Sonos makes a fantastic multiroom audio system, but with recent problems with the Sonos app, some folks are wondering if there’s a better choice.
We have recommended Sonos wireless speakers and components for years. We still think the company makes a fantastic product. But the absolute fiasco caused by the May 7 Sonos app redesign broke almost every aspect of the Sonos experience — and we’re still waiting for fixes that were promised weeks ago.
If you’re a Sonos owner, we share your frustration. If your investment in the company’s ecosystem is significant, your best bet is to wait and ride out this storm. Eventually things will return to normal and, hopefully, the Sonos experience will be better than before.
But if you’re new to Sonos or if you’re considering buying your first Sonos product, you may be wondering about alternatives. Bad software rollouts can and do happen; going with another company is no guarantee that your home audio system will remain problem-free forever. Still, if you’re no longer feeling the Sonos love, these systems are more than capable of filling your home with sound.
But what constitutes a Sonos alternative? To our way of thinking, a true alternative should have at least some (and preferably all) of the following attributes:
Wi-Fi connectivity for every speaker/component
An app that lets you control speaker playback, speaker grouping, and that can access both your preferred streaming music services as well as your personal collection of digital music
A variety of speaker sizes/types, including a soundbar
A component that lets you connect your older, non-wireless audio gear to the system
Some kind of voice-enabled smart speaker option for both smart home integration as well as voice control over music
Expandable over time
Of the five options we present below, only the first three meet a majority of these requirements. But we’ve included two more options that will give you a “Sonos lite” experience, if you don’t need all of the features Sonos offers.BluesoundThe best for audiophiles
When it comes to finding a wireless, multiroom audio system that can compete with Sonos, look no further than Bluesound. Like Sonos, Bluesound makes a variety of wireless speakers and components including home theater elements like soundbars and subwoofers, which are all controlled via the BluOS-powered Bluesound mobile app.
Where Bluesound goes above and beyond, however, is its support for hi-res audio and multiple wired/wireless connection options. This has helped make Bluesound a favorite among audiophiles. All of Bluesound’s hardware supports lossless digital sound up to 24-bit/192kHz, and it’s one of the only multiroom systems that’s compatible with the MQA format (Lenbrook, Bluesound’s parent company, also owns the rights to MQA).
