READ NEXT: Rugged and weather-resistance speakers for enjoying audio outside Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin review: Smart functionality and app

While you do so, the Formation Wedge will get on with the job of giving you full-scale, potent and well-defined audio quality. It’s not quite as expansive a listen as its new Zeppelin relative, but it counters with some implacably punchy low-frequency presence and some extremely decorative wood serving as its rear panel. The most interesting aspect of the new Zeppelin is that it's built to last a long time. Its "digital brain" can be upgraded over time, with multi-room support being added in early 2022. That means you'll be able to fill your home with sound by pairing the new Zeppelin with other speakers in the Bowers & Wilkins Formation range - and it also means that the speaker should last you a long time. And you'll be glad of that when you find out how much it costs. Most important of all though, is the Sonos sound. There’s no hi-res support here (not even the ability to downscale hi-res music files), but the range’s forward, enthusiastic and energetic sound makes this the best pound-for-pound way to painlessly and reliably fill your home with music. And Sonos’s policy of constantly updating, finessing and improving its offering looks likely to make it so for the foreseeable. It sports a tactile lacquered wooden surface that lights up as you interact with it. We’ve seen for ourselves how these speakers are made, and we can tell you that plenty of care goes into selecting the wood and sanding it down by hand.It's important for us to compare the performance of these speakers against the specs claimed by their manufacturers too, which is why we take the time to make sure the claims are legit. The 2021 Zeppelin gets just about everything right in the sound department and it scores well on the smart front, too. Design is also important. Happily, most AirPlay speakers are simple and streamlined, meaning they'll fit into most homes discretely. However, it is worth considering whether a small portable speaker, like the Sonos Roam or HomePod mini, is better for you than a big B&W speaker. Those in search of a big, bassy party speaker will likely find the Zeppelin’s sound a little analytical but there’s no doubting it has the muscle to fulfil the role. Anything over about 50% volume and I felt in danger of being the subject of a noise complaint.

The frequency range is nicely balanced overall, with no area given undue prominence nor too little power. And, with something like Mogwai’s Come On Die Young, the Qb 2nd Gen. showcases its facility with dynamics, both great and small. The Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin doesn’t quite reach the high mark set by its brand sibling, the B&W Formation Wedge, which has our top score in the premium category at 160. But it’s currently in third, just ahead of the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Balance and the Google Home Max.

Zeppelin App Controls and Smart Features

However, if you don’t have an Apple Music subscription, you’re rather limited when it comes to music streaming. You can't ask the HomePod mini to play anything through Spotify – that can only be enabled through AirPlay, and requires using your phone rather than the simpler method of asking Siri to play tunes with your voice. If there’s a single reason to buy the HomePod mini, it’s the sound quality, which delivered clear treble and smooth mids during our tests. The design is reminiscent of a carafe, maybe, or a fancy, big egg with a cabinet made from natural minerals, smooth and dense like stone. At 6.9kg, it's reassuringly hefty too. It doesn't quite have all the wireless mod cons of 2019 - there's AirPlay but no AirPlay 2 and you can get Alexa or Google Assistant voice controls via Bluetooth. You'll find touch controls under the top-glass plate. Play via Spotify Connect, Qobuz, TuneIn and TIDAL (though no MQA support). All file types are supported, up to 24-bit/192kHz, with initial upsampling for anything below that resolution. Voice control: Alexa | Hi-res audio: No | Spotify Connect: Yes | Apple AirPlay: Yes | Wi-Fi: Yes | Bluetooth: 4

The new processor puts to rest any doubts you might have about future compatibility and firmware updates (even though the older Play:5 was already compatible with the company's S2 platform). Zeppelin (2021) by Bowers & Wilkins will strengthen the sound quality from rather any device. It works superbly with most equipment in any office. Presented here is a bluetooth speaker. Bluetooth, with which the Zeppelin (2021) employs, is the most widespread type of wireless speaker connection. It joins two pieces of tech. This loudspeaker's delivery may not be as stable as a Wi-Fi speaker. Fantastic Quality and Durable Speakers This comes down to the fact that it is the first speaker from Sonos with Dolby Atmos support. Thanks to up- and side-firing speakers, its spatial audio is next-generation. It's the biggest differential factor out of the two Era offerings and the main reason why we would choose the 300 over the 100.

How to connect the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin?

It wins points for its ease of use. Sonos' app makes it easy to set up, and easy to tune it to your room, helping to make the spatial sound come across even more dramatically. It's bigger than most of the options here (but not all), but it can certainly fill a large room on its own, which is an advantage. These small speakers have a pretty big price tag, but these aren't "just" a pair of bookshelf speakers. They're incredibly well-connected, with AirPlay 2, HDMI ARC and USB-C, Ethernet, analogue and digital inputs, a pre-out for a subwoofer and CAT 5 for wiring a pair together. If you do wire them up you get up to 24-bit/384KHz and DSD256; wireless connection downsamples to 24-bit/48kHz. As for artifacts, there was some pumping and compression noted at high volumes. Sub-scores explained

The new Zeppelin has been brought up to date with Alexa built-in, so you can ask the voice assistant to play a song of your choice, or to control your smart home devices - though there are physical buttons on the top of the speaker's enclosure if you prefer. Also on the ‘to do’ list is multiroom functionality with other Zeppelins and/or member of the Formation range of wireless speakers. Support for AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect multi-room streaming is already here.) First and foremost, this is a high-resolution device. The onboard DAC is of 24bit/192kHz resolution, but is currently restricted to outputting at a maximum of 24bit/96kHz – although this is scheduled to change sooner rather than later, which will make the Zeppelin an even higher-res product than it already is. As far as ‘what’s new’ goes, well, it’s all new despite looking very much like previous Zeppelin speakers. Inside and out, the Zeppelin has not so much been overhauled as begun again from scratch. One of the obvious ones is budget. None of the speakers in our list is super-cheap cheap, but some are much more affordable than others. And they are from some of the best audio brands around, which means your money will go further and you'll have access to updates so they keep working for a long time.

Inspired by Airships

At 650x210x194mm and 6.5kg, the Zeppelin is one of the larger wireless speakers around – and, let’s not forget, it looks like a Zeppelin. So while its little metal stand doesn’t have all that much of a footprint, the speaker itself requires (demands, actually) quite a bit of breathing space. Don’t let the primary colours fool you: for the money, the Ultimate Ears is a remarkably accomplished-sounding little device. It does manful low-frequency work without getting carried away, and it’s as detailed and balanced through the rest of the frequency range as anyone dare hope. Want to keep costs down without completely compromising performance? This is where your money should go.