#Note: Find full Sonos review list at the bottom.
There's no doubt that when comparing a single piece of Sonos One vs Five; the Five comes forward as it's louder, sounds better and provides better lower frequency response (higher bass) than the One.
So the Five outperforms the One in each and every department - as you can also see in Sonos speaker recommender tool at sonos.com.
But by how much?
A tiny bit? A huge amount? How would two pieces of Sonos One would compare to a single piece of Five?
Even in that case, Five is still nearly 100 USD more expensive. Would it still pay off?
Quick links:
By the way, One Gen 1 is also still being offered in sonos.com/en/shop/certified-refurbished. Just leaving this here in case you want to check that out, too:
Maybe also check out my write up on Sonos One Gen 1 vs One Gen 2.
- As long as you'll be using them in your average-sized bedroom and/or living room...
- Get two One's if you'll mostly be listening to acoustic, jazz, country, alternative rock, etc because stereo pairing becomes a higher priority in that case.
- Get the Five if you'll mostly be listening to rap, electronic (mainly techno), metal etc because lower frequency response and higher bass becomes a higher priority in this case.
- For smaller living spaces with less ideal acoustics, such as kitchens and bathrooms; DO NOT GET TWO ONE'S. Five is mostly a better option although can be overkill other times, so the alternative is a single piece of One.
- For larger living spaces, I'd recommend the Five again.
BTW, as you probably already know, Sonos discontinued Play:5 and replaced it with Five.
Well I researched the hell out of this condition as well as consulted some experts and laid out all my findings here in this post.
PS: Five is formerly known as Play:5. Keep that in mind as you surf through the internet. I've laid out their differences here in this post - which aren't all that much at all.
- Also see: My Best Sonos Speakers post
Sound quality
Have you ever noticed that there often tends to be quite the opposite opinions about a speaker?
I can understand this for more "personal taste" kinda products like clothing, for example.
But for engineering products like speakers? Personal tastes and preferences probably still play a role. But shouldn't it be less?
Why is it that we can't set a universal metric for sound quality?
First time I asked this question to myself has been a pivotal day.
Because it turns out that in the mid 90's, Electrical Engineer PhD Floyd Toole came up with a method called Spinorama. This is exactly what he accomplished with this. Turns out that his book Sound Reproduction is like the bible of audiophiles.
Put it simply, Spinorama is a set of measurements that gives a comprehensive overview of a speaker's performance from various angles.
It allows you to compare the performances of different speakers before even laying your ears hands on them.
Isn't that amazing?
This is why Spinorama was apparently groundbreaking news for audio industry. Hence in the mid-late 2010's, most brands and magazines began publishing Spinorama measurements, despite the challenges of making such measurements.
Fortunately, now we have the Spinorama data for a bunch of quite popular speakers. Pierre Aubert put all this untidy data together and put it into https://www.spinorama.org/. This is a stunning source. Pretty valuable stuff from him right there.
All good up to this point.
Now there comes a caveat.
Since the sound speakers propagate are in the form of omnidirectional waves, all measurements are obtained in anechoic or semi-anechoic chambers (a super-quiet room where soundwaves don't bounce back, here's how different that room sounds [a mind blowing time-adjusted video]).
This is a problem because it means that Spinorama alone, unfortunately, won't give us all we need. Placement and reflections play an equally important role there too.
This is why most A-class brands (like SVS, Bang & Olufsen, etc) often come up with room correction features, adjusted either manually or automatically. The EQ adapts itself to the placement (room, corner, center, etc) for a better (deeper and more accurate) sound. Which is great.
Additionally they often emphasize the importance of placement, here is an example: https://www.svsound.com/blogs/subwoofer-setup-and-tuning/75365187-the-art-of-subwoofer-placement
Anyways...
The source code under Pierre Aubert's work is licensed under GPL (General public license). He didn't perform any of the measurements himself, and instead he compiled all of them into one place, so that makes sense.
At this point, I thought that if there was a tool that combined both the Spinorama with the room acoustics data, it'd be extremely useful.
Unfortunately, it turns out that there wasn't any.
This is where I stepped in and partnered with an Acoustics and Audio Engineering PhD in order to achieve this.
We combined Spinorama data with room acoustics and came up with Soundton. A very simple, 2D online tool that allows you to:
- Reveal optimal speaker positions in a room,
- Test with real speakers from real brands,
- Compare different speakers and different positions in the room.
It can be very valuable for the vast majority.
The colormap provides you the locations with the best (green) and worst (red) listening experience.
It works the best with subwoofers since Soundton processes low frequency response waves only.
- Soundton is going to be, say, 80% accurate. Not 100%.
- Because, other parameters such as the age/materials of the building, furniture/windows in place also have an impact on room acoustics.
- If you want absolutely the most detailed room analysis, then what you need is an acoustics consultant. Mind you that's going to require deep pockets and patience though... assuming you find the right person and they get the job done.
Anyways...
This is what I'd recommend you to base your decision primarily on - which comes down to the type of room you'll be using your new speakers.
If you're looking to get only a single piece of Sonos One, Sonos generally recommends using them in kitchens and bathrooms (source at sonos.com).
Because, Sonos One isn't a powerful speaker by itself by any means. It's equipped with only one tweeter and one mid-woofer. Even some portable speakers (like Marshall's Kilburn I reviewed here) are stronger than that.
This is why it's looked at as mostly suitable for kitchens and bathrooms - relatively smaller spaces.
With the Five, on the other hand, Sonos went all in with a whooping 3 tweeters and 3 mid-woofers of equipment.
This does not only make the Five a well-equipped, complete speaker in Sonos' own line-up but out in the ENTIRE speaker market.
It's an absolute unit.
I wouldn't say that the Five is one class ahead the One. But at least two classes ahead. They're incomparable.
Now the part I covered until now is clear and there's pretty much no doubt about that - as you probably already knew. Where things get tricky is when you compare TWO pieces of Sonos One to Five. Because...
Enter stereo pairing.
Sonos offers stereo pairing set-up for multiple products - which, in our case, is two Sonos One's. You can read more about this here: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/1066?language=en_US
Stereo pairing refers to splitting the left and right channels in the source and assigning each of them to each One.
This makes a huge difference in sound propagation when two sound sources (One's) are placed separately from one another.
When the room size and acoustics are on point (which is the case for living rooms and bathrooms in most cases); it almost feels like a band is playing inside the very room you're at.
Now, no matter how many drivers and amplifiers you pack into a speaker, no mater how good a speaker sounds, you simply not going to get equally stereo sound from a single cabinet.
It's impossible.
This obviously is a strong advantage for two One's - although it doesn't mean it's going to be the better option over Five in every condition.
Because, two (or insert any number here) pieces of One still will not be able to offer high bass due to weaker woofers. Five is clearly ahead in the bass department.
Loudness
Another advantage you get with rich and powerful equipment of Five is the loudness department.
In short, a Five is going to out-sound (if that's a word) two pieces of One's.
The difference isn't small or negligible either. You can go drunk party level loud and beyond with the Five.
If you're living in a regular apartment flat with average sound proofing and wall thickness, then Sonos One's would still fill the bill - but unlike Five, they won't be drunk party level loud.
Voice assistants
Unlike Five, One offers voice assistants, which is important to many.
And if you don't need voice assistants, check out One SL.
It's identical to the One with the exception that it isn't equipped with any mics or voice assistants. Everything else stays the same.
You can still pair two One SL's together, or a One with One SL. You can control One SL using other (preferably Sonos) speakers as well.
Plus, Google Assistant and Alexa come in one package, unlike other merchants like Marshall who tend to manufacture two different models of speakers for each assistant. Such as Marshall Stanmore II Voice: Alexa and Marshall Stanmore II Voice: Google Assistant.
AUX input
The Five is equipped with an AUX input, whereas the One's aren't. It's an input that allows using the speaker with turntables, vinyl, etc.
What about [3x One's] VS [1x Five + 1x One]?
This is usually the case for extremely large living spaces, and in most cases, I'd recommend the latter.
Conclusion
In summary...
- As long as you'll looking for speakers to use in your average-sized bedroom and/or living room...
- Get two One's if you'll mostly be listening to acoustic, jazz, country, alternative rock, etc because stereo pairing becomes a higher priority in that case.
- Get the Five if you'll mostly be listening to rap, electronic (mainly techno), metal etc because lower frequency response and higher bass becomes a higher priority in this case.
- For smaller living spaces with less ideal acoustics, such as kitchens and bathrooms; Five can mostly be a better option.
- For larger living spaces, again I'd recommend the Five over two pieces of One's.
Some good video reviews that helped me:
Sonos One Review
Sonos Five Review
Owner response
I also talked to someone who owns many Sonos products, including two Sonos One's and one Five. Here's his response about this comparison:
Hi!
I have a pair of stereo Play 1's from a few years ago in my living room. A Five in my kitchen, and just added a Playbase with Sonos One's as surrounds.
I had a second Five in my kitchen, it was by far the best setup with incredible volume, bass and stereo separation, but it looked too crowded on the counter.
The Play:1's have great stereo separation and detail, they sound great for everything except for bass heavy rap / electronic music, especially when you turn the volume up beyond half way.
For anything acoustic, jazz, country, etc., they're perfect. The Five has much more low end bass, and can easily reach the lowest notes. The single speaker doesn't quite sound like a sub-woofer, but when I had them as a pair they would shake the house!
It has some greater detail and clarity of instruments compared to the Play:1's, and I took the suggestion from someone else on here, that if you're going to be listening closer to the speaker, it's the better option.
I'm usually within a few feet of it when cooking in the kitchen. If you have a mid-size space, the One's are great, but anything bigger or more open concept, the Five has more power to easily fill the space.