I’ve been testing the new Sonos Play for weeks. This is my new favorite

It’s smaller and more portable than the Brutal Movebut large enough to sound much fuller than pint size Wander. It can remain attached to its charging base to compete with that confined to the house. Sonos era 100or follow you anywhere. In other words, it’s the epitome of Sonos versatility, and now that it’s working properly, it’ll be hard to pass up.

Play on

Opening the Play’s brown cardboard packaging evokes both Scandinavian minimalism and sustainability, in line with recent releases like the Arc Ultra soundbar. Inside, a white acoustic package gives way to a solid tubular speaker with an attached rubberized loop, measuring 7.6 x 4.4 x 3 inches and weighing just under 3 pounds. You’ll also find simple setup instructions and wireless charging support, but no wall adapter. You’ll need a model capable of delivering at least 9 volts and 2 amps (18 watts), but a 15 volts and 3 amps (45 watts) model is recommended for “optimal” charging. Sonos says omitting the adapter is to reduce e-waste, but it will happily do so I’ll sell you one for $29.

Otherwise, the Sonos app is all you need to get started. After the mandatory firmware update, my Play was streaming to my home network within minutes. Sonos directly hosts over 100 streaming services and you can also stream through third-party services like Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Apple AirPlay, and more. You’ll find the speaker as its own “room” on the app’s main page, where you can swipe up to group it with other Sonos products on your network, or go to Settings to change options like EQ, room name (important if you have multiple playbacks), and Sonos Trueplay to automatically adjust the sound to your environment.

You’ll also find a battery saver toggle, which is set by default to turn off the power when it’s idle for too long. It’s this feature that Sonos says caused my connection issues when I tested the speaker’s 24-hour battery. Sonos claims to have identified the root cause, and after updating the firmware, I let the speaker turn off several times, with no further network interruption for a week of additional testing.