I’m old enough to say that I’ve been a Sonos user pretty much since the start, and let’s be honest—the last couple of years have been tough on the brand.They’re still recovering from the app overhaul gaffe that frustrated a lot of customers (myself included), while competitors like Bluesound and Wiim have taken a few bites out of their lunch.But as the dust settled, I kept coming back to a handful of features that I believe Sonos still does better than anyone else and that I still use daily, software updates and hiccups be damned.
These aren’t nice-to-have extras—they’re the things that keep my household happy, fill my home with sound on everyone’s terms, and make it so we don’t really have to think too much about it.Here are five Sonos features that are still better than any alternative I’ve tried.TV Audio Swap is a late-night lifesaver I’m a night hawk, always have been.
And since I also write a lot about TV shows and movies a lot, I often use the hours when my wife and daughter go to bed to watch some of the stuff I know they're not going to like.And the last thing they want is explosions and movie soundtracks rattling the walls from my Arc Ultra and Sub setup at 1:00 am.This is where the Sonos Ace headphones have proved invaluable.
They offer single-button audio transfer instantly from my compatible Sonos Arc Ultra (also works with Arc, gen 1 and 2 Beam, and Ray) to the headphones.No menus, not Bluetooth pairing, no lag.The sound is awesome, and it preserves all the Dolby Atmos spatial audio sound for an immersive experience, and I can listen as loud as I like.
It also offers head tracking, which I admit I don’t really use, but it’s there if I want.I’ve tried Apple’s AirPods Max connectivity through my Apple TV 4K, and while it sounds good, the simplicity of the single-button swap is hard to beat.Sonos Ace 8 Battery Life 30 hours Microphones 8 mics Connection Type Wireless, 3.5 to USB-C, USB-C to USB-C Weight 0.69lbs (312.97g) Maximize your immersion with lossless streaming, spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, and world-class Active Noise Cancellation.
Hear what’s going around you with Aware mode.Enjoy up to 30 hours of battery life, exceptional comfort, and flawlessly clear calls.Connect to your devices wirelessly via Bluetooth, or use the included USB-C and 3.5 mm cables.
$449 at Sonos $449 at Best Buy Expand Collapse Multi-room playback is still the gold standard It’s as true now as it was back when the company came on to the scene in 2002—multi-room audio is the whole point of Sonos, and in my experience, it remains undefeated.In my household, the zone and grouping features are used daily by everyone, and they’re frictionless when compared to some of the grouping messiness of AirPlay, Chromecast, or even Wiim, in my experience.When I’m home working in the office, it’s easy to switch to the kitchen when I go down for lunch.
It’s simple enough in the Sonos app that the family can use it without a tutorial, and everyone can pick their own speakers at will.I will concede, however, that audiophiles might prefer the hi-res bit-perfect playback of Bluesound or Wiim, but we are not audiophiles, and the sound is solid, and there’s no latency between rooms.Speech Enhancement and Night Sound rule I’ll admit it: I'm getting older, and my hearing isn't quite what it used to be.
Dialogue in modern movies is notoriously difficult to hear, but Sonos’ Speech Enhancement is a genuine game-changer.Since my entire home theater is routed through the Sonos system and app, I find its DSP far superior and clearer than the dialogue leveling offered by the Apple TV 4K.It pulls voices forward without making the background sound too thin.
And in the Sonos app, I can choose multiple levels of enhancement to get the balance we like.Combine with Night Sound—which compresses and normalizes the boomy dynamic volume spikes, jump scares, and car crashes that rattle my wife during action sequences—and we don’t have to ride the volume.If I’m home alone, sure, I turn all of this off for the full effect.
But they’re great features to have for late-night viewing, and I’ve yet to find a soundbar or system that does this so elegantly.Trueplay takes the guesswork out of calibration What I love most about Sonos’ audio calibration tool, Trueplay, isn't the technology—it's how easy it is to use.One of the most frustrating parts of high-end audio is that your room usually hates your speakers.
Over the years, I’ve moved my system around more times than I’d like to admit, and every time recalibrating it takes just a few minutes.Instead of needing a degree in acoustics or a dedicated calibrated microphone like some audiophile systems, like Dirac, require, I just walk around the room waving my iPhone while the system plays a tone that bounces off your walls, furniture, and floors, calibrating the EQ and sound to eliminate muddy bass or harsh highs.Many newer Sonos speakers, like the Era 100 and Era 300, and Arc Ultra, even offer a Quick Tuning option that doesn't even need your phone.
Every time I rearrange my furniture or move a speaker to a new corner, a quick Trueplay session optimizes the sound.And if you have the portable Sonos speakers, like the Move or Roam, its Automatic Truplay tuning does this automatically in 30 seconds every time you move it.Sonos Era 100 Buy on Amazon $250 at Best Buy Expand Collapse A subwoofer that sounds great anywhere I’ve had my Sonos Sub for years, and it still sounds excellent in my home theater setup.
But what I appreciate most about it has less to do with the bone-rattling bass than the total absence of headaches that come with traditional subwoofer setups.Unlike many subs that often require crawling around the room to find a spot where they don't sound boomy, as well as tweaking crossover, phase, or gain, the Sonos Sub is virtually plug-and-play.Because of its force-canceling drivers, there is zero cabinet vibration.
And you can put it anywhere.I've laid mine flat under a TV cabinet, inside a cabinet, and behind the couch (there are no speaker cables to worry about either), and it still delivers deep, tight low-end without any dead spots or boomy sound.All I have to decide now is whether to get a second one.
Sonos Sub 4 Expand Collapse Sonos has real rivals now, and that’s good for everyone.And yes, I am invested in the Sonos ecosystem, so I understand that, like Apple’s walled-garden, since I'm not mixing and matching my system, it all tends to work really well with few issues.But for everything that Sonos has gotten wrong lately, it still gets the things that matter most to my household’s daily listening right.
Sonos Era 300 See at Amazon Expand Collapse
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