Echo studio vs Sonos Play 5 – A detailed comparison

Smart speakers are getting smarter by the day to give you an easier life. The latest speakers have undergone development over the years and now offer better performance in terms of sound and have longer battery life.

Homes and some offices are increasingly being driven by these smart speakers; thanks to technological advancements and the internet. With integrated voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant, you can issue voice commands to these speakers to perform automated tasks like controlling your smart home devices. You can turn on/off the lights in the room, play music from your favorite online streaming service, and many more. Amazon is a leading player in this space with its numerous releases including the Echo Studio. Sonos, another player in this space released the Sonos Play 5 in 2009 in a bid to challenge the status quo.

What are the differences between Echo Studio and Sonos Play 5?

Echo studio vs Sonos Play 5 – How do they compare?

Design and Build

Smart speakers come in different sizes and shapes. Amazon Echo Studio is smaller in size and comes in a striking ubiquitous cylindrical shape with a light ring that glows blue when Alexa is listening. It has four control buttons for volume, muting, and other operations. It also comes with seven mics that listen to your voice commands and is lightweight, weighing 7.7 pounds. Sonos has a very basic trapezoid shape; rectangular at the back and curvy on the front and is bulky weighing 14 pounds – twice the weight of Echo Studio and has a bigger size meaning it occupies a bigger surface area. It has three control buttons giving it a minimalist look and it comes in black or white. Echo Studio has a better design than Sonos Play 5.

Connectivity

Echo Studio supports more protocols including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Zigbee. You can stream music from your mobile phone to the Echo or from Echo Studio to your Bluetooth speaker. However, it does not support hands-free voice control for Mac OS X devices and Bluetooth speakers that require a PIN. For Wi-Fi, it works with a 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 and 5 GHz). It comes with an inbuilt Zigbee smart home hub for Zigbee devices’ support. Sonos Play 5 uses Wi-Fi to play music and lacks Bluetooth connectivity. It however comes with a 3.5mm auto-detecting audio line-in connection that you can use to connect to a Bluetooth receiver and an ethernet port on the back that can come in handy if you have a weak WiFi signal. Echo Studio has better and more audio connectivity options than Sonos Play 5.

Speaker drivers

The Echo Studio offers 5 speaker drivers – 3 -two-inch midrange speakers, a 5.25-inch woofer, and a 1-inch tweeter. All these are powered by a 330W amp. It also includes a bass port for your woofer. Sonos Play 5 on the other hand offers 3 mid-woofers and 3 tweeters which all come with their amp and face in all directions. Echo Studio 5 is a steal at that price with all those speaker drivers. Echo Studio has better and more speaker drivers than Sonos Play 5 and they’re placed on all its sides. Echo Studio has more inernal speakers compared to Sonos Play 5.

Performance

Echo Studio is powered by Alexa for voice commands and is by far Amazon’s best-sounding speaker with the most features. It has a Dolby Atmos playback and the sound is bigger, better, and can fill the whole room thanks to its multiple speaker drivers. Ir can double up as a smart home hub when connected to smart devices in your house to control them via the ZigBee. The Sonos Play 5 delivers all-around performance with a well -balanced sound with its rich bass, crisp treble, and full vocals. It has enough power to deliver volume throughout the room. The connection remains strong no matter where you are in the house because it runs on Wi-Fi and not Bluetooth. It’s versatile when it comes to voice assistants since it can use either Alexa or Google Assistant. Sonos Play is more versatile and delivers consistently than Echo Studio.

Echo studio vs Sonos Play 5 – A detailed Overview

Echo Studio Overview

This device has received a lot of positive reviews with users citing a great experience in their homes. Echo Studio has an 8.1 x 6.1-inch dimension and weighs 7.7 pounds. It comes with 5 speaker drivers covering all the sides and has 4 touch buttons for controlling your music playback. It uses Alexa only for voice commands given it’s an Amazon product and this means that the control is hands-free. You can ask it to play your favorite songs or even go further and use it as a smart home hub to control your other smart devices via the ZigBee technology. For a multidimensional audio experience, it has an inbuilt Dolby Atmos technology which adds space, depth, and clarity. It’s also compatible with Fire TV.

Pros

• It compatible with Alexa
• The sound is excellent
• It supports a wide variety of technologies
• Its east to set it up and use
• It’s adaptable to any room
• It can act as a Dolby Atmos home theatre system when you pair it with Fire TV
• It can be used as a smart home hub

Cons

• It spent support Z-Wave technology
• It requires an Amazon Music subscription to get 3D audio

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Sonos Play 5 Overview

This smart speaker has a dimension of 14.3 x 8 x 6 inches and weighs 14.4 pounds. All its internal speakers face in one-front direction compared to Echo Studio. It comes with 3 tweeters and 3 mid-woofers powered by their amplifier. You can pair this Sonos speaker to another smart speaker and ensure they are placed close together. The Sonos Play 5 can assume different positions compared to Echo Studio. It includes a 3.5 mm jack that allows you to connect your smart speaker to a CD player, phone, or even a turntable.

Pros

• You can attach it to your wall
• It’s specially designed for deep and well-balanced bass and is most powerful when it comes to high-fidelity sound
• You can play music on it from an external device
• It can be integrated with Echo, Alexa, and Google Assistant
• It’s simple to set up

Cons

• With extended use, the app stops recognizing the smart speaker
• It doesn’t support Bluetooth
• It doesn’t have a high-resolution support

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Verdict: So, Which one is better – Echo studio or Sonos Play 5?

The Echo Studio has a better design and more internal speaker drivers. It also supports a wider variety of connectivities than Sonos Play 5 and can double as a smart home hub making it more versatile. These factors make it the better smart speaker of the two.

FAQs

Can I connect my TV to Sonos Play 5?

Yes. You can connect your TV to Sonos using an analog connector via the 3.5mm input at the back of the Sonos Play 5 speaker.

Is Sonos Play 5 compatible with Bluetooth?

No. Sonos Play 5 uses only Wi-Fi and an analog audio connection.