For the most part speakers are typically designed to project sound forward towards the listener. It makes the most sense after all, although to be fair we have see our fair share of speakers that can blast music out 360-degrees which will make it ideal for parties and gatherings. That being said, Sonos has unveiled something similar with the PLAY:5.
The PLAY:5 is the company’s latest set of speakers. However it isn’t just a regular pair of speakers as it is a smart and adaptive speaker. It comes with three mid-woofers and three tweeters. The tweeters are placed around the speaker with one in the middle, and one on each side of the speaker.
Ultimately this allows the speaker system to blast out music towards the listener while at the same playing music out of its sides, creating a more atmospheric effect. Alternatively users can flip the speaker onto its side if they prefer that setup, and because the PLAY:5 is a smart speaker, it can detect its orientation and disable the tweeter that is on its side.
Users can also link another PLAY:5 speaker and when it detects there is another speaker next to it, the respective tweeter will be turned off as well. There is also a built-in capacitive control panel that allows users to adjust and control the music playback through gestures. This seems to be in line with leaked app screenshots we saw the other day, which has since confirmed to be the PLAY:5.
If this sounds like a set of speakers you might be interested in, the Sonos PLAY:5 is expected to be made available soon and will be priced at $499.