JBL takes aim directly at Sonos with new Cove speakers for multi-room audio
They couldn't look more targeted
If you were in any doubt that Sonos is looked at by the rest of the audio industry with some envy, all you really have to do is watch what other brands launch. I've seen a fair few home speaker announcements in my day, and JBL's new Cove speakers are just about as direct in competing with Sonos as any I can remember.
JBL says that Cove is a new "whole-home Wi‑Fi audio system" and, to be fair, I'm a huge fan of Wi-Fi speakers in general. Their convenience is hard to match when you're at home, and their connectivity is superior to Bluetooth-only models in my experience.
Cove launches with three models – M1, P1 and X1. To start with M1, it's a fixed-in-place speaker that needs mains power and is very much the entry option to the range. That doesn't mean it's all that cheap, though, at $219.95 in the US, £199.99 in the UK and €229.99 in the EU. Think of it as JBL's equivalent to the Sonos Era 100 SL.
The most interesting speaker in the lineup is the JBL Cove P1, which is the competition for the five-star Sonos Play. Like the Play, the P1 is portable with a charging dock that you can put where you want. It's a bit more powerful than the M1, too, and has Dolby Atmos support thanks to an upfiring tweeter. It gets 14 hours of use on a charge, and has water and dust resistance at an IP56 rating.
That bump in specs and options also makes it quite pricey – at $399.95 in the US, £399.99 in the UK and €449.99 in the EU. That's significantly more than even Sonos' equivalent, which is punchy.
Finally, there's the biggest speaker of the lot, the Cove X1, which reverts to powered use and looks more like the Sonos Era 300 equivalent. It offers 3D sound, apparently, and therefore also has Dolby Atmos support, and comes in at $379.95, £429.99 or €499.99 depending on your region.
All of the speakers can be grouped in multi-room setups and controlled through JBL's app, and the two smaller speakers can also be used as surrounds with the JBL Bar Mk2 soundbar, which is welcome. They'll all be available from JBL in October this year, with a precise launch date likely to follow fairly soon.
They'll also all become smart speakers later this year with Alexa+ integration, which might be of interest to plenty of people. They actually launch with a wide range of connectivity options, too, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Roon Ready, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, and Qobuz Connect.
To be clear, too, it's probably a good thing that Sonos' reputation for multi-room audio is prompting this competition. While I use its speakers happily, I've thought for a long while that more Wi-Fi speakers need to flood the market to make it easier to get multi-room setups without breaking the bank.
For now, JBL's route isn't one that seems to prioritise affordability, but give it a couple of years, and it'll be fascinating to see where the Cove lineup ends up sitting in the market.
