The ‘Sonos Architectural by Sonance’ range is designed and ‘optimised’ for the Sonos Amp above, with one Amp able to connect with up to three pairs of the new speakers, gifting them Sonos functionality such as streaming service access via the app and AirPlay 2 control.Naturally, the Outdoor speaker (pictured above) has a weatherproof design. In our dedicated listening room, it does little to the sound, but move the speaker to a less ideal location – a kitchen or a corner for example – and the difference is audible. It tightens up any boomy bass, adds clarity to the midrange and really cleans up the sound from top to bottom. The Five is the biggest and most powerful wireless home speaker in Sonos' range, and it sounds every inch as detailed and musically pleasing as we've come to expect from Sonos. This flagship iteration (released in June 2020) adds increased memory, snappier processing and a new, er, wireless radio feature. Not a huge upgrade then?

Yes, in bigger rooms there’s a slight sonic gap between the front-left/right and surround-left/right, and that more traditional system will still sound better, but in its own right the Sonos 5.1 system is punchy, dynamic and enjoyable to listen to. Add more PLAY:1s or combine with other Sonos wireless speakers or components around the home for the ultimate, multi-room HiFi system.The Sonos Play:1 is not like most other small wireless speakers. It doesn’t use Bluetooth, is not portable and won’t even take a 3.5mm plug to accept a non-wireless source. A highlight of the Play:5 is its ability to fill even the biggest room with a rich, powerful sound. Much of that is a result of the driver set-up, with six matching Class D amplifiers and almost three times the acoustic horsepower of its predecessor.

At the time, Sonos claimed the new Play:5 offered the best wireless performance it had ever produced and, while it’s presumably now been surpassed by the likes of the PlayBase, we’ve found no fault in the Play:5 in the three years we’ve been using it. Sonos was created upon the belief you should never have to choose between quality sound and an easy way to access all your music at home," said John MacFarlane, CEO, Sonos, Inc. "The PLAY:1 makes getting started with Sonos even more accessible to music lovers than ever before." It’s a very enjoyable listen, with enough finesse, a rich enough tone and more than enough punch to make you forget the size of the speaker you’re listening to. This little guy sounds unusually at home playing at high volumes, and I believe many people would be happy to use this as their main music source. It’s something to consider if the price of the excellent Play:5 is off-putting. Assuming you do get the intended spacious sound, you’ll find it’s combined with bass that’s punchy, authoritative and energetic. The bass here is far more natural and tonally expressive than that of the Playbar, which feels as though it’s compensating hard for its diminutive chassis and sounds a little artificial as a result. There’s just one traditional button on the whole thing - a round, recessed little number on the left-hand side you use for linking the Playbase to your network and any other Sonos speakers you might already have.The Sonos Play:1 is the most accessible Sonos speaker. It offers all the convenience of its streaming brothers in a smaller, cheaper form. The Sonos Five is a hefty beast with a smart, slightly curved grille on the front. (Image credit: TechRadar) Design has never been taken lightly at Sonos, and every inch of the Play:5 is there for a reason. It can be orientated in three ways – horizontally or vertically either way up. This means the design has to work across all orientations and, as a result, it leans more towards the more simplistic styling of the Sonos Play:3. If your Sonos runs old firmware, or if the app struggles to find your Play:1, you just need to plug it into your router using an Ethernet cable to get started. There’s such a cable in the box. Either way, setup takes just a minute or two. Sonically it's a bargain for the money, but the feature-set means certain serious competition is not far away.