Sonos is giving owners of its portable speakers a new way to use them at home, turning select models into temporary rear speakers for surround sound systems.

The feature, named Portable Surrounds, arrives with Sonos OS 27 and allows users to pair two compatible portable speakers with a supported Sonos soundbar creating a surround sound experience but using them as rear channels when watching movies or television. 

Once viewers are finished watching, the speakers can easily be moved elsewhere around the home.

The update is part of Sonos’ broader Sonos Fabric platform, designed to make multi-room audio setups more flexible. Rather than needing to purchase dedicated rear speakers such as the company’s Era or older One models, owners can now temporarily bring two portable speakers behind the sofa to create a more immersive home cinema experience.

However, there are some hardware restrictions. Portable Surrounds works with Sonos S2-compatible products and requires an Arc, Arc Ultra, Beam (Gen 2) or the newer Beam Ultra soundbar. Older products including the Playbar, Playbase, Arc SL, first-generation Beam and Ray aren’t supported.

For the portable speakers, Sonos currently supports two Play speakers or two Move 2 units. The speakers must be the same model, which means users cannot combine a Play with a Move 2 to create a surround pair. Also, earlier generations of these portable speakers are excluded.

The setup is designed to be almost automatic and according to Sonos, once the portable speakers have been positioned behind the sofa, the system can recognise them as rear speakers in about eight seconds using Wi-Fi. Connection via Wi-Fi rather than Bluetooth allows the speakers to integrate into the existing Sonos home theatre system.

The feature could appeal to Sonos owners who want surround sound without permanently dedicating additional speakers to their living room. It’s also handy in that it gives existing portable speakers a new role, home cinema duties. 

Sonos OS 27 is rolling out now, accessed through the updated Sonos app and compatible hardware.