Mute no more: Sonos One gets a voice with Alexa

Alex Choros - Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor

Last updated 26 April 2018

Mute no more: Sonos One gets a voice with Alexa

The Sonos One might be pitched as a "smart speaker for music lovers", but that hasn't been in the case in Australia. Well, until today. While the Sonos One didn't ship with any voice assistants locally, Alexa is now available for Australian owners thanks to a free software update that rolled out overnight.

Sonos' Alexa support is predominantly designed for music playback. As with the Amazon Echo, you can ask the Sonos' Alexa to play a specific song, an album, shuffle songs by an artist, and more. And if you've got more than one Sonos speaker, you're able to use your Sonos One to get music going on any other Sonos speakers you own - even if they're not voice-enabled.

Music does however have to come from a supported streaming service; these currently include Spotify, Amazon Prime Music, iHeartRadio, or TuneIn. Alexa isn't able to access music you’ve got stored in your local Sonos library or on your phone. If you have music playing from a local source or a non-support music service, you are however able to use voice commands to pause or resume your song.

While it's taken awhile for Alexa to come to Australian Sonos speakers, the upshot of this that it's better. Ryan Taylor, Sonos' Global Director of Partnerships, says Alexa is essentially launching with six months of updates here. These include improved voice recognition, Spotify compatibility, and support for a wider range of Alexa skills.

The Sonos One may be a speaker first, but Alexa still has the vast majority of other skills available on the core range of Amazon Echo products. These include news briefing, traffic updates, and smart home appliance control. Sonos has however omitted Alexa Voice Services, which means you can't use the Sonos One to make or receive phone calls.

If you've got an existing Sonos setup and don't feel like picking up a One, you're able to use any Amazon Echo product to control your Sonos speakers.

When the One first launched, Sonos promised supported for Apple's AirPlay 2 and Google Assistant in the future. Taylor says the company is still committed to bring these features to market, but wasn't able to provide specifics as to when.

"Our goal is to be open, so if you want to switch form iOS to Android so you don’t have to worry about if your home sound system is compatible."

AIrPlay 2 will allow iPhone and HomePod owners to use Siri to control their Sonos speakers, whereas Google Assistant will essentially turn a Sonos One into a souped up Google Home.

Going forward, Taylor expects all future Sonos products to support voice.

"We think of voice as a core part of the Sonos experience. Maybe not all, but most future product developments include voice."

While the primary motivation for voice support is "getting music playing as quickly as possible", Taylor says it's also about accessibility. The company's research found that most Sonos-owning households have one or two people responsible for controlling the system. Voice control is an attempt to open up Sonos systems to anyone in the house, by removing the need for a dedicated app.

Sonos One retails for $299. Its non-smart predecessor, the Play:1, has had its price cut to $229.

Alex Choros

Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor | X | Instagram | Threads | LinkedIn

Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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