WiFi speakers arguably replace home radios except in one aspect: price. Wireless-enable speakers cost hundreds of dollars each — and each one provides a mono experience, albeit a high-quality mono sound. You have to be a fairly serious hi-fi streaming aficionado to invest in, for example, a Sonos system through the home.
Sonos, in fact is widely regarded as the market leader in quality and brand recognition. Even Sonos, which has built a business on its premium product, recently unleashed the Sonos Play:1 (which, yes, we also covered) as a lower-cost alternative. The M5, coming out mere months after the larger and pricier M7, is Samsung’s recognition of the sub-premium category void that existed. All we know of Samsung’s pricing is that the M5 will be cheaper than the $400 M7. If Samsung takes it pricing cue from Sonos (as if tech companies ever imitated each other’s business tactics), the M5 will hit the $199 point, like the Play:1.
We’ve noticed downward pressure on pricey Bluetooth wireless speakers, too. Less expensive up and down the product lines (reflecting their less reliable and shorter-distance Bluetooth connectivity), the Bluetooth cohort offers a more granular array of price points, sizes, etc.. Bose, a premium speaker brand if there ever was one, recently released the SoundLink Mini as a counter to the older and larger SoundLink II.