INDUSTRIAL DESIGN: this $20 earbud brand just won the speaker category too

PCMag just published their 2026 Readers' Choice results for headphones and speakers. Thousands of real owners rating what they actually bought and kept. Not a blind test. Not experts in a lab. Just people living with their gear.

I recently did a post about the Wired blind headphone test where a $199 Soundcore beat $600 competition and audio experts didn't recognize their own picks - -7381673500014694400-5XSt?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rc m=ACoAAAhel3cBwJK-q9-r5GKGQOzRXjFhg7vRmwo ​ ​ PCMag's reader survey just handed Anker Soundcore the win for overall wireless speakers beating Bose, JBL, and Sonos. Two different tests, two different methodologies, same brand winning.

The uncomfortable one: Sonos scored lower in the Wi-Fi speaker category than anywhere else in the survey. Wi-Fi speakers are the only thing Sonos makes. Their entire identity. Outranked by Bose in the one place they should own the room.

I'm not an audiophile and I have no opinion on the correct way to wiggle the air. I'm just passing along what PCMag found. You audio people tend to get worked up over these things. So please, don’t come after me for their findings.