Sonos Rivals HomePod With New Assistant Speaker, Adding AirPlay 2 Support to Speakers Next Year

Sonos today introduced the Sonos One, an all-new smart speaker with six far-field microphones that allow it to work with digital assistants.

sonos one
Sonos One can be controlled entirely with voice. At launch, it will support Amazon Alexa in the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom, including full voice support for Prime Music, iHeartRadio, Pandora, SiriusXM, and TuneIn. Alexa voice control for Spotify will be coming soon after launch.

Google Assistant support will be added in 2018, making the Sonos One the first smart speaker with support for multiple major assistants.

Sonos One can play music from more than 80 streaming services, including popular ones like Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play Music, Tidal, and Pandora. In addition, it supports other traditional Alexa capabilities related to the weather, timers, news and traffic reports, the latest sports scores, and more.


Sonos is releasing a free software update today that will enable many of its existing speakers to be controlled with Alexa as well. In the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom, Sonos owners can use any Alexa-enabled device like the Echo or Echo Dot to control the speaker with voice commands.

Sonos also announced that it will begin supporting Apple's AirPlay 2 in 2018, making it possible to play any sound from an iOS device on Sonos speakers. Apple users will also be able to control music on Sonos speakers with any Siri-enabled device, such as an iPhone, iPad, and the HomePod once it launches.

Sonos One comes in black or white, weighs four pounds, and has an illuminated LED indicator light to ensure you are always aware when the speaker's microphone is active. The speaker connects to a home's Wi-Fi network, and it also has one 10/100 Mbps Ethernet port for those who prefer a wired connection.

The speaker features premium audio quality, with two Class-D digital amplifiers tuned to match the speaker drivers and acoustic architecture, one tweeter, one mid-woofer, adjustable bass and treble controls, and a six far-field microphone array used for advanced beamforming and echo cancellation.

Sonos One will be available starting Tuesday, October 24 for $199 in the United States. Pre-orders start today.

Tags: AirPlay, Sonos

Top Rated Comments

WannaGoMac Avatar
71 months ago
Begun the speaker assistant war has...
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
avanpelt Avatar
71 months ago
If Sonos is releasing a $199 speaker with voice assistant compatibility built in, you better believe Apple will be lowering the price of HomePod. There is no way Siri is worth a $150 price premium over a comparable Sonos product.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Blakjack Avatar
71 months ago
Sonos just shatted on Apple. There speaker will support both rivals voice assistants and will be 130 bucks cheaper? If the Apple homepod doesn’t have significantly better sound quality It’s going to be a sad day. There is no way whatsoever Apple can support a claim their homepod is worth even 50 dollars more at this point. I understand they are selling it’s sound quality but let’s be real....the Siri function is what’s important in this smart speaker race. And we all know Siri is literal garbage compared to the likes of Google assistant and Alexa. To add to its lack of value, companies aren’t adopting Apple’s HomeKit at a rate that justifies buying the homepod over this new Sonos One. I was so exited about going broke (not really) by buying two homepods. But now I can save some money and buy two Sonos ones and actually get a superior product.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
green94 Avatar
71 months ago
The Sonis One is basically a Play 1 with extra mics. It’s not even in the same league as the HomePod, which is better than the Play 3 and closing in on the Play 5 for sound quality.

The premium you pay for a HomePod isn’t Siri. It’s for the real-time modeling/sound processing.
Have you heard the HomePod first hand? Curious if you are making assumptions on sound quality based on previews from the internet.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
duffman9000 Avatar
71 months ago
I have an echo. We use it for comedy effect (I don’t know what else to use it for).
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JamesLeSmash Avatar
71 months ago
Finally! Airplay! I hope the airplay update will be available for all existing sonos speakers. It's not much of an issue for me because I can play music from my library off the Sonos app on my phone, but when I want to play off my macbook, I have to airplay through an Apple TV.

The Sonos One sounds interesting to me in particular because I already have Sonos speakers in my house.
Why don't you use the Sonos.app for MacOS?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 15 Pro Mock Feature Buttonless

iPhone 15 Pro Max to 'Break Record' for Thinnest Bezels on a Smartphone

Friday March 17, 2023 2:59 am PDT by
The iPhone 15 Pro Max will have the thinnest bezels of any smartphone, beating the record currently held by the Xiaomi 13. That's according to the leaker known as "Ice Universe," who has divulged accurate information about Apple's plans in the past. Both iPhone 15 Pro models are expected to have thinner, curved bezels compared to the iPhone 14 Pro, potentially resulting in an Apple...
iPhone 12 Pro vs iPhone 15 Pro Feature

iPhone 12 Pro vs. 15 Pro: New Features to Expect if You've Waited to Upgrade

Friday March 17, 2023 10:29 am PDT by
While year-over-year iPhone upgrades are not always groundbreaking, new features can begin to stack up over multiple generations. For example, the iPhone 15 Pro will be a notable upgrade for those who still have a three-year-old iPhone 12 Pro. If you are still using an iPhone 12 Pro and are considering upgrading to the iPhone 15 Pro when it launches later this year, we have put together a...
iphone 14 pro max deep purple feature purple

iPhone 15 Pro Launching This Year With These 11 New Features

Monday March 13, 2023 6:47 am PDT by
While the iPhone 15 lineup is around six months away, there have already been plenty of rumors about the devices. Many new features and changes are expected for the iPhone 15 Pro models in particular, including a titanium frame and more. Below, we have recapped 11 features rumored for iPhone 15 Pro models that are not expected to be available on the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus:A17...
top stories 18mar2023

Top Stories: iPhone 15 Pro Pricing, New iOS 16.4 Beta, Siri vs. ChatGPT, and More

Saturday March 18, 2023 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's high-end iPhone models have started at $999 in the U.S. since they first launched back in 2017 with the iPhone X, but could this finally be the year that starting price sees an increase? This week also saw some more rumors about Apple's upcoming headset and the company's explorations in the booming AI industry as well as the release of a new round of beta updates, so read on for all...
iphone 14 pro max deep purple feature purple

iPhone 15 Pro Predicted to See First Price Increase Since iPhone X

Wednesday March 15, 2023 7:49 am PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will likely be more expensive than previous Pro models, according to Jeff Pu, a tech analyst at Hong Kong-based investment firm Haitong International Securities. In a research note this week, Pu predicted the iPhone 15 Pro models will see a price increase due to several rumored hardware upgrades, including a titanium frame,...
original iphone auction

Factory-Sealed Original iPhone Sells for $55,000 at Auction

Friday March 17, 2023 1:08 pm PDT by
A first-generation iPhone still sealed inside its box sold for $54,904 at auction, which is more than $54,000 over the original $599 price tag of the device when it was released in 2007. The original iPhone was put up for sale by RR Auction on behalf of a former Apple employee who purchased it back when it first came out. Back in February, an original, sealed iPhone sold for over $63,000,...