ALEXASPEAKERS
ISSUE 378|COMPUTERSHOPPER|AUGUST 2019 95
ALEXASPEAKERS
NO,THISISN’Tan Echo speaker; it won’t
even solely be an Alexa speaker,asanupdate
enabling Google Assistant is planned forthis
July (although this feature is overdue an
initially planned 2018 launch).
The Sonos One is, however,one of the
best third-party Alexa speakers on the
market, so is worth looking at here alongside
Amazon’s own wares. It’s arguably closest to
the Echo Plus, coming in with apremium price
and afocus on audio quality,but there’s no
built-in smart hub or touchscreen display.
ONETO ONE
Design-wise,the SonosOne is extremely
reminiscent of the Sonos Play:1 (Shopper345).
Both are neutral-looking, squat speakers with
an Ethernet port on the rear (complementing
the Wi-Fi); the only fundamental differences
are the lack of athreader speaker mount,
meaning the One can’t be wall-mounted, and
that the physical buttons of the Play:1 have
been replaced by touch-sensitive controls.
The central button pauses or resumes
playback, buttons either side adjust the
volume,and another positioned above toggles
the microphone on and off,with asmall white
LED signifying when the One is listening out
forvoice commands. The only other button is
at the rear,and forgood reason: it’s only used
at the beginning of the setup process, so you
won’t need to use it very often.
If you’re familiar with the Play:1 speaker,
you know what to expect from sound quality.
The One might be small but its sound is the
opposite: it’s exciting, detailed and as capable
of droning out soothing ambient as it is firing
out staccatoguitar riffs and vicious techno.
As you’d expect forsuch atiny speaker,
the bass isn’t earth-shakingly powerful and
there isn’t the mighty mid-range slam of
Sonos’s larger speakers, but what’s there is
surprisingly potent and well controlled.
Crucially,the One’s sound blends
perfectly with the other speakers in the
Playfamily,soifyou incorporateitinto
aSonos multiroom setup you don’t get
sudden changes in tonality as you
wander from one room to another.
Unfortunately,this leads to one minor
complaint: Sonos doesn’t officially
allow you to pair aSonos One with
aPlay:1 to form astereo pair.
Given the near-identical sound
profile of those two speakers, that’s a
bit of ashame.Thankfully,however,there
is an unofficial solution: you can download
the SonoSequencr app foriOS and link a
Play:1 and One together.
SONOS One
★★★★★
£169•From http://www.cramptonandmoore.co.ukVERDICT
SonosandAlexajoinforcesinthisgreat-
soundingsmartspeaker
Another limitation is
that the Sonos One can’t
do everything Amazon’s
Alexa-powered Echo
products can. Youcan ask
general questions about the
weather or nearbyshops
and services, perform
maths and weight
conversion calculations, set
alarms and reminders,
among many other things.
However,you can’t use any
of the voice call, Drop In or
messaging features, nor
can you ask Alexa to read
ebooks or receive
notifications. Youcan’t
change the wake word, either.ONE FORALL
That all adds up to one good reason to keep it
in the Echo family,but then none of those
speakers slots intoamultiroom system as
the Sonos One does. Granted, the setup
process is more convoluted than that of a
pure Sonos speaker,clunkily bouncing you
between the Alexa and Sonos apps on your
phone,but that effort is worthwhile.Add it to
an existing system, and you can then control
playback across an entire home with voice
commands. Forinstance,you can adjust the
volume in specific zones, playmusic in
different areas of the house,orpause
playback and skip through tracks.
What it doesn’t currently let you do,
however,isgroup rooms together or actively
move the music from one room to another.One workaround is to group all the speakers
in your home using the Sonos app,then ask
Alexa to muteorunmuterooms as you see fit.
Alexa is also able to control playback from
Spotify,TuneIn Radio and Amazon Music, but
that isn’t the case forTidal, Apple Music,
Bandcamp,SoundCloud or any of the other
services supported by Sonos. While playing
music from these services, it’s only possible
to pause playback or adjust the volume.
Another thing to remember is that you’ll
need aSpotify Premium account if you want
to take advantage of the integration.FINETUNE
Use any of the supported services, however,
and Alexa comes intoits own. Youcan ask
Alexa to playmusic by genre or artist, or
request specific tracks, albums, playlists or
radio stations.
If you’re already used to pulling out your
phone and choosing music from the Sonos
app,voice control might seem more like a
gimmick than akiller feature,but it soon
becomes second nature.
The exception is when Alexa gets
confused about what you’re trying to play,
which can happen from time to time.
Often this is helped by spelling out the
name of the band, album or song you
want, but sometimes the only wayto
stop Alexa playing the wrong song with
asimilar title is to use the app.
Despiteall the minor niggles and
frustrations, the Sonos One can quickly
and happily become an integral part of any
Sonos system. It’s distinct from the Echo
range in that music takes centre stage,and
while it therefore might not have the smart
home chops of the Echo Plus or Echo Show,
its sound quality surpasses both of them.ERSHOPPER|AUGUST 2019
ng, detailed and as capable
thing ambient as it is firing
riffs and vicious techno.
forsuch atiny speaker,
shakingly powerful and
ghty mid-range slam of
akers, but what’s there is
and well controlled.
One’s sound blends
other speakers in the
uincorporateitinto
setup you don’t get
tonality as you
room to another.
eads to one minor
oesn’t officially
Sonos One with
ereo pair.
identical sound
speakers, that’s a
ankfully,however,there
tion: you can download
app foriOS and link a
ether.What it doesn’t currently let you do,
however,isgroup rooms together or actively
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request specific tracks, album
radio stations.
If you’re already used t
phone and choosing music
app,voice control might se
gimmick than akiller featu
becomes second nature.
The exception is when
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Often this is helped by
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Despiteall the minor
frustrations, the Sonos
and happily become an
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range in that music takes
while it therefore might no
home chops of the Echo P
its sound quality surpasses