Skip to main content
MM logo white 1
MM logo red
Image description is not available
Image description is not available

What is Sonos and how does it work?

Femke4 FEBRUARY 2026
A person in denim jacket makes coffee with an espresso machine, near a plant, speaker and ceramics.

Sonos is a brand of speakers, soundbars and other audio devices that you connect to each other via Wi-Fi. Together they form a Sonos ecosystem that lets you enjoy your favourite music, podcasts, movies, series and games anywhere in your home. In this article you’ll read more about all Sonos devices and how to smartly get them to work together, for example to create your own home cinema.

The benefits of the Sonos ecosystem

A brown leather duffel bag sits next to a black Sonos speaker on a wood surface, set against a blurred tree trunk backdrop.

The biggest benefit of Sonos is that you connect all the devices wirelessly via your Wi-Fi network. So, you don’t have to deal with cables running all through your home. Another advantage is that you can control each speaker separately or have them all play together. For example, you can watch a movie with surround sound in the living room while someone else is listening to a new podcast in the kitchen. Throwing a house party? You can just as easily play the same music on every speaker in the house. You manage all of this easily and from one central place in the Sonos app.

Choose a Sonos speaker

Sonos-speakers

A couple sits on a yellow couch watching a jet on TV. There's a soundbar, speakers, a plant, and a bookshelf in the room.

Sonos speakers are powerful, wireless speakers that you can place anywhere in your home. They offer crystal-clear sound, which you control easily with the Sonos app. You can also use the Trueplay feature on the Sonos speaker itself. This adjusts the sound from your speaker to the acoustics of your room. Sonos speakers work with many streaming services, such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and many more. Download the Sonos app on your smartphone or tablet to control all the speakers in your home together or individually. You can also control most Sonos speakers with your voice, as the virtual assistants Google Assistant and Alexa are built in.

View all Sonos speakers

Sonos soundbars

A TV displays a woman and a person holding a glass, atop a wooden cabinet with decor against a stone wall.

Sonos soundbars are speakers that you place under or in front of your TV. They provide better sound than the built-in TV speakers. Sonos soundbars produce a wide and spacious sound, which you control with the Sonos app. Sonos soundbars work with many streaming services, including Netflix, Disney+, YouTube and Prime Video. Thanks to Dolby Atmos, the sound from the soundbar is spread around the room, drawing you right into the film.

View all Sonos soundbars

Sonos portable speakers

Woman seated outdoors with a gray backpack holding a black SONOS speaker in a yellow side pocket. Trees are blurred in the background.

Sonos portable speakers are multifunctional: you can place them anywhere in your home and connect them to other devices in the Sonos ecosystem. You can also easily take portable Sonos speakers with you wherever you go. They have a powerful battery that lasts for over 10 hours. These Sonos speakers also feature Trueplay technology, which automatically adapts the sound from your speaker to the surroundings. Handy when you’re listening to music with friends in the park or playing the latest episode of your favourite podcast in the kitchen while you cook.

Create your own home cinema with Sonos

Three people play video games in a living room with a TV, sound bar, and city view through a window at night.

With all Sonos devices you can easily set up a system around your smart TV that makes your living room feel like a cinema. To do this, you’ll need a soundbar with a great sound system, such as hi-fi or Dolby Atmos. Then you add a subwoofer so you can hear – and even feel – the lower frequencies. Finally, you connect additional speakers for an even better surround sound experience. With the following steps, you can transform your Sonos ecosystem into a home cinema.

Create your own home cinema

Add Sonos subwoofers and speakers

A couple relaxes on a brown couch in a living room, watching a TV on a wooden stand next to a potted plant.

Add a Sonos subwoofer to your ecosystem to make films feel even more intense. A subwoofer only reproduces the lowest frequencies. Regular speakers can’t handle these bass tones. During a movie, you’ll notice muffled explosions or heavy thunderstorms much more clearly with a subwoofer. The tones are so low that you can almost feel them when you’re sitting close to a Sonos subwoofer.

For even more surround sound, simply place additional Sonos speakers around the room. The more speakers you connect, the better and more natural the sound is distributed throughout the space. You can fine-tune all the speakers in the Sonos app, so you don’t hear any echoes.

Read all about hi-fi

These articles might be intersting for you