Sonos Play - 3 good alternatives
Sonos is currently the top dog when it comes to home audio. But the brand is not without alternatives. We would like to introduce three of them in this article.
Sonos alternative 1: Teufel Raumfeld
The German manufacturer Teufel now offers its own range of products to compete with Sonos. The Raumfeld division offers remote controls, loudspeakers and receivers for all possible variants and rooms. An app is also available for both iOS and Android.
- Advantages: If you don't want Sonos, Teufel is an almost equivalent alternative, even if special systems for wet rooms are still missing. Music streaming services such as Spotify can also be connected to some Teufel Raumfeld speakers.
- Disadvantages: Teufel does not yet have broad support like Sonos when it comes to music streaming services like Spotify. In addition, Teufel cannot keep up with the cheaper Sonos speakers.
Sonos alternative 2: Apple AirPlay
Apple Airplay offers similar options to Sonos and allows free choice between several manufacturers. It is only important that you have an AirPlay-compatible control device, for example a Mac, an iPhone or an iPad. In addition, the speakers in the rooms must be AirPlay certified. Such devices are available from Logitech, Teufel or Creative, for example - some Sonos speakers also support AirPlay.
- Pros: Apple offers a wide range of AirPlay apps that then send your music to the speakers, for example Spotify, iTunes itself or the Apple Podcasts app. With Apple TV you can also send content to the TV or living room stereo.
- Disadvantages: You must have at least one Apple AirPlay streaming device in the house. You also need to look out for AirPlay certified devices when purchasing.
Sonos alternative 3: Bluetooth speaker
You can buy any Bluetooth-enabled speaker and stream it from your smartphone or tablet to the speaker. The costs for this are minimal, Bluetooth-enabled speakers are available from EUR 20.
- Advantages: You can choose more flexibly from a wide range of products. You can also use small battery speakers with Bluetooth for when you're on the go.
- Disadvantages: You can only connect one Bluetooth host system to one Bluetooth speaker at a time. So you can't switch between rooms so easily. Bluetooth also often only has a range of approx. 10 meters.
If you like the AirPlay alternative best, here's how to use Spotify with AirPlay. The test of the Sonos Play: 1 can be found here.