
Bombardment-powered
Elementary multi-speaker direction
REASONS TO AVOID
Expensive
Somewhat heavy
Once y'all go accustomed to the harmonious tones of a high-stop home speaker, information technology can exist a sobering disappointment that said speaker can't accompany you into the backyard during nice conditions. The Sonos Move solves that problem with its internal battery that provides up to 10 hours of wireless listening enjoyment. It sounds great and looks handsome when sitting on its charging dock in your living room, and then tin can hands be moved into the lawn to provide a dulcet soundtrack for volleyball games and barbeques. It even sports IP56 water/dust resistance, meaning information technology can shed pool splashes and rain showers without harm. If your WiFi doesn't quite accomplish into your backyard, this is the just Sonos speaker that offers Bluetooth connectivity, assuasive yous to beam music directly from your phone to the speaker sans WiFi network. Plus, it has congenital-in Alexa and Google Banana.
The downside is y'all'll take to pay a higher toll for that dearest portability. And, with long battery life also comes more majority. Clocking in at 6.6 pounds, the Sonos Move is noticeably heavy and larger than comparable hard-wired speakers. While this is fine for the lawn, you probably won't want to lug it to the embankment or on picnics. This model is best for individuals who demand quality sound both inside and outside.
Read review: Sonos Move
An IP rating and high-quality, high-volume sound make the Sonos Movement a perfect companion for any outdoor space.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Best for Live Recordings
Sony SRS-RA3000 360
Smart Dwelling Compatibility: Alexa, Google Domicile | Inputs: WiFi, Google Chromecast, three.5 mm aux, Bluetooth
REASONS TO BUY
360 Reality Sound
HiFi streaming compatible
Great connectivity
REASONS TO AVOID
Multiple apps required
Bass sometimes overpowering
With great audio quality, at a greatly reduced price, the Sony SRS-RA3000 packs a punch with innovative 360 Reality Sound and HiFi streaming capabilities. Plus, this speaker offers a wide array of connectivity options, with the best by far being the device's built-in Google Chromecast capabilities, which we plant to work seamlessly and be the all-time way to play HiFi tracks. In conjunction, the Sony SRS-RA3000 utilizes 360 Reality Audio, a style of playing that projects sound throughout the room, a process that impressively mimics the experience of listening to live musical performances. This speaker technology, paired with the HiFi tracks, allows the Sony SRS-RA3000 to produce a listening feel that truly feels adjacent-gen. Important to annotation, this is not HiFi in the traditional speaker lingo. Rather, these tracks are audio files with lossless compression, providing a fuller and richer sound.
Despite its wide array of positives, the Sony SRS-RA3000 did have some downsides, the nearly glaring beingness its convoluted app arrangement for controlling the speaker. The principal app, Sony Music Center, only controls bones speaker settings. Much of the Sony SRS-RA3000's other functions are just accessible via multiple 3rd-party apps, each requiring separate apps. Furthermore, despite boasting an incredible audio experience, there were several instances when we noted the bass dominated the output overpowering some of the music'south softer elements. Lastly, while the speaker filled the room excellently, our testing indicated that the sound had difficulty conveying over long distances. Still, should you be looking for a speaker to fill a living room with a high-quality auditory field, the Sony SRS-RA3000 offers a fantastic experience.
Read review: Sony SRS-RA3000
Except for a rare overpowering bass, this speaker is a fantastic sound option even for audiophiles.
Credit: Laura Casner
Compare Products
The new Bose Music app and Bose Home Speaker 500 is one of the nearly user-friendly combinations we have e'er tested.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Why Y'all Should Trust Usa
We consulted with sound recordist Palmer Taylor in designing the sound quality testing process for this review. Palmer has completed numerous audio recording projects, generally focusing on location audio. Since 2005 he has worked with a long list of impressive clientele, including Google, National Geographic, and Animal Planet, simply to name a few. Serving as authors and testers for this review, Steven Tata and Max Mutter have led TechGearLab'due south audio reviews since early 2016. Equally a effect, they've used and tested nearly 200 of the nigh compelling consumer audio products on the market place.
We researched more than 50 wireless speakers for your home before selecting the virtually compelling to bring into our testing lab. To ensure unbiased reviews, nosotros never take complimentary samples from any manufacturers. We then put them through exhaustive, side-by-side audio quality tests. Once we'd found the most (and to the lowest degree) sonorous, we played music through each from every possible source, including over WiFi, via Bluetooth, and through audio cables to identify any user-friendliness issues. And for the speakers that support syncing within a multi-speaker organization, we used them as such in multiple configurations. We also used each speaker in numerous homes and various rooms to get a sense of how well the sound carries in different environments.
Analysis and Exam Results
The ubiquity of music streaming services has turned our smartphones into the main device where folks access their music. Many use earbuds or headphones, merely home wireless speakers at present make it like shooting fish in a barrel and seamless to fill your home with music beamed through your phone.
We scored these speakers co-ordinate to four unlike weighted metrics: overall sound quality, volume, full general user-friendliness, and how simple they are to connect to the mobile devices through which many people consume media.
Value
For those willing to shell out a little more cash for premium sound, we think the Bose Dwelling house Speaker 500 and the Sonos Five offer the all-time operation for utilise as single and multi-speaker systems, respectively. If y'all're looking for something a bit more wallet-friendly, we call back the Amazon Echo Studio offers a neat value and exceptional clarity on a upkeep.
Sound Quality
The almost important aspect of any speaker is how information technology sounds, which is why the sound quality is the well-nigh heavily weighted metric in our scores. Sound quality is inherently subjective, but later on testing numerous audio products, nosotros've realized that bass and treble quality, dynamic range (the book divergence between loud and soft notes), and overall clarity are the things most people respond to when evaluating whether something sounds good. Thus, our testing focuses on listening to a wide range of music on our speakers, one right later on some other, and judging those four qualities. All told, we plant all of these speakers to audio good, and nosotros honestly think most people would be pleased with fifty-fifty the lowest-scoring model. Nonetheless, if you're willing to pay a little actress for i of the high-scoring models, yous tin get exceptional sound.
If yous want premium sound and don't mind excavation a little deeper into your pockets, you lot can't get wrong with either the Bose Dwelling house 500 or the Sonos Five. Both earn summit scores in our sound quality metric. These speakers deliver superb clarity and deep, rumbling bass. The Five is larger and pricier than the Bose 500 and, in our opinion, produces a scrap more bass power and a slightly fuller audio. However, neither model volition accept whatever trouble filling your principal living area with exceptional sounding tunes.
The Sonos 5 delivers top-notch sound.
Credit: Laura Casner
For those looking for an exceptional product, merely less pricy, both the Amazon Repeat Studio and the Bose SoundLink Circumduct+ 2 are very like shooting fish in a barrel to recommend. With slightly ameliorate sound quality, and a more affordable price, the Amazon Echo Studio actually blew us away with its innovative 3D Audio and splendid audio design. The Bose SoundLink Circumduct+ II, although pricier, sacrifices a very minor driblet in sound quality for the incredible ease and convenience of portability which the Amazon Echo Studio very much does not possess.
Coming in only slightly lower, the Sony SRS-RA3000 offers the finest audio feel in the rapidly growing field of HiFi music, offering an enviable audio quality markedly cheaper than its top-shelf competition. Coupled with the ability to play lossless HiFi audio tracks, audiophiles should bank check out the dynamic audio experience the Sony SRS-RA3000 has to offer.
With room-filling audio, the Sony SRS-RA3000 works well in almost any interior location.
Credit: Laura Casner
We find Sonos and Bose to offering some of the most accessible superlative-tier sound quality on the market. Still, that'due south not to say in that location aren't other brands in this space that are worth listening to. For example, while the Marshall Stanmore Two lacks the about-perfect residual of bass and clarity that the top models possess, its guitar amp pedigree grants a sure brashness that particularly flatters classic rock. Moreover, the Amazon Echo Studio and the Sony SRS-RA3000 both offered pinnacle-quality sound, each with their own audio innovations, 3D Audio, and ambient room-filling sound respectively.
The Bose Dwelling serial allows you to program 6 music streaming presets, providing access to your favorite pandora or Amazon Music stations at the push of a unmarried push button.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
User Friendliness
While home wireless speakers are overall simple devices, sure features can make them more user-friendly than others. This is particularly true if you lot want to link multiple speakers together. Having a dissever remote control can also assistance you lot connect the speaker to a smart device like Alexa or Google Home. That way, y'all don't take to yell, "Alexa, volume upwardly," twelve times when your favorite jam starts playing. We tested user-friendliness by using, tinkering, adjusting, and playing with all of our speakers side-by-side while paying close attention to how easy it was to consummate both basic and more than advanced tasks.
Smart Habitation Compatibility
Generally speaking, any speaker equipped with a physical line input has the potential to be hooked up to a smart home device. However, you may need to wake the speaker upwardly from time to time to ensure information technology's even so on when you talk to your smart abode device.
The Sonos Move has Google Habitation and Alexa capabilities built-in.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
All Bose and Sonos speakers we tested (minus the Bose Circumduct+ Two, which just offers Siri and Google administration) offer Alexa and Google Home compatibility to work seamlessly with any associated smart devices. Additionally, the Bose Home series, the Sonos Move, and the Sony SRS-RA3000 feature Alexa and Google Home capabilities congenital right in.
The Sony SRS-RA3000 comes with both Alexa and Google Abode pre-installed.
Credit: Laura Casner
The Marshall Stanmore II has Alexa built-in. You can likewise plug an Alexa-enabled device into the original Marshall Stanmore to plow it into a smart speaker. For the premium Alexa feel, however, the Amazon Repeat Studio has been engineered from the basis upwards for that purpose, with several Alexa-related tactile inputs and full control through the Alexa app. For the more private music listener, the Amazon Echo Studio likewise comes equipped with an option to disable ambient listening, without disabling the device.
Multi-Speaker Systems: Bose vs. Sonos
While a few dissimilar manufacturers offer speakers that can be synced together into a single system, Bose and Sonos both offering more multi-speaker options than almost. In our stance, these brands accept been the most successful at creating pleasant user experiences.
The Sonos App makes finding music and managing multiple speakers incredibly easy.
For those that want to build a multi-speaker system, or at least want the option to, we think Sonos is the easiest way to go. The Sonos app offers an intuitive and streamlined way to manage multiple speakers and to do more than advanced things like connecting a soundbar to speakers to create a true, 5.1 surround sound system. Additionally, nigh of Sonos' speakers are uniform with ane some other, so you rarely run the adventure of getting a new speaker and realizing it won't play prissy with your current speakers.
The Bose Music App is quite easy to use, merely only works with Bose's latest models.
Bose has definitely stepped up their app game recently. However, even with these improvements, we still find it considerably easier to manage multiple-speaker systems on the Sonos app. Additionally, Bose has multiple families of speakers, and generally, speakers from one family unit tin can only work in conjunction with other speakers from that same family. For case, many speakers we tested a few years ago don't piece of work with the newest family of speakers that have come out. That beingness said, all of the Bose products in this review are compatible with Bose Simplesync, which allows seamless pairing and multi-device sound play. However, older Bose speakers, even those from only a few years ago, may not have these capabilities.
New Sonos Compatibility Restrictions
In May of 2020, Sonos released new speakers that are not compatible with some of its oldest products. These newer speakers (including the V) can merely run with the new and improved S2 app, and some of the company's older products don't have enough processing ability to keep upwards with the said app. These older products generally were not the nigh popular, so this change hopefully won't affect too many customers. If you practise own one of these products, Sonos is offering a trade-in plan where you can send in your older products and become a thirty% discount on their upgraded versions. Additionally, all products made from here on out will only work with the S2 app and thus will not connect with the oldest, not-S2 compatible products. Lesser line, if you own one of these older products, you'll either take to upgrade or non use whatever of the company's newest products (or create two dissever Sonos systems in your domicile, just having ii groups of speakers that tin't talk to one some other kind of negates a lot of what makes Sonos great).
Single-Speaker Systems
Viewed through the lens of single-speaker systems, nosotros requite Bose the edge in user-friendliness. This is mainly because of the simplicity and versatility of all Bose speakers' Bluetooth connections. This capability is somewhat of a glaring absenteeism in most Sonos speakers. Additionally, almost Bose speakers offer remote controls, which can be super useful for quick volume adjustments. The vast majority of their functionality tin exist accessed without making an account or downloading an app.
The Marshall Stanmore includes on speaker bass and treble adjustments, a rarity for these types of speakers.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Sonos is a small step below Bose in terms of user-friendliness for unmarried-speaker use. As mentioned, its primary disadvantage is the lack of Bluetooth, which forces you to connect simply through WiFi or a cable. We actually like this app for its ease in managing a multi-speaker system, but the lack of Bluetooth capabilities yet felt limiting. You can't just quickly connect to any device without kickoff downloading the app and logging into various accounts (Pandora, Spotify, etc). This also makes it very difficult to brand a Sonos speaker the main audio output for your device (i.e., even with the Sonos app on your computer, yous can't play YouTube or Netflix through the speaker). If yous have an Apple device, you tin get effectually all these problems by using AirPlay, but Android and Windows users are mostly out of luck.
Controlling everything through the app means you're ever streaming music over your WiFi network by default, which does offer some singled-out advantages over using a straight speaker-to-phone Bluetooth connectedness. For example, your music will never be interrupted when your phone dings with an alarm, and WiFi is mostly going to provide a slightly higher quality stream than Bluetooth would. Sonos does non include remote controls for whatever of its speakers, again requiring yous to rely on the app.
The Amazon Repeat Studio provides Amazon's best combination of Alexa and speaker system to date.
Credit: Laura Casner
Volume
Maximum book probably won't be a serious consideration for the majority of speaker shoppers. Unless yous live in a palatial mansion, all of the models nosotros tested will easily be able to fill any single room in your domicile with sound. However, if you're throwing a party in your business firm and filling that space with a lot of audio-arresting humans, you might beginning to notice a difference betwixt the relative maximum volumes of different models. Our book testing involved considerately measuring each speaker's maximum book with a decibel meter, and subjectively evaluating how much sound quality deteriorated at higher volumes and how loud each model made our 600 square foot testing room feel.
The Sonos V is the loudest of the speakers we tested. Its large size and powerful drivers allowed information technology to become uncomfortably loud in our testing room without sacrificing any audio quality. Clustered below, the Bose Habitation Speaker 500, the Sonos Motion, and the Marshall Stanmore II all received comparable scores in our volume testing. All of these speakers easily filled our large testing room with sound, even when there were a lot of audio-absorbing bodies hanging out. We highly doubt any of these speakers will leave anyone wanting for book.
The 5 provides impressive, room-filling audio.
Credit: Laura Casner
Despite its relatively short stature, we found the Bose SoundLink Revolve+ II to exist quite loud. This model provides more enough volume to go on an flat or living room full of guests entertained.
The portable Bose SoundLink Revolve+ Ii never fails to fill the room or outside expanse with great sound.
Credit: Laura Casner
Connectivity
The more ways you tin connect to a speaker, the more versatile it is. Obviously, for wireless speakers, a Bluetooth or WiFi connectedness is paramount. However, information technology can often be squeamish to take a concrete line input for smart abode devices whose software may not play nice with the speaker, or for those days when mysterious atmospheric conditions mess with your wireless networks. Having an app that can communicate with your speaker besides allows for more than customization of settings.
The Bose Home speakers offering the almost connection options. There is a standard Bluetooth connectedness, and you can stream music through your WiFi network via the Bose Music apps. Unfortunately, nosotros noticed the app is finicky at times. Nosotros recommend defaulting to the standard Bluetooth connection unless you lot're managing a multi-speaker system. Regardless, all of Bose'due south home wireless speakers have a 3.5mm auxiliary input. The Bose Home series besides supports Apple AirPlay.
The Sonos Movement is the first speaker from the company to offer a Bluetooth connection, every bit indicated hither past its blue status lite.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Virtually of Sonos connectivity is based on the Sonos app, which acts equally a remote command for streaming music from the likes of Pandora, Spotify, or Amazon Music directly to the speakers through a WiFi or ethernet connection. Those with Apple devices can as well beam music or other audio straight to the speaker. Sonos speakers, however, lack a Bluetooth connection, so Android and Windows users volition have trouble doing things like watching Netflix while sending the audio to their Sonos system. The Move is i notable exception and is the outset Sonos speaker with Bluetooth capability.
Although more niche plugins are lacking, Chrome Cast functionality is a major plus for the Sony SRS-RA3000.
Credit: Laura Casner
In that location were two dark horses in our connectivity metric, neither of which were prefixed with the name Sonos or Bose. The Sony SRS-RA3000 and the Marshall Stanmore Ii both received the highest marks for their connectivity prowess, vastly outperforming the lesser scorers in the metric. The Sony SRS-RA3000 peculiarly, with its ability to seamlessly play HiFi tracks via Google Chromecast definitely makes it a speaker not to exist easily discounted.
The fashionable Marshall Stanmore Two offers a plethora of connectivity options: Bluetooth, WiFi, iii.5mm AUX input; information technology even has Alexa built-in.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Determination
A great home speaker, or better yet, a group of great home speakers, can add ambiance and entertainment to your master living infinite, imbue friendly gatherings with joy and frivolity, and make getting set for piece of work in the morning just a bit more bearable. Nosotros hope our testing results have helped you find the perfect speaker for your needs and budget, so you can let the music seep into your soul.
Source: https://www.techgearlab.com/topics/audio/best-wireless-speaker
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