- Sonos seems unbeatable in the wireless speaker arena.
The system is easy. The speakers are well-designed.
And they sound pretty good too.
But is Sonos truly the very best
wireless speaker system you can buy?
I'm gonna give her something to chew on.
(upbeat jazzy music)
You can get two Sonos One speakers for $400,
and for a lot of people who are just starting out
or are on a budget, this would be a very good option.
But what if you double that budget
and throw in a few more bucks?
Can you really get a system that sounds so much better
or offers so many more features
that it's worth the extra money?
The contenders include the Beoplay M5,
the KEF LSX,
the Bluesound PULSE MINI 2i,
and just for kicks, we're gonna try the Sonos Play:5,
which would be an upgrade from a pair of Sonos Ones.
Our battles include the setup process,
the design of the systems,
and of course, sound quality.
Now let's find a winner.
One of the things that Sonos is best known for
is a slick setup process.
And now that the speakers support AirPlay2,
it's never been easier to go
from opening the box to pumping up the jams.
So to see if any of these highfalutin' hi-fi systems
can keep up, we're gonna set up each pair and play a song.
(smooth electronic symphonic music)
("I Can't Stay" by Ben Browning)
That was are challenging, and I'm not even sure why.
(smooth electronic symphonic music)
Oh, isn't that pleasant?
("I Can't Stay" by Ben Browning)
Oh, oh, it didn't like it when we switched to Spotify.
We have successfully set up the pair
of Beoplay M5 speakers, finally.
(smooth electronic symphonic music)
(futuristic buzzing)
Okay, added.
(smooth electronic symphonic music)
Ooh.
("I Can't Stay" by Ben Browning)
That's super easy.
Setup is an interesting battle because, for a lot of people,
it might be something you only have to do once.
But it's also an introduction to how the products work.
A sketchy setup process
might also lead to a sketchy experience,
and that's what we found here.
The Bluesound and Beoplay speakers
were a nightmare to set up,
and when it came to playing music just to get started
and pairing the two speakers together,
that was also a nightmare.
In contrast, the KEF LSX speaker was a joy to set up,
and once we got to playing music, it was also a joy to use.
That said, (grunts) the Sonos setup
was just a little bit better.
What I liked about it was that the Sonos app
very clearly explains everything that's happening.
You don't have to do much to actually set up the speakers,
and then from there it's really easy
to add more Sonos speakers to the whole system.
You could guess as you bought more Sonos speakers,
setup would continue to be easy.
So Sonos wins the setup battle.
A curious thing about wireless speakers
is that they're also little pieces of furniture.
Wherever you put them in your home,
they're either going to blend in and look delightful,
or stick out like little music-playing goblins.
All of these speakers look nice in their own way.
But our design battle isn't just about looks;
it's also about what kinds of features
you can cram into a compact package.
And that includes what kind of ports and controls
they have to integrate with other speakers.
It's designed so that you can put it in a corner,
and it can kind of run sort of flush with the walls.
Then again, I think the design
is a little bit chunky and awkward.
I don't love the touch controls on top.
The top here is actually a control.
You can turn it for volume control.
You can tap it for play pause.
I'm not gonna lie, the Beoplay M5
is a very good-looking speaker,
and it's cool that it has 360 sound
so you can really put it anywhere.
Then again, wherever you put it,
it's gonna sort of be the centerpiece.
What's really interesting about the KEF speaker
is the driver array, there's actually a tweeter
in the middle of the cone that handles mid-range and bass,
and that's supposed to deliver a more clear, lifelike sound.
And it also makes the entire speaker itself more compact.
On the flip side, what I love about the KEF speakers are...
(dog chewing)
Scout, you're ruining it!
What I also love about the KEF speaker
are the number of inputs on the back.
Now this can really work with an existing hi-fi system.
There's a place to plug in your subwoofer,
full optical audio input,
there's a 3.5 mm auxiliary.
There's a lot to love about the Sonos Play:5.
The design is extremely clean and minimal.
What I don't love about the Sonos speakers
is the lack of versatility.
Design can be a subjective thing,
but because we're talking about looks
as well as functionality, we have to give this battle to...
Ahh, that could've been slicker...
The KEF LSX.
This is a great-looking compact speaker,
and it's also one that can work with
a lot of other speaker ecosystems,
which you can't really say about any of the competitors.
And they look pretty great too.
These are all premium speakers,
which means you're not only paying for better design
and a better experience, you're also paying for
a really, really good sound quality.
For this battle, we're gonna play a few tracks
to test the bass response, upper range,
and sound stage for each of these speakers.
To hear how the speakers handle powerful vocals,
we're gonna listen to "no tears left to cry" by Ariana Grande.
♪ Right now I'm in a state of mind ♪
♪ I wanna be in like all the time ♪
To test the bass response,
a complex acoustic track.
(clears throat)
I love it.
♪ I lit out from Reno ♪
♪ I was trailed by twenty hounds ♪
So we tested all the tracks with each pair of speakers,
and some clear themes emerged.
First of all, the Sonos speakers are unremarkable.
The Beoplay M5, by contrast, was very remarkable
when it came to the upper range,
but kind of fell apart in the lower range.
The Bluesound speaker sounded great!
They were very well-balanced and clear,
but I can't say they were extraordinary.
There was one set of speakers that simply blew me away,
and they were the KEF LSX.
These speakers offered thumping, if not thundering bass
on the Kendrick Lamar song.
Ariana Grande's voice sounded huge
throughout my entire apartment,
and I feel like I heard sounds in the Grateful Dead track
that I've never heard before.
So the winner of this battle is the KEF LSX.
Now it's time to pick our winner.
There was one pair of speakers that felt truly unique.
They won our design battle, our sound quality battle,
and were a close runner-up in the setup battle.
The KEF LSX wins battle modo.
At $1,100, the KEF LSX are expensive,
but the sound quality is so good,
and they're so versatile,
they'll even impress your audiophile friends.
(funky saxophone music)
(electronic humming)