When the Sonos PLAY:5 came to test, even a lot of people thought of it as SONY. Although similar to Dafa, Sonos has also been focusing on wirelessly connecting small, all-in-one speakers for the past few years. However, Sonos, who has been cultivating for years in the field of WIFI speakers, clearly has its own distinctive features. Before contacting Sonos, I also thought that the WIFI speaker was just an upgraded version of the Bluetooth speaker connection, but after long-term experience, I would find that the WIFI speaker is not just an audio cable.
Speaking of the history of Sonos, this company, founded in 2002 in Santa Barbara, California, is obviously not rich in background. However, Sonos focused on the development of WIFI speaker products since its inception. As early as 2004, when the first product was introduced, it was believed that most of us did not even hear about Bluetooth speakers. In 2009, Sonos introduced the first all-in-one ZonePLAY S5, which was eventually named Sonos PLAY:5 after a minor upgrade. PLAY: 5 is also regarded as the originator of Sonos integrated WIFI speaker. After this, Sonos has launched the mid-series PLAY: 3 and entry-oriented PLAY: 1, but as the flagship product PLAY: 5 has not been updated.
Until 2015, six years after its launch, Sonos launched the second-generation PLAY: 5, the protagonist of today. Although landing in the country takes a bit longer than in the United States, but can be the first time the domestic retail version of the product testing, still want to thank Aunt Zhang's love. Do not talk nonsense, or take a look at the true face of the new PLAY:5:
First, unpacking & appearance
Open the product carton is the Sonos PLAY: 5 box, the exquisite degree of box packaging is still worthy of its flagship positioning. After all, the speaker is installed, so the weight is not small, about ten kilograms of the weight of Zhang Dam's SF land transport costs should be a hundred dollars or so, you can make up for its own size. Like other Sonos products, this PLAY:5 also has two colors, black and white, and I received a white one. However, unlike previous products with black or white color, the PLAY: 5 is a "panda" with a white box and black mesh.
Two locks are designed on the outer side of the PLAY:5. If you want to open the package, you need to tear off the seal and push the two side locks to the unlocked position. When closing the buckle, the package is still quite strong and the protection is satisfactory.
After unpacking, take out all accessories and take a photo of family portrait. Warranty cards, quick installation instructions, power cords, and network cables are all placed on the left side of the white box, which is rather concise. The host computer is wrapped in three layers of transparent plastic film (the first layer has been removed from the image below).
The English statement of Sonos is affixed to the top of the console. Originally it was thought that this was a design that could easily tear the surface film. Actually, it proved that I wanted more. Although there is a thin film underneath this plastic layer, care must be taken when using a knife to cut it, and Sonons is expected to fine-tune the packaging later.
PLAY: 5 compared to the real machine and Wali, it does not seem too much, and its size of 203 × 364 × 154 mm, whether it is large villas or small units can easily find the location to accommodate.
Different from the previous design style of Sonos product metal surface net + metal panel + solid key, this new PLAY: 5 has carried on the comprehensive innovation to the appearance material, except uses the integrated plastic shell and the graphite surface net, the original physical key design Also changed to touch. Although in the era of this popular metal look its own way, but PLAY: 5 regardless of hand or work compared with the previous generation are not inferior, the metal panel easy to leave the fingerprints of the ills have also been a certain change. The appearance of PLAY:5 has always been the design benchmark of Sonos, which may also indicate the design tone of the next-generation 3 Series and 1 Series products.
The curve of PLAY:5 is more sleek than ever. Compared with the previous horizontal and vertical design, this shape is more favorable for sound propagation.
In addition to the side with the control keys, the three sides of the PLAY:5 are all designed with three-point rubber feet to ensure that the three types of placements can effectively protect the speakers. The new PLAY:5 is the second gravity-sensing product after the PLAY:3. It can adjust the speaker effect according to different placement methods.
The reason why it is designed to be placed on three sides rather than a simple horizontal, vertical, in addition to the convenience of manipulation, but also because two PLAY:5 can be paired to form a stereo pair (this is also the Sonos speaker's standard features), three modes More convenient and symmetrical placement. The same signs of positive and negative SONOS also make such a form of placement without any sense of violation.
Although the physical buttons can bring more precise control experience, but to touch the button has its own advantages: compared to previous products can only play / pause, volume increase and decrease, double-click to enter the next song, the new touch keys through the slide You can switch the previous song/the next song. And with the help of gravity sensing, no matter which vertical mode is adopted, the upper side of the touch keys are all increased in volume, and the slide keys from the play key upwards are all the next, and vice versa. This kind of humanized design also makes people no need to worry about the placement mode of the machine.
On the back of the PLAY:5, except for the middle power cord jack, the lower cable port, the 3.5mm audio port, and the only physical connection button, there is only a few captions and the design is quite simple.
Because the speaker is designed for 120/240V and the power cord is pluggable, it is only necessary to configure different power cords for different regions. The National Bank version is equipped with two 250V 6A plug power cords.
The power cord and speaker fit well and the overall workmanship is as good as ever.
PLAY:5 machine provides a one-year warranty, the warranty must provide the relevant three packs of evidence.
Second, the old and new PLAY: 5 contrast
Although the pricing is the same, compared to the previous generation PLAY:5, this generation can be said to be reformed from the inside out. The appearance change has already been mentioned in the above, and now look at the old style 7 years ago can be described as different styles.
Looking at the specifications of the two products, apart from the increase in thickness, the most obvious difference is the large increase in weight.
The New
Old style
Up to 50% increase in weight is due to changes in internal structure. The new PLAY:5 is updated from the previous generation 2 mid-range, 2 high-frequency, 1 subwoofers (all with independent amplifiers) to 3 high-frequency, 3 low-midrange speakers (all inclusive Power Amplifier) ​​This is why PLAY:5 has 6 speaker names but it is "5". At present, the PLAY full range of products have adopted the configuration of high-frequency + medium and low-frequency speakers, and the old PLAY: 5 independent mid-range speaker configuration is also extinct.
In the interface, the new PLAY:5 canceled the 3.5mm headphone jack and a network cable interface, an increase of a physical button connection, I believe this is out of consideration for the current popularity of wireless networks, cancel the use of two interfaces is not high There is no significant impact on actual use.
In addition, we must separately mention the new PLAY: 5 features inherited from the entry level PLAY:1 - moisture protection. I wonder if this is also a reason for PLAY:5 to eventually choose a non-metallic shell, but the moisture-proof property also greatly expands its use in the family space, especially in the bathroom, kitchen and even the balcony. This is a humanized upgrade to the older products.
Third, set & control
In recent years, there are more and more WIFI speaker products on the market. In addition to Sonos, many well-known audio manufacturers such as BOSE, Sony, B&W have introduced similar products, but they still have a near-essential difference with Sonos. The most basic WIFI speaker only uses Airplay, DLNA, etc. to push the music in the device through the WIFI. Although this kind of product has got rid of the inferiority of the Bluetooth speaker in transmission speed and distance, it still can't get rid of the dependence on the audio source equipment. The device responsible for pushing must not only maintain the power-on state, but also cannot use other APPs with conflicting sounds, and its scalability is basically zero.
Sonos is able to stand out in the field of WIFI speakers, the key lies in the organic combination of WIFI and cloud music mode. The speaker can directly broadcast the audio content of the cloud music service provider through WIFI. The mobile phone, tablet, etc. are only used as a remote controller. As long as the music is set to be played, the speaker can be automatically played according to the settings, and other operations of the mobile phone and the tablet will not be performed. Interfere with music playback. In addition, because of the open network configuration, as long as it can connect to the wireless network where Sonos is located, and has a Sonos APP, it can be controlled synchronously (all applications connected to the system share playlists, local music, etc.) and get rid of the single device. Dependency.
The initial power-on setting of the PLAY:5 is quite simple. Just a device that connects to the same network and has a Sonos APP (Sonos provides apps for multiple systems such as IOS, Android, Windows, OSX, etc., which can be adapted to mobile phones, tablets, and computers). Open the APP and follow the prompts. It takes only a few steps to complete. If there is a new firmware update after the connection is completed, the upgrade is automatically downloaded. However, if the speaker is upgraded during normal use, the content before the upgrade will be cleared (Favorites, local music libraries, etc. still exist), and the same situation will occur due to a power failure and restart. This is slightly inconvenient.
Because there is no screen, the indicator on the side of the PLAY:5 play key is the main indication mode of its status. The indicator light has white, green, and red colors, which will light different colors when different settings are made. When the power is on, the white indicator light will be on. You can select whether to turn it off in the APP to suit the bedroom and other situations.
As a speaker of the main Internet function, PLAY:5 has the ability to achieve 6 years without replacement, thanks in large part to its continuously optimized software performance, including the addition of the Trueplay tuning function last year. As mentioned above, the PLAY:5 with moisture-proof blessing can be used in bathrooms and kitchens. In such a narrow and multi-glass, barrier environment, how to ensure the best listening experience is difficult for ordinary consumers to adjust. . Trueplay makes this much easier. Just use the app to use the mobile phone microphone and adjust the mobile phone in the house according to the hints in the video.
Each time the mobile speaker is recommended for tuning, it can be easily found in the speaker settings. In addition, it also provides speaker balance customization. This is still important for Sonos's sound performance.
Like other Sonos products, the PLAY:5 also offers the option of creating a stereo pair. The pairing method is quite simple. After the system automatically recognizes two speakers, simply press the Play button to select which is the left channel. However, it should be noted that only the same type of speakers can be paired, which means that PLAY:5 can only be paired with PLAY:5. After the pairing is successful, the two speakers default to a stereo pair in the system, and the adjustment controls are performed simultaneously.
In addition, PLAY:5 can also be paired with PLAYBAR, SUB, etc. to form a home theater. This kind of use mode with multiple combinations and multiple combinations is also a great advantage for Sonos in comparison with similar products of other brands.
If you only have PLAY:3, PLAY:1 products on hand, you can play them synchronously, although you cannot pair them. Sonos APP can be very convenient to switch between different speakers playing music, you can choose different speakers to play different music at the same time, you can also choose the same music in real time to select different speakers to play, when you choose to play a single speaker at the same time, the speaker The synchronicity is very good and no delay can be heard. In this way, whether you want to play music in multiple rooms at the same time, it is very easy to achieve better results for multiple speakers in the same room.
Although established companies such as BOSE have also launched WIFI+ cloud music service model products, the biggest problem these products have encountered in China is that they are dissatisfied. Because of some well-known reasons, it is very difficult for foreign audio service providers to open content in China. If the brand is not sufficiently localized, cloud music service is basically worthless. Another Sonos killer is an excellent localized music service. While including many European and American music service providers, Sonos supports most of the mainstream music service providers in the country, and new service providers will join the test at regular intervals.
Sonos can choose to add music services through the APP. The music services provided by it can be roughly divided into two types: one can be directly added and used, and the other is required to be registered and bound. Many service providers, such as APPLE MUSIC, QQ Music, Netease Cloud Music, etc., need to bind their accounts. Although one binding step is required for the first time, whether they choose higher quality music or record music preferences in subsequent use, etc. There are no small advantages.
Although the resources have been outstanding enough, there are still some problems with foreign resources such as being unable to connect and unable to register. I hope there will be changes in the future.
How do so many music resources manage integration? Sonos's APP provides a powerful cross-service search function. Simply enter the music keywords to be searched in the search field, and you can search for related content in all added music services, which greatly improves search efficiency. When you want to listen to songs, you will find it very quickly. The search results will be displayed in columns based on the artist, song, album, playlist, radio station, genre, composer, host, and blog program.
However, it is slightly regrettable that the MAC OSX client cannot implement cross-service search and can only search single service provider content, hoping that it can be improved in the future.
Although online music service providers provide a large amount of music data, the quality of cloud music cannot satisfy high-quality music appreciation at present. Sonos can also play local music files. PLAY:5 provides WIFI and 3.5mm audio input.
To play local files via WIFI, you need to add music files first to your music library. Although both mobile phones and computer clients can add files, the computer version is much more convenient. Music files on networked devices such as computers, external storage, or NAS can be added. Common lossless and lossy music formats can be basically supported.
The added folder can be managed on both the mobile phone and the computer. However, a problem has been found. Although the refresh can add new files to the music library, it cannot display the files that are currently not in the library, and will be played until the time of playback. Prompt that the file could not be found. We hope that later versions of the client will be able to mark or prompt the deletion of files that are not currently in the library.
Entering via 3.5mm audio cable may not be an odd feature for other branded speakers, but the entire PLAY family is a feature that only PLAY:5 has. The audio input of PLAY:5 is also quite different from other brands: although the speaker will automatically recognize the device access after inserting the audio cable (in fact, only one line will display the device), but only open the APP and select the “line†Input speakers will play the input audio. However, the line input audio of Sonos can be shared, as long as there is a speaker connected to the audio device, all the speakers in the network can play the input content, which is very convenient, but also greatly enhances its scalability.
In addition, it should be noted that since only the speakers can be controlled on the Sonos side, the audio source will continue to play after suspending the speakers. I have also tested devices such as the iPhone, iPod, etc., that can use the headset cable to determine that there is no linkage. Although the complexity of the external device is destined to be difficult to achieve linkage, if the APP can prompt when the line input device has audio input, it will appear more humane.
Fourth, sound quality & experience
As a product that focuses on WIFI and cloud music, it is naturally inseparable from the support of the network environment. Its own configuration is Telecom's 20M broadband + netgear R6300 V2 with Sonos' own BRIDGE (bridge). BRIDGE is almost standard on early Sonos devices. The purpose is to provide a stable private wireless network for Sonos devices and extend coverage. However, a year and a half ago, after Sonos released a new firmware update, the PLAY series speakers can be fully compatible with ordinary home routers, BRIDGE is no longer required (of course there are better words), BRIDGE also cuts back production, and today's new products are not Then come with it. A similar new product currently being sold is BOOST, which is more suitable for users whose network environment is more complicated or uses a large area. It is not a necessity for ordinary consumers.
In actual use, whether it is playing all kinds of network cloud music or lossless music in the local computer, there is no phenomenon of Caton, and the cooperation between the speakers does not feel the existence of delay, and the experience is quite good. The only thing that appears to be a bit of a nuisance is the occasional nuisance when using other speakers in the system to play line input devices connected to the PLAY:5. In addition, I do not know whether BRIDGE is a problem. Occasionally, the APP of an individual device cannot be connected to the system. However, the APPs of other devices are all displayed normally.
In terms of sound performance, Sonos has always been the best-known American tuning, and for the first time, the 6-speaker PLAY:5 has basically continued this style. The author tried a variety of styles of online/local, lossy/non-destructive music. Overall, PLAY:5 is still a product that favors popular music appreciation.
In terms of music style, PLAY:5 can basically do all kinds of popular music for Chinese and foreigners. Given the blessings of its three medium- and low-frequency speakers, it is more appealing to the more dynamic Latin-style music. For classical and similar styles of music, whether it is a large or small format, the total sense of sound is slightly farther, and the details are not stunning enough, and the sense of hearing is not as good as that of pop music.
In terms of tri-band, low-frequency is more effective in terms of quantity, but it may be because the speaker is not opened. There is some chaos between the mid-frequency and low-frequency, which makes the performance of the mid-range not dazzling, and the high-frequency performance of the independent speaker. This is a lot better than the midrange, which also leads to the female voice of the PLAY:5 being more pleasing to the ears than the male voice. In terms of musical instrument performance, musical instruments with bright rhythm such as drums, violin, and other musical instruments with bright timbres perform slightly better than instruments such as pianos. Looking forward to using PLAY:5 for some time will bring even more surprising performance.
Due to the network music quality, PLAY:5 plays online music, local lossless music, and line input music. As far as the quality of online music online is concerned, it is still unable to exert the best effect of PLAY:5. I also used the Sony D100 recording pen to record about 90 seconds of the "Ferry", the first paragraph is stored in the local lossless FLAC format, the second paragraph is the version of multi-meter music online play. Both sections use approximately 50% of volume, one meter ahead of the speakers. Compared with the Sonos style of the first two playback modes, the line-input brings a significant sense of sound to the audio source, such as “white boiled water†when using ipc, and a more rounded sound when using the Sony D100. Because of different styles, specific tastes depend on personal preferences. As far as the author's personal feelings are concerned, the Sonos style is still remarkable in the adjustment of popular music, and other types of music are different.
In terms of volume, the maximum volume that can be accepted in a living room of less than 30 square meters is about 50%. If it is input through the line, the sound will be slightly smaller. If it is only for normal family use, it would be no problem to use PLAY:5 to HOLD the audience. If it is not enough, you can buy more pairs to use.
In the power consumption test, it slightly surprised the author, after the power, PLAY: 5 will be about 2W power connection WIFI, standby power until after the success of the rose to 6W, but when the speaker is turned to adjust the sound to 30% About only a small increase in power is still more than 6W, when the volume is adjusted to an acceptable maximum volume of 50%, the power is less than 9W. Because there are no power specifications in the speaker and the manual, the test accuracy has yet to be verified. However, as far as the current results are concerned, it takes about 6 kWh per day to start the whole day, which is not high, but if we can further reduce the standby time Power consumption is also excellent.
Fifth, PLAY: 5/PLAY: 1 contrast
The two products with the lowest price and highest price in the same family are originally not comparable. Only the new PLAY:5's speaker configuration is somewhat more PLAY:1 fit, but also makes this comparison have a little sense. Although the price of 3980 PLAY: 5 is more than 2.5 times the PLAY:1 price of 1580, it is cheaper than buying three PLAY:1, but if you buy two PLAY:1 to form a stereo pair, whether at a lower price Have the power to compete against PLAY:5?
The same is just the "River" test, here put three versions, followed by: a single PLAY: 1, PLAY: 1 stereo pairs, PLAY: 5 and 2 PLAY: 1 synchronized playback.
Looking at the performance of PLAY:5 above, the sound of a single PLAY:1 is too thin, the sound level is not enough, and there is a clear gap between PLAY:5, and the performance of PLAY:1 after pairing is better. a lot of. But carefully compared, stereo pairs of PLAY: 1 in the details of the performance, especially in high frequency compared with the PLAY:5 still have a certain gap, but such a gap requires high-quality music to make sense only, if only playing online music online Both are more than adequate to deal with.
In appearance, PLAY:1 still continues the design style of the previous generation of Sonos, and the new PLAY:5 has a more obvious difference, especially in terms of buttons, appearance materials and so on.
In the end, it is not feasible to commit the following on the sound quality, but the two PLAY:1 can be combined or used separately. It is more flexible to use and has its own value. The Sonos systemized product concept also makes People have the urge to buy a second one, and the mix of high and low music systems throughout the entire family, I believe is also the ultimate goal of Sonos users.
Sixth, summary
If you want to ask the new PLAY: 5 value is not worth 3980 pricing, I will answer the value, but if you ask PLAY: 5 and other four-price speaker compared to the sound quality, then I would say at the same price PLAY: 5 obviously Not the sound of the outstanding one. The value of PLAY:5 is that it inherited the great advantage of Sonos in the system and reached the top performance of the PLAY series. For this product, its core lies in the audio system based on WIFI. When other manufacturers are still installing WIFI for their thinking of speakers, Sonos has been making speakers from the very beginning with Internet thinking, which is doomed to a huge difference in philosophy. First summarize the advantages and disadvantages:
advantage:
1. The powerful system of Sonos allows WIFI and cloud music services to be organically combined to create the most easy-to-use WIFI music system to minimize the reliance on mobile devices such as mobile phone tablets.
2, PLAY series of the strongest sound performance, especially good at pop music;
3, as always, outstanding appearance work;
4, continuous firmware updates bring speaker function, performance upgrades;
5, excellent combination of extended performance, good synchronization playback capabilities;
6, with the three kinds of gravity sensor placement mode, can be more extensive use of moisture-proof environment;
7, can input through the audio line and can share it in the whole Sonos system.
insufficient:
1. It is easier to misuse the touch-sensitive keys when selecting the previous/next head;
2. Can't continue playing the current music after power off or upgrading;
3, there are certain differences in the client-side function of different systems.
In addition, in the previous article, it also pointed out that in the music library settings, occasional APP connection problems, and also hope to be resolved in the future software updates.
From the above advantages and disadvantages alone, it is not difficult to see the PLAY:5 strong Internet color. Compared to traditional speaker products, I prefer to see Sonos as a member of the smart home, so Sonos's own positioning of PLAY:5 in smart speakers is quite appropriate. The experience of adding new features such as Trueplay tuning via firmware updates was unthinkable when using other audio products.
For most ordinary consumers, the usefulness of the speaker is to use it as a daily adjustment in their leisure time. At this time, ease of use and abundant network resources are particularly important. This is exactly what Sonos is very good at. For music enthusiasts, even the highest level of PLAY:5, there is still a big gap between the product configuration and other brands of high-end products. Relatively speaking, PLAY:5 is more suitable for non-experienced consumers who have certain requirements for sound quality. Both network resources and local resources can be well balanced. If you are tired of the Bluetooth speaker's dependence on audio equipment or plan to easily build a music network throughout your home, PLAY:5 will be a good choice.
With the addition of APPLE MUSIC, the development of online music resources has entered a new era. When the first-generation PLAY:5 was launched in 2009, who can think of the flourishing development of cloud music today? Perhaps without waiting for three or five years, online music services with richer and richer quality will be popularized, and Sonos has always been “going to work hard†without worrying about PLAY:5 quickly becoming a thing of the past. For the future of PLAY:5, it is worth having more expectations.
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