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Sonos Five
The best-sounding single-box Sonos — on six-year-old hardware.
Overall score 6.6/10
Pros
- + The best pure sound and deepest bass of any single-box Sonos
- + The only Sonos here with a native 3.5mm line-in, no adapter required
- + Smart orientation sensing switches between stereo and mono automatically
- + No microphone, which some buyers actively want
Cons
- − Six-year-old hardware at a price that has gone up rather than down
- − Wi-Fi 4 and no Bluetooth at all
- − No voice control and no Atmos
- − Trueplay tuning is still iOS-only on this model
- − Widely expected to be the next Sonos product replaced
Sonos Five review: what the specs say
The best-sounding single-box Sonos — on six-year-old hardware. At $599, Sonos's 2020 model sits at the premium end of the category — the home Speakers we compare run from $49.99 to $749.95. It scores 6.6/10 overall, calculated from published specifications across 8 categories rather than from a subjective impression.
Its strongest showing is Multiroom at 9.5/10 — how well it groups with other speakers around the house. The weakest is Voice Assistant at 1.0/10, which is the trade-off to weigh before buying: if that is the specification you care about most, one of the alternatives below will serve you better.
Worth knowing before you buy: six-year-old hardware at a price that has gone up rather than down; and Wi-Fi 4 and no Bluetooth at all. Every specification on this page comes from Sonos's own documentation or a verified retail listing — where a figure is not published, the table says so rather than estimating it.
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Full Specifications
| Voice Assistant | None — the Five has no microphone |
| Drivers | Six drivers — three tweeters (one centre, two angled) plus three midwoofers |
| Power Output | Sonos publishes six class-D digital amplifiers but no wattage W |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11a/b/g/n (Wi-Fi 4), plus Ethernet |
| Bluetooth | None — deliberately omitted |
| Streaming Protocols | Sonos app, AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect |
| Multiroom System | Sonos |
| Stereo Pairing | Yes; two can also serve as home-theatre rears |
| Smart Home Hub | No |
| Spatial Audio | No |
| Line In | Yes |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 4, Ethernet, AirPlay 2, 3.5mm line-in |
| Material | Perforated polycarbonate |
| Warranty | 12 months |
Compare Sonos Five With
Cheaper Alternative
Sonos Era 300 — $479.00
Premium Alternative
JBL Authentics 500 — $749.95