Everyone loves Sonos for its ability to stream music throughout the house. Now there’s another reason to swoon over this super-easy, super versatile, whole-house wireless music system: its ability to function as a voice-enabled smart speaker. The company recently announced Sonos One, the company’s first wireless speaker with voice control built-in.
Supports Alexa; Google to Come
Specifically, the new speakers supports Amazon Alexa, but it will likely expand next year to include other voice assistants like Google Assistant.
You’ll be able to ask it to play music from any of more than 80 different streaming services. You can use it as a standalone speaker, wirelessly pair two of them for stereo sound, or use them with the company’s Playbase or Playbar to create home theater surround sound.
Voice Control of Streaming Music
Out of the box, the Sonos One features full voice support for Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Pandora, SiriusXM, and TuneIn. Alexa voice support for Spotify is in the works. Voice transport controls like pause, skip, volume up and down, and asking what’s playing will be available for all other music services that Sonos supports.
“There are many speakers out there that you can control with your voice, but most of them are just devices that make sounds, not systems designed for delivering great sound easily in any room of your home,” says Giles Martin, Sound Experience Leader at Sonos. “We essentially blended three separate ecosystems with the ability to start the music playing with voice, add songs to your playlist from the Sonos app, and play music in a different room from your Spotify app – it’s so simple to use but took quite a bit of work to create.”
A Home Automation Hub for Other Alexa Devices
But what’s really cool is that you can also use the speaker to issue commands other Alexa-enabled devices, essentially turning the smart speaker into a home control hub. If the music is on when you want to ask Alexa to do something, the speaker’s voice capture technology allows the speaker to still hear you over the music—without the need to shout.
Availability and Pricing
The Sonos One, available Oct. 24, retails for $199 and supports not only Alexa natively but also Google Assistant with a software update in 2018. That price puts the product at $70 more than Amazon Echo and $150 less than the forthcoming Apple HomePod.
If you already own a Sonos system, you’ll still be able to incorporate Alexa, thanks to a free software update. You just need to purchase any Alexa-enabled device like an Amazon Echo or Echo Dot and download the Sonos skill for Alexa.
Other News
The other big news announced today is that Sonos will support AirPlay 2 in 2018, This is Apple’s new multiroom streaming service that distributes audio from one source to many speakers. You will also be able to ask any Siri-enabled device to control music on Sonos speakers.
One more tidbit: Since 2016, Sonos owners have been able to control Sonos directly from the Spotify app. By the end of this year, users will be able to do the same from Pandora and Tidal. Direct control from Audible, iHeart Radio, and Kuke Music apps are forthcoming in 2018.
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