Sonos is taking on the might Amazon’s Echo and Apple’s HomePod with the launch of a new smart speaker.
Announced today at an event in New York, the all-new Sonos One features all the usual audio expertise we’ve come to expect from Sonos but it now includes the ability to understand voice commands which allows it to play music simply by speaking to it.
The US speaker company is using the popular Alexa voice assistant to control the device with the Google’s Assistant also coming next year.
At launch, music fans in the US, UK,and Germany can ask Amazon Alexa to control Sonos One out of the box, with full voice support for Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Pandora, SiriusXM,and TuneIn.
Alexa voice control for Spotify on Sonos One will also be coming soon after launch although, sadly, it seems Apple Music users will have to wait for the HomePod for voice search.
Voice transport controls like pause, skip, volume up and down, and even asking what’s playing will be available for all other music services Sonos supports.
In addition to support for music, Sonos One will allow owners to enjoy all the other great things people love about Alexa –they can hear the weather, set timers, listen to news and traffic reports, and even hear the latest sports scores.
And Amazon, who powers Alexa, says their assistant is always getting smarter through cloud updates so expect the Sonos One to do more in the future.
As with all Sonos speakers the new device will link with the rest of your Sonos setup which can now be controlled via your voice.
Speaking about the device, Giles Martin, Sonos Sound Experience Leader: “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,”
“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.”
The Sonos One is available to order now with it arriving in homes from late October.
It comes in black and white and costs £199.