The new app will kick off the Sonos S2 platform, adding support for high resolution audio, Dolby Atmos, and more thanks to more powerful internals in Sonos’ newer speakers. It also enables “increased security” and comes with a new design that’s easier to use and more in line with modern music apps. To better support high-res experiences, Sonos today announced an update to the Sonos Play:5, simply called the Sonos 5. It is essentially identical to its predecessor acoustically but features more processing power and memory for better future-proofing — a similar update arrives for the Sonos Sub, now in Gen 3 –and has a cleaner monochrome design. This is most notable in the white unit, which now has a matching white grille instead of the Panda look of the Play:5.
Unfortunately, there’s no on-board microphone for Google Assistant or Alexa, breaking the trend we’ve seen since the Sonos One was announced in 2017. The old Sonos app, meanwhile, will still be available for legacy speakers, but will be called the ‘Sonos S1 Controller.’ To be clear, most of Sonos’ speakers work with the S2 platform, not just the new ones. The only ones that won’t work are those included in Sonos ‘trade up’ program.
