Noise pollution reduction in the environment is a major challenge from a societal and health point of view. To implement strategies to improve sound environments, experts need information concerning the initial state of noise pollution. The first source of information is based on the elaboration of noise maps, but with limitations on the realism of the maps obtained, due to numerous calculation assumptions. The second is based on the use of measured data, in particular through professional measurement observatories, but in limited numbers for practical and financial reasons. More recently, with the miniaturization of electronic components, the accessibility of low-cost computing processors, the improvement of the performance of electric batteries... researchers have proposed to implement low-cost sensor networks for the evaluation of sound environments. Over the past fifteen years, the literature has presented numerous experiments in this field, ranging from proof of concept to operational implementation. The goal of this article is to review the literature in order to identify the optimal technical characteristics of the sensors to address the problem of noise pollution. In a complementary way, we also discuss the challenges of a massive deployment of such solution.