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Sonos Play:3

Sonos Play:3 review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £259
inc VAT

Excellent sound quality in a small package, the Play:3 is a good introduction to Sonos and a good way to expand an existing system

Although there’s no doubt that Sonos is the best multi-room audio system you can buy, the downside has always been price. It’s something that the company has tried to address over the years, and now with the Play:3 you can get Sonos for less than £300.

The Play:3 is a standalone player with integrated speakers, which looks like a smaller Sonos Play:5 (renamed from its original ZonePlayer S5 to match the company’s new branding).

As well as being £100 cheaper than its bigger brother, the Play:3’s smaller size also makes it a good choice for those parts of your house where you don’t have much room, such as a kitchen or bedroom; the Play:5 is a rather hefty beast that you need a good amount of room for.

Sonos Play:3 rear

It connects to your network via a wired connection (there’s only one 10/100 Ethernet port, and no pass-through, as on previous players), although it can connect wirelessly using the proprietary Sonos wireless mesh network if you’re adding this player to an existing system. If the Play:3 is your first purchase and you want to put it away from your router, you’ll need the optional Bridge, which has had a hefty price drop to £39.

Provided you’ve got an Android smartphone, iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, you can use the free app to wirelessly control your music. If you can afford it, the touchscreen Sonos Control (expensive at £279) is a great extra, as it remains constantly connected to the Sonos network, making it quicker to respond. Plus, it has the advantage that if your phone is the only controller, you can go out and other people in your home can still play music.

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Basic Specifications

Rating*****
Media Streamer typeaudio streaming device

Audio Compatibility

Audio MP3 playbackYes
Audio WMA playbackYes
Audio WMA-DRM playbackNo
Audio AAC playbackYes
Audio Protected AAC playbackNo
Audio OGG playbackNo
Audio WAV playbackYes
Audio Audible playbackNo
Other audio formatsFlac

Video Compatibility

Other video formatsFlac

Image Compatibility

Image BMP supportNo
Image JPEG supportNo
Image TIFF supportNo

Network Interfaces

Wired network ports1x 10/100
Wireless networking supportYes

AV Interfaces

Minijack line outputs0
Minijack headphone outputs0
Stereo phono outputs0
Coaxial S/PDIF outputs0
Optical S/PDIF outputs0
Total SCART sockets0
HDMI outputs0
Component outputs0
S-video output0
Composite outputs0
Other connectorsnone

Physical

Size132x268x160mm

Server Compatibility

Software includednone
UPnPYes
iTunesYes
SlimServerYes
SMBYes

Buying Information

Price£259
Warrantyone year RTB
Supplierhttp://www.sonos.com
Detailswww.sonos.com

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Reviews
Sonos Play:3
Sonos Play:3 review
Media streamers

Excellent sound quality in a small package, the Play:3 is a good introduction to Sonos and a good way to expand an existing system

£259 inc VAT