Sonos Play:3 Review
I was looking for a record player
15 Feb 2025 , by
I’ve been passionate about music for a long time. Fortunately, I was quite happy with my music playing on a MacBook, an iPad, or a pair of Sony XM4s. Recently I wanted to simplify my music experience. One of the habits I had built over the years was constantly fiddling with the music – either skipping the track, adding something to the queue, or just wondering about the lyrics and the band. I did not enjoy that and also had a nostalgia for the times we to listen to CDs and tapes at home. The obvious next thing to do was to invest in a record player and a collection of vinyl! But I neither have the budget for that nor had the time to do proper research into a good quality record playing setup (the stylus, the amp, the speakers, bluetooth?) Instead, I bought a used Sonos Play:3 in perfect working condition. I am glad to say it’s all that I was looking for from a record player, with different kinds of hassles!
My Sonos Play:3 living under a lamp on a table in the corner of a room.
Setup: hair-pulling
The Play:3 is compatible with both the S1 and S2 controller apps, and I chose to stick to the S1 app since the previous owner was using that. The app required precise location information, bluetooth access, local network access, and an account so that I could even control the speaker! In between I am sure I was given access to my neighbour’s Sonos system – but before I figured that out the app had a full-page modal dialogue forcing me to say “Yes” to updating a speaker I didn’t recognise. Eventually, after literally two hours, I got it working.
Trueplay setup: loud
The Trueplay feature tries to calibrate the speaker to the room and placement it is in. Trying to set it up kept leading to an error. It worked once, and then has never again. Before I was allowed to dance with my phone to the special sounds, I was forced to watch a 30-second video explaining the steps of the dance. How arrogant. It might have made a difference, but the sounds it made for a whole 45 seconds were so loud and obnoxious I don’t want to do it again – if the app lets me.
The app: excruciating
This speaker does not support AirPlay or AirPlay 2. Music has to be set through the app.
There is a long list, but the only option is shuffle
The app has no gestures. Everything is a button.
Tapping the dot-dot-dot button reveals a scrollable list of options. The last of the options is “More”. Tapping on that (and waiting) gives another scrollable list of options. Why isn’t the first list just longer?
The app has no memory of state. I am guessing the speaker(s) stream the whole app’s content to it.
When opened, it will first resume to the screen it was on. Then when it has waited just a bit, it will suddenly go blank and reset! In the brief window, the whole app is still usable! So when I want to change the volume through the app, I have basically a second or two of time to do it otherwise I have to wait another couple of seconds until I am allowed to change the volume again.
The animations are too long and half the album art does not load. There is a concept of “My Sonos” that I can add things to so that they are on the home page. It shouldn’t be this hard, but it is. All of that makes me never want to use the app. Even controlling the volume takes so long sometimes, as if the communication is relayed through the moon. Initiating playback takes a couple of seconds. Even if that’s understandable, what I fail to get over is the time it takes to add something to the queue. The app throws up a full-screen spinner and it takes longer the more songs that there are. Until it is done adding 14 songs to the queue, I just have to wait watching it spin. The more songs there are, the longer it takes. The play/pause button in the app is nearly instant, though.
I do like that I can set sleep timers and alarms (which are actually just timed triggers for certain media).
The hardware: minimal
The Play:3 has a total of three buttons and one LED indicator on top. Without the app, I can play/pause, increase the volume, decrease the volume, skip to next track, go to the previous track. No fast forward, no changing playlists, no mute. The LED is perfect. It is not too bright, not too dim, and never jarring. The speaker itself is 8 years old but it doesn’t behave like an old piece of electronics at all. I don’t hear any rattles or hisses. There is no creaking despite this being 2-2.5 kilograms. The power cable fits in its socket neatly. The buttons are clicky and the printing on top hasn’t faded. Despite being made of rubber, they have still not yellowed. I do wish they were made of hard plastic so that they would be more clicky.
The sound: wonderful
Bearing in mind that I haven’t heard top-end speakers before, I wasn’t surprised to be impressed by the sound quality. All the instruments are clear, I can’t hear any distortion at loud volumes. Even the lowest of bass thumps and the highest shrills of a synth are clear and well-defined. Piano is especially clean, and so much fun to listen to. Jazz is fun too, because a loud trumpet does not become a shrill trumpet, but a high-hat is as shrill as it is supposed to be! Speaking of drums, I am impressed by the bass as well, but this is the biggest speaker I might not be the best judge. There is a bit of stereo separation since there are two drivers pointing away from each other but it is barely noticeable in a small room. It can be paired with another Play:3 to create a stereo pair.
I must also give credit to the playback. Despite being internet-connected and so old, it has never stuttered or crackled. Playback is always smooth, always reliable, always quick to start (if I use the button on the speaker). So solid it is hard to understand how the same speaker’s app is completely the opposite.
Spoken audio isn’t very clear so I need to increase the volume but it’s completely tolerable.
The conclusion: I found my record player
It’s exactly what I was looking for! I begrudgingly open the app, find a long album or playlist, set it to play, and then forget about it. Controls on the speaker itself for adjustments work, but are far enough that I don’t reach for them every now and then. The combination of a muddy, crumbling, broken app and a beautifully built speaker with nice sound has given me what I want – more enjoyment from music and less fiddling!