Affordable alternatives to Sonos speakers

Title: Affordable Alternatives To Sonos Speakers

URL Source: https://www.engadget.com/2269365/affordable-alternatives-to-sonos-speakers/

Published Time: 2026-09-29T15:30:00+00:00

Markdown Content:

Getting good multi-room audio doesn’t have to break the bank.


Nathan Ingraham for Engadget

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Despite some [ups](https://www.engadget.com/sonos-era-300-review-a-big-bet-on-spatial-audio-130053487.html) and [downs](https://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/why-is-the-sonos-app-so-broken-140028060.html), Sonos is still probably the number one option for multi-room audio. The company offers a wide variety of speakers at different prices, including [portable options](https://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/sonos-play-review-the-companys-best-portable-speaker-so-far-130000688.html), [home theater soundbars](https://www.engadget.com/2265077/sonos-beam-ultra-review/), [subwoofers](https://www.engadget.com/sonos-sub-mini-review-wireless-subwoofer-130037486-130037997.html) and [speakers](https://www.engadget.com/sonos-era-100-review-affordable-multi-room-audio-that-actually-sounds-good-130007717.html) — some of which support Dolby Atmos audio. The main drawback to choosing Sonos for a multi-room speaker system is the cost of entry: The cheapest Sonos speakers are the $179 Roam 2 and the $189 Era 100 SL.

The Roam 2 is a fine portable speaker, but it's probably not the best option if you're focused on loud, high-quality playback around your home. The Era 100 SL is the smarter choice if you don't plan to move speakers around the house, but it unfortunately doesn't have a microphone. That means you can't use a voice assistant, like the new AI-powered one [Sonos announced earlier this month](https://www.engadget.com/2248252/sonos-27-brings-a-refreshed-ui-to-the-app-and-lets-ai-agents-control-your-system/). For that, you'll need to step up to the $219 Era 100.

While most of the Sonos competitors play in a similarly mid- to high-end space, there are a handful of more affordable options when it comes to building a multi-room audio setup. Right now, I think the best of those options is [the recently-released Google Home speaker](https://www.engadget.com/2200116/google-home-speaker-review/), which sells for $99. It doesn't match up to an Era 100 in terms of volume or audio quality — but at less than half the cost, you can set up three Google Home speakers before you've even hit the price of two Era 100s.

Best affordable alternative to Sonos: Google Home (2026)


Nathan Ingraham for Engadget

[**Read our full review here.**](https://www.engadget.com/2200116/google-home-speaker-review/)

Google's main pitch for the Home speaker is a way to get Gemini off your phone and [into your house](https://www.engadget.com/2182342/google-updates-gemini-for-home-with-ai-powered-camera-automations/), serving as a voice-enabled assistant like the Google Assistant before it. Smart home controls are a big part of the equation — especially since Google now sells [a few different subscriptions](https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/gemini-is-coming-to-google-home-in-october-with-both-free-and-paid-versions-182334081.html) that add features like sound detection or the ability to voice-search your video history. Fortunately, if your main concern is multi-room music, no subscription is needed beyond one to your music service of choice. Google Home works with all the expected players like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music and a few others.

Unsurprisingly, everything you want to do with the Google Home speaker is set up in the [recently-redesigned Google Home app](https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/google-has-overhauled-its-smart-home-app-to-feature-gemini-130041497.html). That's how you'll get the speaker online the first time and pick your preferred music services. You'll obviously need a Google account to use this device, which isn't a deal-breaker for most people — but if you're intent on de-Googling your life, this isn't the speaker for you.

Once it's set up, you can use Gemini to ask the speaker to play songs, albums and playlists with your voice, or cast music from your phone to the speaker (provided your app supports it). The Google Home app lets you set up speaker groups or move whatever is playing to different rooms without any hassle.

The obvious drawback of the Google Home speaker versus something from Sonos is that it's not nearly as loud or clear. That's just a simple matter of physics: the Google Home speaker uses a single 58mm "full-range" driver, while the Era 100 has two tweeters and a midrange woofer. More components in a larger enclosure is generally always going to mean better sound. But, for a $99 speaker, Google Home sounds good enough for casual music-listening. And if you need more volume in a single room, you can make a stereo pair from two speakers. That stereo pair will show up in the Google Home app just like any other speaker, so you can use one alongside single speakers around the house.

[Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Google-Premium-Speaker-360-Degree-Porcelain/dp/B0H6GXQ7NT?th=1&tag=staticmedia-engadget-20)

Best affordable alternative to Sonos for Siri: Apple HomePod mini


Nathan Ingraham for Engadget

[**Read our full review here.**](https://www.engadget.com/apple-homepod-mini-review-140030652-140043737.html)

The combination of its feature set, good audio quality and price make the Google Home speaker my first choice. But if you're in a household that predominantly uses Apple products, the HomePod mini might make more sense. My biggest concerns with it are its price and its age. Despite the fact that the HomePod mini is nearly six years old, Apple raised the price to $129 earlier this year.

At its original $99, it would be a much better choice for Apple fans than the Google Home given that it can receive AirPlay streams from other Apple devices. It's tougher to swallow at $129, and there have been [rumors for months](https://www.engadget.com/2184409/a-new-apple-tv-and-homepod-mini-could-arrive-in-the-fall/) about Apple being ready to release new home-focused products. But its audio quality is solid for a small speaker and it's quite simple to set up multiple HomePod speakers and control music playback with your voice or your iPhone. Probably the biggest downside is that only a few music services work with Siri (including Apple Music and YouTube Music). Spotify users are better off with another option.

[Apple](https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-homepod/homepod-mini)

Best affordable alternative to Sonos for Alexa: Amazon Echo Dot Max


Nathan Ingraham for Engadget

[**Read our full review here.**](https://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/amazon-echo-dot-max-review-disappointing-sound-but-alexa-is-a-star-190000721.html)

Another option is Amazon's $119 Echo Dot Max. It's less than a year old and supports the AI-powered Alexa+ voice assistant. Both from a size and audio perspective it's in the same ballpark as the both the Google Home and HomePod — the audio quality won't blow you away, but it's a step up from a smaller Echo. Amazon has long made it easy to do multi-room audio with its Echo speakers and app, and it works with a host of music services (unlike the HomePod mini). When I reviewed it last year, I was disappointed with its audio quality compared to past Echo speakers I had tried, and the price has gone up $20 since then. But if you're interested in [checking out the latest Alexa+ features](https://www.engadget.com/ai/alexa-preview-an-almost-philosophical-exercise-130012573.html) in your multi-room audio setup, the Dot Max gets you better audio than a regular Echo Dot without breaking the bank.

[Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Echo-Dot-Max-Alexa-Speaker-Graphite-Amazon/dp/B0D6SX8VLQ/?tag=staticmedia-engadget-20)

Other products we considered

As I mentioned, there are a number of companies competing with Sonos in the multi-room audio space — but they're generally not competing on price. Denon makes a huge variety of audio products, and earlier this year it released its latest lineup of Wi-Fi-enabled, multiroom speakers: the Home 200, 400 and 600. There's [a lot to like about these speakers](https://www.engadget.com/2171196/denon-home-200-400-and-600-review-taking-on-sonos/), but the cheapest model starts at $399, making it a non-starter in this conversation. The company also sells a Home 150 NV for $219; it has a similar feature set to the Era 100 SL. They're worth considering if your budget grows, but they're a direct competitor to Sonos rather than an affordable alternative.

Fender Audio released the Elie 6 and Elie 12 earlier this year — they're powerful, portable speakers that can be grouped together. They're extremely versatile, with four inputs (including a 1/4-inch XLR jack) in addition to Bluetooth. But again, at $300 and $400 respectively, they're just too pricey

JBL makes a host of portable speakers, some of which can be grouped together via Auracast, and many of them are well under $200. But JBL's speakers prioritize portability over ease of multi-room features. Those two things are at odds with each other a little bit, and so it's not surprising that the focus is on making a speaker that works anywhere. But they're not going to be as seamless to group together, and most of them don't support voice controls either.

How we selected these products

The first criteria was price: anything worth recommending here would have to be less expensive than the $219 Era 100. The next priority was simple management of multiple speakers — it needs to be easy to group speakers together as well as control playback from different sources on multiple devices. Given the new Sonos voice assistant, being able to talk to the speaker using natural language was an important consideration, as well. That extends to being able to move music between different speakers with voice commands as well as being able to control playback.

We may update our selections as needed, as new products are announced and reviewed.