In the Alexa app you can have different speakers respond to different wake words. This is a great workaround to the issue described where multiple speakers will respond to a single command.
I love my Sonos system. The sound is amazing. I have 5 Sonos One speakers with two of them used in a surround setup in my living room and the others set up in other rooms, one Sub, and the Boost for Sonos to create a separate high-performance wireless network just for Sonos speakers. I've had my Sonos system for almost 4 years and love it just as much today as I did when I first purchased them. Highly recommend Sonos!!
When Sonos added the ability for Alexa to interact with their speakers it was a godsend. I have a couple of Echo’s and Dot’s that would send music to the Sonos making the phone app less necessary. When they actually included Alexa “in” the speaker in the Sonos One it was sweet indeed especially since the price remained the same. Having music throughout my house playing perfectly synchronized is something I tried to achieve in the past but it required wiring. Airplay was helpful but that still required individual powered speakers or sound systems. Squeezebox came out and that got me closer to my desired goal but I sold the AirPlay units and the Squeezebox units to acquire my first Sonos speakers and Sonos has continued to improve the experience. That I can play my own music via a connected drive is also a fantastic advantage. Good luck with your channel!
I waited a while before getting a smart speaker. I got 2 Sonos 1 and I love them. Super solid, great sound and allows me to expand as needed. Great review! Looking forward to your next videos.
Awesome!! Answered all the questions I didn’t even know I had!! Loved the little snippets in between commentary! Ten minutes well spent-informative, entertaining and right to the point!
Hey man, I actually work for Sonos and stumbled on your channel. I'm not just saying this because you gave us a thumbs up at the end... really well thought out info and presentation. I thought you hit what One is good for and not so good for. Although I'd argue that for the price of the Google Max for the bass; you may as well spend a little extra for the play5, but maybe that's just my bias slipping out 😏... Good job!
Thanks! It’s a great product. The only reason I didn’t suggest the play 5 was that I was keeping it to “smart speakers” with built in voice assistants. Otherwise, I would have suggested the Play 5 hands down.
Oh, sure. Good point! That makes sense. Question, what are your thoughts on our integration with Alexa as far as using a dot to control our products that don’t have voice built in? Example telling the dot to play music in the living room if you have a playbar named living room.
It works pretty well, but I still prefer the fully integrated approach (one less device to plug in and deal with). A lot of people are frustrated, myself included, that not every Alexa feature works directly on the Sonos One. Using a Dot or Echo to control the system solves that, but you lose the baked in simplicity of an all in one device. For controlling music playback, I’ve found the Dot method works as well as the baked in method. Pretty slick, but for my families situation, we prefer the Sonos One control because you hear everything Alexa does from a superior speaker compared to the Dot or Echo. If all you care about is music, then the Dot method fits the bill.
I've recommended Sonos speakers to several of my older family members, and I gotta say, they've been making me look like a genius. They really do sound good. I've never tinkered with the Alexa capabilities, I use an old Echo at home frequently. But I'm also a hifi purist, and we look down our noses at Sonos folks! But at the end of the day, you gotta use what works for your life. ;)
Good luck growing your channel, your production values and presentation style is already at a very high standard. AirPlay on Sonos is a godsend. We have two Play:5s and a Playbase, but I was put-off buying a Sonos One for the kitchen as so much of the content I currently play through my Bluetooth speaker in there is not available through Sonos. Airplay capability (almost) cancels out the lack of Bluetooth functionality in Sonos speakers, couldn’t come soon enough!
Thanks! Airplay 2 on Sonos is finally here and it works surprisingly well. It really has filled a major missing feature for me, but Sonos still has some missing skills with Alexa that are driving some people away.
Can you make a video of the pros and cons of Alexa with the sonos? And maybe some demo on what you can and can not do compared with the Amazon echo? I just got a Sonos but the voice commands are not supported in Sweden yet. It will be interesting to see what commands will be supported in swedish!
Great Production, Visuals and Review! I can see now you will become one the great tech reviewers on RUclips with this quality and attention to details! Keep up the Great work!
I agree emphatically. I am a bluetooth/smart speaker junkie, have owned Bose, Sony, every type of Alexa except the Spot. I am not so concerned about the cross platform capability of the Sonos One but do appreciate that I can use my go-to Alexa as well as push music from my iPhone. That said, I am blown away by it's sound quality. It just really does sound so much better across a variety of music types vs. the standard Amazon Echo and Echo Show. I think Sonos just earned another customer...
Very good points. We actually just call her "our female friend" whenever we want to talk _about,_ but not _with_ her. And we always turn off one of the mics in stereo setups, because otherwise they sometimes even start to talk with each other. Sometimes it just goes something like this: (left speaker): "If you want to ask for xyz, just say: 'Alexa, xyz'" And there goes the right speaker.
While waiting on my Sonos One (gen 2) to arrive I decided to watch a review on what I had purchased. I do have the Alexa Dot, Google mini, and Google Home thru out my home in a effort to get the most out of these devices. I’m really impressed with your review on the Sonos One and will be able to enjoy it more confidently.
Nice presentation! Kudos! I'm a new Sonos One owner (2) and a musician who prefers "flat" eq speakers that don't add woomph or tweet to music unless to compensate for room characteristics. What sold me was (1) sound quality, (2) speaker eq setup, and (3) cross platform. I installed the Sonos app on both my laptop and iPhone, and primarily access local radio streams and my iTunes. I've yet to crack Alexa, but that potential will be explored soon... and others.
Sonos really is great when it comes to cross platform support. I’m really looking forward to them releasing Google Assistant functionality later this year.
I use the Sonos speakers, amps, bridge and extender. Recently I purchased the Sonos One. After initial problems as explained on this video I have to say I am very happy with it. Great video by the way.
The Denon HEOS 7 has a great option for hard-hitting bass, a 5" subwoofer resides in the unit. The Sonos Play 5 hits hard as well. The play 1 only has a 3" driver in it.
I agree with the others here that your review was really high quality, with production values, and your opinions were interesting. Thanks for the review of the Sonos One - I might just buy one.
Till now I was skeptical to buy the Sonos One, but after watching this video on your channel I guess I have made up my mind. Enjoyed watching your review, keep up the good work.
I was deciding between the Sonos One and the HomePod, and eventually chose the latter which I am now very very glad about. But the Sonos One is a good multi-platform option at a great price! I'd only consider it with AirPlay though, glad that has finally arrived. It really increases the Sonos One's value!
Undecided Like you I have an extensive Apple ecosystem at home and am also invested in Alexa. I have Echo Dots in most of my rooms, and in my bedroom I have an Echo Dot connected to a Harman Kardon Bluetooth speaker for light controls, music playback and alarms. But I have several issues with this: I can’t access my iTunes/Apple music collection and playlists, it’s often overly tedious to find out the exact commands for Alexa to work, and even then I absolutely detest all of Amazon’s apps. For example, it took me a while to figure out how to make Alexa add a currently played song to my library! And when I opened the Amazon Music app, I didn’t even see any of the songs Alexa claimed she had added. (I only have a Prime subscription, no additional music subscription). Additionally, with the Echo Dots Alexa has a hard time hearing me when music is playing (regardless of whether music plays over the integrated speaker or the Bluetooth speaker). Even when an alarm is blaring, I have to scream to make it stop. It’s effective for getting me up, I guess … but I really wanted an all-in-one speaker in the hopes of the voice assistant understanding me better. I read that Sonos One can be hit or miss there, and is definitely not an improvement over the Echo series. That was probably the main point driving me towards HomePod. So TL;DR: Siri on the HomePod understands you indescribably much better than Alexa when playing music, its music offering is much more convincing to me than Amazon’s, and controlling lights is more limited in selection, but with compatible lights it’s actually better than Alexa. YMMV of course. Also, I’m using both Alexa and Siri in German, which definitely mixed things up compared to other languages! Sonos One was very interesting to me, but overall where HomePod really shines is the user experience. I really think Sonos is going to have a tough time trying to be a middleman. In more detail, Siri is at least as quick to pick up my voice, but she does so even when I’m in the next room and HomePod is playing music. It’s generations ahead in that regard! I can access my music collection, my playlists, and when I want to add a song to my library, it’s super easy and actually does add the song to the library. And on top of all that, HomePod really sounds just incredible! In terms of light controls, the big minus is that I have a couple of Osram lights that are Hue- and Alexa-compatible, but not HomeKit compatible. Luckily not in my bedroom where I want to use HomePod eventually, but still. However, I was surprised to find that Siri understands a broader range of words: I have a lamp designed by Arne Jacobsen which I just named “Arne”. Siri gets it, Alexa doesn’t. In fact, when I just used Alexa I renamed that lamp to “Jacobsen“ which didn’t work either, only to later settle for a generic “reading lamp”. Siri understands all of those terms, while Alexa tells me she couldn’t find it and reads the word back to me as something COMPLETELY different. I’ve got another lamp called “Emily”, Alexa understands that name in maybe 1 out of 5 tries. I’m sure Siri wouldn’t have a problem with it - but it’s not HomeKit compatible, so both voice assistants have to drown in the irony. It really feels like Siri has made astonishing leaps ahead and actually uses machine learning, while Alexa is quick, but relies on primitive command terms.
Great rundown of your experiences. The one thing that’s held me back on the HomePod is Siri. The hardware is definitely superior to Sonos, but I have so many problems with Siri on my Apple Watch, iPhone, etc. Alexa may be lacking in machine learning, but when you use the right phrase, she nails it 9 times out of 10 for me. Google is way ahead of both Apple and Amazon when it comes to the voice assistant machine learning and being able to decipher odd phrasing correctly. But Google doesn’t have all of the services integrated that I use daily. I’m really excited to see how things change over the next year. I think Apple is going to start making some major Siri improvements with iOS 12 and their new head of AI they just hired. In the meantime my Sonos One setup is working great, now that Airplay 2 is here. I can ask my watch or iPhone to start playing a song in the Living Room and it just works. Although, experiences like yours are telling me that I may be reconsidering HomePod down the road when my issues with Siri start to get worked out.
I never use Siri on my iOS devices or Watch anymore, it’s just too slow. The difference on the HomePod, however, is night and day! The slow speed on my Watch was the original reason I bought all those Echo Dots: raising it to my arm, saying the wake word, waiting for Siri to really wake up so I don’t have to say it twice, then saying it, and then slowing growing old while Siri parses the command, was just ridiculous. Alexa on the other hand reacted within a second! And now, Siri does so too, on the HomePod. I really hope Apple can bring that speed to the other devices as well. And I am, too, very hopeful for Apple’s new AI chief. Google is not even worth consideration for me at all, though. Again, languages makes the difference: the German Google voice just sounds hysterical! I remember how amazing the first GPS devices were because finally you could take road trips without getting into fights over how to get to your destination. No matter how stupid your driving was, there was always a friendly, polite voice telling you to make a U-turn. Now it feels like Google has brought the fighting and the passive-aggressiveness of old family trips back with its virtual voice. Siri and Alexa have much calmer, friendlier voices in German; in my opinion anyway! I also don’t like the impersonal “ok Google” wake word.
I "like" the Alexa support on my Sonos One. No drop ins, no announcements, Amazon is holding back on some features. Definitely worth the investment though, especially since Airplay 2!
Yeah, I have a feeling some of the missing features are Amazon holding back, and some are Sonos still trying to workout the integrations. Hopefully we’ll continue to see those added in, but totally agree on Airplay 2.
Great video. I use my parents as a baseline, too. I work in IT and it's a particularly useful benchmark when youre trying to explain something to management.
We have 3 Google Home devices. We also have 2 Sonos Play 5 speakers. The Sonos Play 5 is the only Sonos product that has an Aux input (that I am aware of). I placed a Google Chromecast Audio onto one of the speakers, then paired them together. This works great and I can verbally ask my Google Home to play whatever music I like. But I wish Sonos One was compatible with Google Home. When that happens I am going to pick up a couple of speakers.
Nice setup you’ve got there. I have a Google Home Mini in one of our rooms and it’s pretty nice (better than Alexa when it comes to random fact based questions). I’m also looking forward to the Google Assistant coming to Sonos ... really curious if we’ll be able to run both Alexa and Google at the same time on the Sonos. Or if we’ll have to choose one only.
Great review. The one flaw of the Alexa integration that I have noticed is that if someone speaks to Alexa, it quiets the music playing throughout the house. And when you have two kids in the house setting timers or changing music or turning lights on, that can mess up dad's happiness all to often.
Oh wow! I haven't run into that. It seems like they should be able to use some smarts to only lower the volume around the microphone that's hearing the request. Hopefully that gets resolved in a software update. If you haven't already, you might want to shoot Sonos some feedback on that.
I have a playbar and sub in my living room. A beam and 2- 1’s in media room. A play-one in a bedroom, play 3 in kitchen which goes out to deck for parties, also another play 1 in my office. Love them all after I love music and after hearing the playbar and sub I was hooked now whole house is Sonos hooked up.
Like me, after the playbar and the sub, about 20 mins I ordered 2 one sl, for the living room and will go step by step for all the other rooms in the house
Don't, you'll regret it. Search on the web about the hundreds of problems. It's scoring 2 out of 10 on the customer reviews. I have one and it's utter shit. It can't even play one song right through and it stops playing altogether after 30 minutes. Pure crap
Bought a Sonos One for our bathroom shortly after they were released. Made since as we already had heavy investment into the Sonos ecosystem with a Play-bar, a pair of Play 3s, a Sub-woofer, and a pair of Play 5s in my Garage. We also have a large number of Echo devices scattered throughout the home. First thing i noticed is the sound quality is far better than even the large echo. However while it does have better sound quality, it's shortcoming was in the microphone. Would literally have to scream from the shower before it could pick up my commands. Sonos had since released a software update that helped considerably, but the problem still remains. Nonetheless, the Sonos One is a great value once you consider it is a Play One with an Echo Dot built in. Have no doubt future software updates will continue to improve the microphone issues. But until then, if you hear someone screaming in the shower, its likely me.
I wonder if any of the Sonos engineers ever considered using one of their speakers in the bathroom while in the shower with a fan running in the background. LOL
Hey Matt! Great review! I have an old Sonos play 1 and 2 Sonos ONES(Alexa). So I’m slowly building my automated household and Sonos system at same time. I CANNOT WAIT to have the sound bar and sub for tv. You hit the nail on the head with the timers 😂😂😂. I hope the whole house features come soon Cheers!
Thanks for watching! That’s one of the nice things about speakers like Sonos ... being able to build out your system slowly over time. It will just keep getting better along with the software updates too.
Brilliant informative video. My daughter has an Amazon Echo and I thought wow! So I went and bought the Echo Plus for £139.99. I was asking Alexa stuff like area of circles. Sine and Cosine values and phrases in French. Amazing! The one thing that let it down was the sound quality so I went and bought the Sonos One which was reduced from £199.99 to £169.99 in the Black Friday sale. The Sonos One is a beautiful piece of kit!
Definitely enjoy the Sonos ecosystem - started with one Play:5 speaker and ended up with the play bar and sub + two play:1s for surround sound for the tv. But I must admit I’m not overly keen on having Amazon or Google services listen in on every conversation in the house.
This was a great video! I just subscribed. I am in the same position where I don’t want to be stuck in a specific ecosystem while this market is in the beginning stages. Thanks for putting this together!
Nice job. Good luck with your channel! I have 2 Sonos Play 5’s in my bedroom, so AirPlay 2 support is something I’m excited for as well, to push RUclips music to them from my iPad.
Undecided Will do. I just moved a couple of days ago, and haven’t set the Sonos back up yet, but I will do so tonight. I’m thinking about getting the new Sonos sound bar. Waiting for it to hit stores so I can check it out in person. I’ll check to see if you’ve done a video on that product, but if not, that would be a good item for you to review next. All the best!
@5:30 perhaps it's an update since your video but you are able to cancel timers and alarms in other rooms. This happens to us in our bedroom as my wife uses it as an alarm clock but if she jumps in the shower early, I have to turn her alarm off from the kitchen and I can. I simply state "alexa, turn alarm off in master bedroom" and she will. I also have my phone configured to alert me to reminders, alarms and timers on various speakers. You can set that up in the app. An example here is I use the reminder to set trash out at 7pm on the Alexa in our kitchen but often I get the reminder when I'm in a different room or perhaps not home. Since I also get the alarm on my phone, I can simply turn it off there.
I bought a sonos one as a compliment to my sonos five. I liked the voice control and now use a dot to control the five. The voice control has made a really good system significantly better. I hope to get a few more ones soon. I agree with your complaints on the audio cue mixups between devices; I had to name each mine different thing (kitchen is echo, bedroom is alexa) to keep the sonos one in the bedroom from overhearing. I'm sure that would be a tricky situation with a few more devices. Have you ever figured how to turn an alarm off on the sonos app when you are not on your network?
Sounds like a nice setup you’ve got. I haven’t figured out a way to control the alarm if your not on the network, which is extremely frustrating. There are folks that have used Remote Desktop to log into their home computers running the Sonos app to get it to work, as well as running a VPN service in your house to make your phone appear on the home network. Both are hacks and workarounds.
I have had the play bar and at least four other play ones in my home, I enjoyed the setup. But once I purchased my HomePods, I realized that the Sonos system wasn’t high fidelity enough. I still enjoy having music all around the house, but I enjoy the quality sound from my HomePods much more.
I have been barred from getting more smart speakers haha. Right now we have a HomePod in the game room/office. Two Sonos ones on the living room, an echo show in the kitchen. And with two iPhones and a Mac something is always getting triggered 😂 but the Sonos One AirPlay 2 is absolutely phenomenal. I did turn Alexa off on them until Google comes to it.
That’s a decent sized room for the beam. By itself it may be a bit small for that room, but with the full package it doesn’t surprise me that it’s working like a charm. Nice set up.
That’s a decent sized room for the beam. By itself it may be a bit small for that room, but with the full package it doesn’t surprise me that it’s working like a charm. Nice set up.
"middle of the road" is what's essential in studio control room playback monitors worldwide. We DONT want emphasis in tonality when releasing musical work. We know the material will be enjoyed in endless scenarios from cheap radios to properly voiced PA systems. It must translate well through all kinds of playback systems. As a studio engineer, the Sonos is a great listening platform.
I have one and like it. Works best with the Sub or a pair of Ones. It’s a bit small by itself for larger rooms but works great with the additional supports. Would work well by itself in a small bedroom.
Thank you for the info. It saves me time and research efforts. More importantly, your videos are not time-consuming and are straight to the point. BTW, Alexa responded to your comments while the video was playing. Indeed, it was hilarious.
Thanks for watching, and keep an eye out for Sonos sales this time of year. If I spot any sales, I’ll be dropping back in and pin a comment to this video.
Great coverage on the Sonos. I wish you had gone more into the grouping process and how that works (or doesn't work) when you are using another Sonos device like a Beam or surround on your TV. Just a thought....
I don’t know if it’s been mentioned before, but my workaround for your multiple speaker issue is to rename the one in your kitchen’s wake word. I have two other speakers within earshot of my kitchen so I just use a different wake word so the other speakers ignore me.
To your timer complaint (around the 7 minute time mark).. I have the exact same issue. I've a bunch of alexa devices throughout the house and face the same problem when creating timers. One (smart IMO) workaround if you have smart bulbs (hue in my case) is to use an IFTTT recipe thats available that will blink a light (or set of lights) when the alexa timer hits 0, very useful and it gives you a visual aid in case you're blasting tunes on your Sonos speakers louder than the echo devices can get (I use "older" Sonos and separate echo devices), and it won't matter which alexa device took the timer command. I hope Amazon improves the experience in households with multiple devices though.
That’s a great suggestion for folks! I’ve got the same setup in my house and should have mentioned it. It still doesn’t stop the game of Marco Polo, but you don’t miss the alarm.
If you happen to have an iPhone and using Alexa, try turning off the wifi on the phone and then back on as the iPhone, unline android devices inherently keeps a death grip on the last connected wifi device so, if you have multiple WAPs or a mesh network, that may help with the issue (keep in mind that SONOS is its own proprietary mesh network and senses the last connection of the device you are using to control the Sonos system.
Thanks Matt, loved your review, especially the story of 'Marco - Polo'...just bought two, so shouldn't have your issues, and I hope my wife loves her Christmas Gift.
I have the yamaha nx-n500 musiccast speakers. Works really well and most importantly it is seen as generalised airplay/dlna device. I also have a really cool wifi speaker 'Clint Freya' from a danish company called Clint. It is a small company but the ios/android app works just like you would expect and again is seen as a generalised airplay/dlna device on the network. They also offer their own multiroom solutions.
The Yamaha NX-N500 are really nice speakers (looked into them myself), but I haven't heard of Clint (I don't believe anyone sells them here in the U.S.). Do they support Airplay 2, so you can use them as part of a multi-room setup directly from an iPhone without their app? How's the sound?
Yamaha is being a bit sketchy with the details about their plans for airplay 2 although I haven't checked that in a week or two so perhaps there has been some progress in that regard. Almost certain that Clint don't support airplay 2 as of the moment, although they are a small company that responds quickly to emails so it would be interesting to see how open they would be to developing airplay 2 compatibility assuming they had enough requests for it. Having had some more time with the speaker I was able to write a pretty comprehensive review of the speaker for the site where it was purchased, which I will leave here for you should you be interested :) cheers: Having had experience using Yamaha's highly lauded 'MusicCast' ecosystem, I am very pleased to report that for all intents and purposes the usability of Clint's equivalent ecosystem in the form of the iOS app was every bit as easy and functional as the former. Albeit simplified compared to the likes of Sonos/Yamaha etc owing to the far simpler product line of this modest yet highly specialised Danish company, it competes in the wifi/multiroom audio segment of the market almost solely, outside of digital radios. Build Quality: Superb. Front metal grill that sits flush with the plastic back plate that looks equally as elegant. A strong and sturdy 'Clint' infused piece of rubber is what forms the entirety of the base which is a nice touch. Buttons feel distinctively old school however they provide tactile response and inspire confidence in their build quality. It feels very rigid in the hands and the weight is well distributed throughout, there are no parts of this speaker that feel 'hollow' outside of the upper segment where the bass port is placed. Sound: Overall the sound delivery is impressive. I have no real experience or knowledge in Mono speakers, nor do I know the extent to which the in-built DSP alters the sound however I have been blown away by how this mono speaker is able to image and create an actually balanced and 'imaged' sound at almost any point in the room. Unlike my stereo speakers that have such a strictly defined sweet spot, this mono speaker seems to exhibit a consistent and pleasing sound as one moves throughout the room. The volume levels confined by the 8 watts of power may not impress in close vicinity yet deceive in their ability to fill and wind through large spaces. This Danish company reminds us from form to function, that less is more. The sound errs to the warm side with an impressively strong and present mid-range that exhibits both smoothness and gruffness. I attribute this to the clearly tuned crossover between the surprisingly competent bass component and the tweeter, male vocals for example have this very real and breathy projection. Although warm the overall sound strives mostly for balance and the slightly recessed treble extends impressively high. Although highly dependent on setting the speaker seems to have a very real ability to image vertically and laterally with considerable magnitude where the soundstage is usually constrained by the spatial constraints in which the speaker/listener is situated. Closing thoughts: This isn't one of those super hype bass! speakers nor one that exists to impress with outright volume levels. As an owner of several pairs of sufficiently capable speakers/headphones I can say confidently say the sound is good and I believe that sentiment would be shared by most. Everything about the speaker shows why the price is currently 260 euros in Europe, and why it was originally $400 in Australia. For $100 it is an absolute steal.
Thanks! The Play 5’s are fantastic and offer a much fuller sound. Better range, especially on the lower end. I’d say the Sonos One’s are great for casual listening pretty much anywhere. The Play 5s are ideal for larger spaces or even critical listening in the right environment. While the Sonos One doesn’t have any kind of line input (it’s only good as a networking streaming speaker), the Play 5’s have a line input on the back. You could hook a turntable up to the Play 5 with a 3.5mm to RCA cable, or you could hook a turntable up to something like a Sonos Connect (blog.sonos.com/en/how-to-use-line-in-on-sonos/). Either way, it would allow you to play your turntable through your Sonos setup.
Nice. Adding those will really help fill out the sound stage. I've found with my Sonos rear speakers that they're calibrated by default a little on the quiet side for my taste. After some adjustments in the advanced settings, I got it dialed it just right for how I like it though.
Good work-take a look at the Libratone Zipp which, with AirPlay since two years ago, has served all my casting to audio needs. I now have the Sonos system and prefer it for its better stability but I still like the Zipp for its portability-no wires!
Nice Video! I've had a Sonos One since November here in Canada and airplay 2 has been amazing. Alexa has had troubles, especially with apple music, since you can't use voice commands to play apple music. That is my biggest frustration for sure. I've had some other minor issues like some you've mentioned. Also haven't been able to get routines working with my sonos one.
Thanks! I don’t use the Alexa routines, but use a combo of SmartThings, IFTTT, Stringify, Lutron, and Logitech Harmony. There are ways to get Alexa to trigger routines through those, but it’s obviously not as nice as having it baked in. Using third parties can sometimes be hit or miss, but it works the majority of time for me. You might want to check out Yonomi as another third party routine system.
Sonos is the best, we have 13 speakers plus two bass units. Works every time without any issues, Unlike the Bose units in our second home. The Bose units are not easy to use especially if you haven’t used them for sometime. The Bose app is a total let down too. Sonos - A+, Bose D-. Totally agree with your review too. Your channel will grow quickly, so don’t worry about that buddy.
Thanks! I’ve also got some Bose speakers in the house and am happy with the sound quality, but still prefer the Sonos experience. Really great product.
I'm so intrigued by the voice assistant thing that I use both Google and Alexa. I have four Google Home devices, plus two Chromecast audios. I also have three Alexa speakers. I find that Google does a better job with answering questions and whole home audio. You can group the speakers into as many groups as possible. Where it falls down, and where I love Alexa, is in the routines. Alexa allows you to do far more with the routines than does Google. Alexa also handles news briefings much better. If Google thinks you've heard a news briefing before, it won't let you hear it without a specific command. I used to use Google more, I find myself leaning more Alexa these days.
I started with the Sonos One... got two. Kitchen and office. Then I got an Echo and a Dot. Then I got a Firecube. I’m slowly figuring out what product do what with the Cube being the my main focus now. If you could put together videos about customization on the Cube and the Echo and Sonos, that would be slick. Side Note... I think the Sonos has limited capabilities with Alexa... I guess that is the current agreement?
I’m planning future videos on home automation, as well as more advanced Alexa setups. While Sonos doesn’t have every single feature of the Echo devices, it has the vast majority. Last March they added Audible support on Sonos, which had previously only worked on Echo devices. Sonos still doesn’t recognize trained voices or drop-in. I’d put money on those getting added at some point down the line.
Sonos does have very limited capability with Alexa. HomePod easily beats the Google Max sound quality and is better than the Play 5 too. Much better dsp, has 360 sound, and far better microphones. I sold two Play 5s and two Sonos ones for four HomePods in two stereo pairs and could not be happier.
HomePod sound quality ... no argument that it’s better than Google Home Max, and arguably better than Sonos. The big downside though is Siri, which is WAY behind Google and Amazon voice assistants. I’m really looking forward to iOS 12 with the new Shortcuts and other Siri enhancements. That could be the thing that turns HomePod into a more full featured smart speaker against Google and Amazon. Competition is a wonderful thing.
Good video and you made a good point on the multi-service offering allowing much toe-dipping. I like the graphics. What did you use to create them. Cheers.
Love your username ... and thanks for the complement. The graphics are made in Apple’s Motion and Final Cut Pro X. Adobe After Effects could pull them off too.
Jerry Delgado The (much) more expensive Sonos Play:5 has a 3.5mm Aux input, so you can connect a turntable etc. I have two Play:5s set up as a stereo pair and it works great.
That’s not what I meant by it. I totally agree that EQ is a matter of taste, which is why I mentioned you’d be disappointed if you prefer thumpy/heavy bass and used Beats as an example. No judgement on my part.
Well, I'll just clarify, that if your bass sound literally rattles my eardrums and makes the highs buzz in between the troughs of the bass sine wave, I'm gonna go ahead and say: That's horribly EQ'd, your inclusive all-hold-hands, celebrate our differences view can just jump in a lake. PLENTY of judgment on my part.
My personal taste is not in the beats realm for sure. I agree that kind of eq/audio tuning is horrible for quite a a lot of music, but there are genres of music that play fairly well on them. It really does depend on your personal taste, which isn’t just how your speaker is tuned, but it’s also for what you play on it. Pairing the right person to the right speaker is the path I prefer to go. There’s no such thing as a one size fits all approach.
I agree with you that Alexa and Sonos app's handshake part can be very confusing. I had the painful experience of setting up them in a new Wi-Fi environment. I did multiple resettings on my sons but the culprit was actually that the Alexa's Sonos skill wasn't recognizing the new Wi-Fi environment. My overall experience with my Google Assistant is definitely better than with Alexa, so now I am waiting for the Google Assistant and Sonos integration.
It can be very frustrating. I’m having issues getting some Echo Dots to connect to a new WiFi network, so I think most of these problems fall at the feet of Amazon. The more I use Google Assistant, the more I like it. Definitely looking forward to that integration too.
Hey Matt. Great review, very thorough and detailed. I'm looking for a wireless multi room setup in a retail environment and could use some advice. There are two adjacent rooms, one is 27' x 25' and the other is 12' x 25'. The ceilings are 9'8" high and the rooms are connected by a 6' doorway. I'll be using Spotify to play ambient background music and occasionally be playing audio from short promo videos on a TV in the store. LARGE ROOM Would you recommend two Sonos Play:5s, or four Sonos Ones? What kind of square footage coverage can I expect from each speaker? SMALL ROOM Would you recommend two Sonos Ones or a single Play:5? TV How can I connect the audio from the TV into the Sonos ecosystem? If I place one of the Play:5s near the TV and ran a 35mm audio cable to it, can I switch the the TV audio input on and off though the Sonos app? Or is there an affordable way to connect it wirelessly? BTW, I haven't bought the TV yet, so if there is a built in audio feature I should look for to achieve this, please let me know. Thanks in advance!
Update: I think I'm going to go for a 4 x One setup in the large room and a single One in the small room. I've gotten advice to set the speakers in the large room to mono, in order to to give a seamless musical experience to shoppers wandering around the store. I'm thinking of placing them near the four corners of the room, close to the ceiling but angled down slightly. Any thoughts on that? Does anyone know if it's possible to set up a stereo environment in the large room, then toggle back and forth between mono and stereo easily? I'd like to group the two speakers on the right wall to be the right channel and the two on the left wall for the left channel. (for when I'm the only one in the store) Still not sure what to do about the TV audio... Worst case scenario I can look for a TV with good... fair... ok, "usable" speakers. Can anyone offer suggestions on how to send the TV audio to the Sonos speakers? It's only needed for occasional short promo videos. Thanks!
I actually just posted a video on the Airplay 2 support for Sonos: ruclips.net/video/kvc0CMA58i8/видео.html. And I’ll definitely be doing a video on Google Assistant once that’s released too.
I agree with everything that you said as far as the problems go as well as the strength. I do have a question Colin are you having problems with it understanding things that it used to understand reliably?
I have 4 Alexa speakers (Echo Dot) and had the same issue with the wrong one responding. My workaround is to have them respond to different names. On each floor I have 2, so one responds to Alexa and one responds to Echo. (disclaimer: it did take some time to remember which was which) I also have a Sonos One in my bedroom, but only really use the music in my phone as one of my kids rooms will be streaming Amazon Music and the other kids room will be streaming Spotify. It doesn't leave any streaming services left for me.
For a non-techy guy like me (!) can you please explain what exactly is "Airplay on Sonos" ? Thanks, really enjoyed hearing your views on the Sonos One. Mark
I use SONOS for the last 7 years I think, and NEVER looked BACK, It does COVER my needs, I don't need and super power speakers anyways I don't want to disturbs my neighbors but they are laud enough to get in trouble with your neighbors if you are not careful with the volume, overall I love SONOS.
I forgot, I own: 2 SONOS PLAY3 2 SONOS PLAY 1 2 SONOS SUB's 2 SONOS PLAY BAR 1 SONOS PLAY 5 If I group them all, the police will show AMAZING sound quality WILL NEVER LOOK BACK!
I took a gamble and bought the google nest wifi (1 router and 2 points) mesh. The points has mic and speakers and they sound much bigger than its look. I like them and bought another 2 points to put in the kitchen and bathroom. The point actually work as a Bluetooth speaker out of the box, the google home app let you group the speakers to play in multiple rooms but no stereo support. The speakers sounds natural and never lack bass especially in close proximity of a wall, on the table, etc. As a wifi mesh system the router is ac2200 but the points are ac1200, so it's good but not the best. On average it's about $76 per unit.
In the Alexa app you can have different speakers respond to different wake words. This is a great workaround to the issue described where multiple speakers will respond to a single command.
I love my Sonos system. The sound is amazing. I have 5 Sonos One speakers with two of them used in a surround setup in my living room and the others set up in other rooms, one Sub, and the Boost for Sonos to create a separate high-performance wireless network just for Sonos speakers. I've had my Sonos system for almost 4 years and love it just as much today as I did when I first purchased them. Highly recommend Sonos!!
Awesome to hear that you’re still loving the system after years of use.
The problem is,you never heard proper speakers.
When Sonos added the ability for Alexa to interact with their speakers it was a godsend. I have a couple of Echo’s and Dot’s that would send music to the Sonos making the phone app less necessary. When they actually included Alexa “in” the speaker in the Sonos One it was sweet indeed especially since the price remained the same. Having music throughout my house playing perfectly synchronized is something I tried to achieve in the past but it required wiring. Airplay was helpful but that still required individual powered speakers or sound systems. Squeezebox came out and that got me closer to my desired goal but I sold the AirPlay units and the Squeezebox units to acquire my first Sonos speakers and Sonos has continued to improve the experience. That I can play my own music via a connected drive is also a fantastic advantage.
Good luck with your channel!
Good points. And thanks for watching!
I waited a while before getting a smart speaker. I got 2 Sonos 1 and I love them. Super solid, great sound and allows me to expand as needed. Great review! Looking forward to your next videos.
Awesome!! Answered all the questions I didn’t even know I had!! Loved the little snippets in between commentary! Ten minutes well spent-informative, entertaining and right to the point!
Hey man, I actually work for Sonos and stumbled on your channel. I'm not just saying this because you gave us a thumbs up at the end... really well thought out info and presentation. I thought you hit what One is good for and not so good for. Although I'd argue that for the price of the Google Max for the bass; you may as well spend a little extra for the play5, but maybe that's just my bias slipping out 😏... Good job!
Thanks! It’s a great product. The only reason I didn’t suggest the play 5 was that I was keeping it to “smart speakers” with built in voice assistants. Otherwise, I would have suggested the Play 5 hands down.
Oh, sure. Good point! That makes sense. Question, what are your thoughts on our integration with Alexa as far as using a dot to control our products that don’t have voice built in? Example telling the dot to play music in the living room if you have a playbar named living room.
It works pretty well, but I still prefer the fully integrated approach (one less device to plug in and deal with). A lot of people are frustrated, myself included, that not every Alexa feature works directly on the Sonos One. Using a Dot or Echo to control the system solves that, but you lose the baked in simplicity of an all in one device. For controlling music playback, I’ve found the Dot method works as well as the baked in method. Pretty slick, but for my families situation, we prefer the Sonos One control because you hear everything Alexa does from a superior speaker compared to the Dot or Echo. If all you care about is music, then the Dot method fits the bill.
I've recommended Sonos speakers to several of my older family members, and I gotta say, they've been making me look like a genius. They really do sound good. I've never tinkered with the Alexa capabilities, I use an old Echo at home frequently. But I'm also a hifi purist, and we look down our noses at Sonos folks! But at the end of the day, you gotta use what works for your life. ;)
That was a very precise review and very nice video editing skills! Many thanks for saving my time to the max!!
Good luck growing your channel, your production values and presentation style is already at a very high standard.
AirPlay on Sonos is a godsend. We have two Play:5s and a Playbase, but I was put-off buying a Sonos One for the kitchen as so much of the content I currently play through my Bluetooth speaker in there is not available through Sonos. Airplay capability (almost) cancels out the lack of Bluetooth functionality in Sonos speakers, couldn’t come soon enough!
Thanks! Airplay 2 on Sonos is finally here and it works surprisingly well. It really has filled a major missing feature for me, but Sonos still has some missing skills with Alexa that are driving some people away.
Can you make a video of the pros and cons of Alexa with the sonos? And maybe some demo on what you can and can not do compared with the Amazon echo?
I just got a Sonos but the voice commands are not supported in Sweden yet. It will be interesting to see what commands will be supported in swedish!
That’s a good suggestion! I’ll add it to the list.
check out my comment. may be helpful to you
Yes I here you
Superb review, surprised you have so little subs. I have 2 Sonos One coming my way. Can't wait to set them up as a stereo pair in my living room!
Thanks! After you get them setup, drop a note back in here ... I’m curious to hear how you like them.
Great Production, Visuals and Review! I can see now you will become one the great tech reviewers on RUclips with this quality and attention to details! Keep up the Great work!
Thanks! Appreciate the kind words and encouragement. Hope you keep watching.
I agree emphatically. I am a bluetooth/smart speaker junkie, have owned Bose, Sony, every type of Alexa except the Spot. I am not so concerned about the cross platform capability of the Sonos One but do appreciate that I can use my go-to Alexa as well as push music from my iPhone. That said, I am blown away by it's sound quality. It just really does sound so much better across a variety of music types vs. the standard Amazon Echo and Echo Show. I think Sonos just earned another customer...
Nice to meet another Bluetooth/smart speaker junkie. No speaker was ticking all of the boxes for me before the Sonos One. Great flexibility and sound.
I got a sonos one last week, with airplay 2 support now and its phenomenal. Loving this whole thing now more than ever
I just won one today at work!! Can't wait to try.
That’s awesome! Check back in after you’ve had a chance to play with it.
Very good points. We actually just call her "our female friend" whenever we want to talk _about,_ but not _with_ her. And we always turn off one of the mics in stereo setups, because otherwise they sometimes even start to talk with each other. Sometimes it just goes something like this: (left speaker): "If you want to ask for xyz, just say: 'Alexa, xyz'" And there goes the right speaker.
We often refer to her as "the lady."
Thank you, Matt, you really are appreciated and enjoyed.
While waiting on my Sonos One (gen 2) to arrive I decided to watch a review on what I had purchased. I do have the Alexa Dot, Google mini, and Google Home thru out my home in a effort to get the most out of these devices. I’m really impressed with your review on the Sonos One and will be able to enjoy it more confidently.
Thanks! Glad you liked it. Let me know what you think of the speaker after you get it.
Excellent video. Keep up the good work and happy to be one of your subscribers.
Nice presentation! Kudos!
I'm a new Sonos One owner (2) and a musician who prefers "flat" eq speakers that don't add woomph or tweet to music unless to compensate for room characteristics. What sold me was (1) sound quality, (2) speaker eq setup, and (3) cross platform. I installed the Sonos app on both my laptop and iPhone, and primarily access local radio streams and my iTunes. I've yet to crack Alexa, but that potential will be explored soon... and others.
Sonos really is great when it comes to cross platform support. I’m really looking forward to them releasing Google Assistant functionality later this year.
I use the Sonos speakers, amps, bridge and extender. Recently I purchased the Sonos One. After initial problems as explained on this video I have to say I am very happy with it. Great video by the way.
Glad you liked the video!
The Denon HEOS 7 has a great option for hard-hitting bass, a 5" subwoofer resides in the unit. The Sonos Play 5 hits hard as well. The play 1 only has a 3" driver in it.
I haven’t heard the HEOS 7 myself, but it doesn’t surprise me that Denon would be a good alternative choice for sound quality.
I agree with the others here that your review was really high quality, with production values, and your opinions were interesting. Thanks for the review of the Sonos One - I might just buy one.
Thanks, really appreciate the compliment. If you do buy one, drop back in and let me know what you think.
Just now upgrading my eight year old Sonos system and your review is very helpful.
Thanks for watching! Sounds like you got many years of use out of your Sonos setup.
I have been using The one since The beginning of the year. You sumned up my Points very good! Great Video!
Till now I was skeptical to buy the Sonos One, but after watching this video on your channel I guess I have made up my mind. Enjoyed watching your review, keep up the good work.
Bro, so informative and helpful. You put this together so well. Thanks!
Subscribed because of high quality animations/sound/editing. Great job on that keep it up!
Much appreciated and thanks for watching!
I was deciding between the Sonos One and the HomePod, and eventually chose the latter which I am now very very glad about. But the Sonos One is a good multi-platform option at a great price! I'd only consider it with AirPlay though, glad that has finally arrived. It really increases the Sonos One's value!
How do you like the HomePod? What’s your feelings on Siri there?
Undecided Like you I have an extensive Apple ecosystem at home and am also invested in Alexa. I have Echo Dots in most of my rooms, and in my bedroom I have an Echo Dot connected to a Harman Kardon Bluetooth speaker for light controls, music playback and alarms.
But I have several issues with this: I can’t access my iTunes/Apple music collection and playlists, it’s often overly tedious to find out the exact commands for Alexa to work, and even then I absolutely detest all of Amazon’s apps. For example, it took me a while to figure out how to make Alexa add a currently played song to my library! And when I opened the Amazon Music app, I didn’t even see any of the songs Alexa claimed she had added. (I only have a Prime subscription, no additional music subscription). Additionally, with the Echo Dots Alexa has a hard time hearing me when music is playing (regardless of whether music plays over the integrated speaker or the Bluetooth speaker). Even when an alarm is blaring, I have to scream to make it stop. It’s effective for getting me up, I guess … but I really wanted an all-in-one speaker in the hopes of the voice assistant understanding me better. I read that Sonos One can be hit or miss there, and is definitely not an improvement over the Echo series. That was probably the main point driving me towards HomePod.
So TL;DR: Siri on the HomePod understands you indescribably much better than Alexa when playing music, its music offering is much more convincing to me than Amazon’s, and controlling lights is more limited in selection, but with compatible lights it’s actually better than Alexa. YMMV of course. Also, I’m using both Alexa and Siri in German, which definitely mixed things up compared to other languages! Sonos One was very interesting to me, but overall where HomePod really shines is the user experience. I really think Sonos is going to have a tough time trying to be a middleman.
In more detail, Siri is at least as quick to pick up my voice, but she does so even when I’m in the next room and HomePod is playing music. It’s generations ahead in that regard! I can access my music collection, my playlists, and when I want to add a song to my library, it’s super easy and actually does add the song to the library. And on top of all that, HomePod really sounds just incredible! In terms of light controls, the big minus is that I have a couple of Osram lights that are Hue- and Alexa-compatible, but not HomeKit compatible. Luckily not in my bedroom where I want to use HomePod eventually, but still. However, I was surprised to find that Siri understands a broader range of words: I have a lamp designed by Arne Jacobsen which I just named “Arne”. Siri gets it, Alexa doesn’t. In fact, when I just used Alexa I renamed that lamp to “Jacobsen“ which didn’t work either, only to later settle for a generic “reading lamp”. Siri understands all of those terms, while Alexa tells me she couldn’t find it and reads the word back to me as something COMPLETELY different. I’ve got another lamp called “Emily”, Alexa understands that name in maybe 1 out of 5 tries. I’m sure Siri wouldn’t have a problem with it - but it’s not HomeKit compatible, so both voice assistants have to drown in the irony. It really feels like Siri has made astonishing leaps ahead and actually uses machine learning, while Alexa is quick, but relies on primitive command terms.
Great rundown of your experiences. The one thing that’s held me back on the HomePod is Siri. The hardware is definitely superior to Sonos, but I have so many problems with Siri on my Apple Watch, iPhone, etc. Alexa may be lacking in machine learning, but when you use the right phrase, she nails it 9 times out of 10 for me. Google is way ahead of both Apple and Amazon when it comes to the voice assistant machine learning and being able to decipher odd phrasing correctly. But Google doesn’t have all of the services integrated that I use daily. I’m really excited to see how things change over the next year. I think Apple is going to start making some major Siri improvements with iOS 12 and their new head of AI they just hired.
In the meantime my Sonos One setup is working great, now that Airplay 2 is here. I can ask my watch or iPhone to start playing a song in the Living Room and it just works. Although, experiences like yours are telling me that I may be reconsidering HomePod down the road when my issues with Siri start to get worked out.
I never use Siri on my iOS devices or Watch anymore, it’s just too slow. The difference on the HomePod, however, is night and day! The slow speed on my Watch was the original reason I bought all those Echo Dots: raising it to my arm, saying the wake word, waiting for Siri to really wake up so I don’t have to say it twice, then saying it, and then slowing growing old while Siri parses the command, was just ridiculous. Alexa on the other hand reacted within a second! And now, Siri does so too, on the HomePod. I really hope Apple can bring that speed to the other devices as well. And I am, too, very hopeful for Apple’s new AI chief.
Google is not even worth consideration for me at all, though. Again, languages makes the difference: the German Google voice just sounds hysterical! I remember how amazing the first GPS devices were because finally you could take road trips without getting into fights over how to get to your destination. No matter how stupid your driving was, there was always a friendly, polite voice telling you to make a U-turn. Now it feels like Google has brought the fighting and the passive-aggressiveness of old family trips back with its virtual voice. Siri and Alexa have much calmer, friendlier voices in German; in my opinion anyway! I also don’t like the impersonal “ok Google” wake word.
I "like" the Alexa support on my Sonos One. No drop ins, no announcements, Amazon is holding back on some features. Definitely worth the investment though, especially since Airplay 2!
just got mine about a month ago. seems to do announcements, but doent do the drop in which does kinda suck.
Yeah, I have a feeling some of the missing features are Amazon holding back, and some are Sonos still trying to workout the integrations. Hopefully we’ll continue to see those added in, but totally agree on Airplay 2.
Terrific review. Thank you so much for taking the time to put this together. Well done!
Thanks!
Great video. I use my parents as a baseline, too. I work in IT and it's a particularly useful benchmark when youre trying to explain something to management.
There's something that seems a little mean about it, but it's a really good rule of thumb. ;-)
We have 3 Google Home devices. We also have 2 Sonos Play 5 speakers. The Sonos Play 5 is the only Sonos product that has an Aux input (that I am aware of). I placed a Google Chromecast Audio onto one of the speakers, then paired them together. This works great and I can verbally ask my Google Home to play whatever music I like. But I wish Sonos One was compatible with Google Home. When that happens I am going to pick up a couple of speakers.
Nice setup you’ve got there. I have a Google Home Mini in one of our rooms and it’s pretty nice (better than Alexa when it comes to random fact based questions). I’m also looking forward to the Google Assistant coming to Sonos ... really curious if we’ll be able to run both Alexa and Google at the same time on the Sonos. Or if we’ll have to choose one only.
The original play 5 also has audio input as well as the Sonos Connect (which you can add to an existing stereo system).
check out my comment ... might be a fix for you
Great video! Rational thoughts, great production, and comprehensive. Subscribed.
Thanks!
Great review. The one flaw of the Alexa integration that I have noticed is that if someone speaks to Alexa, it quiets the music playing throughout the house. And when you have two kids in the house setting timers or changing music or turning lights on, that can mess up dad's happiness all to often.
Oh wow! I haven't run into that. It seems like they should be able to use some smarts to only lower the volume around the microphone that's hearing the request. Hopefully that gets resolved in a software update. If you haven't already, you might want to shoot Sonos some feedback on that.
I have a playbar and sub in my living room. A beam and 2- 1’s in media room. A play-one in a bedroom, play 3 in kitchen which goes out to deck for parties, also another play 1 in my office. Love them all after I love music and after hearing the playbar and sub I was hooked now whole house is Sonos hooked up.
Sounds like a great setup!
Like me, after the playbar and the sub, about 20 mins I ordered 2 one sl, for the living room and will go step by step for all the other rooms in the house
Thanks dude for genuine thoughts. Am just in the process of buying what will likely be a Sonos speakers and your video has really helped...
Thanks for watching and glad it helped!
You rock Matt! Super cool you’re doing these videos.
Hey Robert! Glad you like them. Hope all is well!
You can adjust the bass in the Sonos app. It's a real game changer. The bass becomes heart pounding even at a low volume.
I’ve boosted mine up too and it does sound much better. It’s still not as full as something like the Apple Homepod though.
Very well edited and very informative. Good show!
Great vid!
Great concept I’ve been thinking on for years.
Immediately subscribed at the end of the video.
Thanks for subscribing!
Love my Sonos Ones. I have a couple and looking forward to adding more through out my house.
Greg G I have a problem to connect my second Sonos one speaker ! I don’t know if you can help me with this issues ! Thank you
All my questions answered in one video. Great work!
Don't, you'll regret it. Search on the web about the hundreds of problems. It's scoring 2 out of 10 on the customer reviews. I have one and it's utter shit. It can't even play one song right through and it stops playing altogether after 30 minutes. Pure crap
Bought a Sonos One for our bathroom shortly after they were released. Made since as we already had heavy investment into the Sonos ecosystem with a Play-bar, a pair of Play 3s, a Sub-woofer, and a pair of Play 5s in my Garage. We also have a large number of Echo devices scattered throughout the home.
First thing i noticed is the sound quality is far better than even the large echo. However while it does have better sound quality, it's shortcoming was in the microphone. Would literally have to scream from the shower before it could pick up my commands. Sonos had since released a software update that helped considerably, but the problem still remains.
Nonetheless, the Sonos One is a great value once you consider it is a Play One with an Echo Dot built in. Have no doubt future software updates will continue to improve the microphone issues. But until then, if you hear someone screaming in the shower, its likely me.
I wonder if any of the Sonos engineers ever considered using one of their speakers in the bathroom while in the shower with a fan running in the background. LOL
I have two Sonos play ones and I am very excited for airplay to.
I actually just posted a video about the Airplay 2 support on Sonos (it was just released): ruclips.net/video/kvc0CMA58i8/видео.html
Hey Matt! Great review! I have an old Sonos play 1 and 2 Sonos ONES(Alexa). So I’m slowly building my automated household and Sonos system at same time. I CANNOT WAIT to have the sound bar and sub for tv.
You hit the nail on the head with the timers 😂😂😂. I hope the whole house features come soon
Cheers!
Thanks for watching! That’s one of the nice things about speakers like Sonos ... being able to build out your system slowly over time. It will just keep getting better along with the software updates too.
Brilliant informative video. My daughter has an Amazon Echo and I thought wow! So I went and bought the Echo Plus for £139.99. I was asking Alexa stuff like area of circles. Sine and Cosine values and phrases in French. Amazing! The one thing that let it down was the sound quality so I went and bought the Sonos One which was reduced from £199.99 to £169.99 in the Black Friday sale. The Sonos One is a beautiful piece of kit!
Thanks for watching! The Sonos One gets you the major Alexa features with a big improvement on the audio front over the Echo.
Definitely enjoy the Sonos ecosystem - started with one Play:5 speaker and ended up with the play bar and sub + two play:1s for surround sound for the tv.
But I must admit I’m not overly keen on having Amazon or Google services listen in on every conversation in the house.
There is a trust factor that you have to have with these companies for voice assistants. Amazon has been losing my trust recently.
This was a great video! I just subscribed. I am in the same position where I don’t want to be stuck in a specific ecosystem while this market is in the beginning stages. Thanks for putting this together!
Thanks for watching!
Nice job. Good luck with your channel! I have 2 Sonos Play 5’s in my bedroom, so AirPlay 2 support is something I’m excited for as well, to push RUclips music to them from my iPad.
Thanks! Sonos just released Airplay 2, so far it’s working as advertised and is great. Check your Sonos app for the update!
Undecided Will do. I just moved a couple of days ago, and haven’t set the Sonos back up yet, but I will do so tonight. I’m thinking about getting the new Sonos sound bar. Waiting for it to hit stores so I can check it out in person. I’ll check to see if you’ve done a video on that product, but if not, that would be a good item for you to review next. All the best!
I’m very intrigued by that too. Really curious to hear how it sounds. Good luck with getting everything set back up after the move.
Spud E. Buddy lol eyelash
@5:30 perhaps it's an update since your video but you are able to cancel timers and alarms in other rooms. This happens to us in our bedroom as my wife uses it as an alarm clock but if she jumps in the shower early, I have to turn her alarm off from the kitchen and I can. I simply state "alexa, turn alarm off in master bedroom" and she will. I also have my phone configured to alert me to reminders, alarms and timers on various speakers. You can set that up in the app. An example here is I use the reminder to set trash out at 7pm on the Alexa in our kitchen but often I get the reminder when I'm in a different room or perhaps not home. Since I also get the alarm on my phone, I can simply turn it off there.
I bought a sonos one as a compliment to my sonos five. I liked the voice control and now use a dot to control the five. The voice control has made a really good system significantly better. I hope to get a few more ones soon. I agree with your complaints on the audio cue mixups between devices; I had to name each mine different thing (kitchen is echo, bedroom is alexa) to keep the sonos one in the bedroom from overhearing. I'm sure that would be a tricky situation with a few more devices. Have you ever figured how to turn an alarm off on the sonos app when you are not on your network?
Sounds like a nice setup you’ve got. I haven’t figured out a way to control the alarm if your not on the network, which is extremely frustrating. There are folks that have used Remote Desktop to log into their home computers running the Sonos app to get it to work, as well as running a VPN service in your house to make your phone appear on the home network. Both are hacks and workarounds.
The new Symfonish speakers are pretty awesome!
I have had the play bar and at least four other play ones in my home, I enjoyed the setup. But once I purchased my HomePods, I realized that the Sonos system wasn’t high fidelity enough. I still enjoy having music all around the house, but I enjoy the quality sound from my HomePods much more.
I actually have a Homepod on the way and am expecting to have the same reaction.
@@UndecidedMF They are not very loud, but they makeup with the quality sound. In a room they sound amazing!
Looking forward to hearing it in my home tomorrow.
Undecided with Matt Ferrell let me know how much you like it.
I will! And may make a video on it.
I have been barred from getting more smart speakers haha. Right now we have a HomePod in the game room/office. Two Sonos ones on the living room, an echo show in the kitchen. And with two iPhones and a Mac something is always getting triggered 😂 but the Sonos One AirPlay 2 is absolutely phenomenal. I did turn Alexa off on them until Google comes to it.
I have a play 5 and I love it! If you use a play 5 it has a aux port in the back of it so you can play whatever you want it too
Also easy to give it smarts by plugging in an Echo Dot or Home MIni.
I have 9 sonos speakers, they sound great, still waiting for amazon alexa support in sweden though...
do you have a sound bar?
Alpha Neuron yes
Set Sonos account in USA or UK and everything works in English
I have 2 sonos 1s, the subwoofer, and the beam. I love it. Nearly $1500 for the system but its the best system ive ever had. Can not go wrong.
Out of curiosity, what size of room do you have that set up in?
@@UndecidedMF about 18' x 16' all tile
That’s a decent sized room for the beam. By itself it may be a bit small for that room, but with the full package it doesn’t surprise me that it’s working like a charm. Nice set up.
That’s a decent sized room for the beam. By itself it may be a bit small for that room, but with the full package it doesn’t surprise me that it’s working like a charm. Nice set up.
@@UndecidedMF thanks you. I actually plan on adding 2 Play 5s. I cant get over the sound quality
"middle of the road" is what's essential in studio control room playback monitors worldwide. We DONT want emphasis in tonality when releasing musical work. We know the material will be enjoyed in endless scenarios from cheap radios to properly voiced PA systems. It must translate well through all kinds of playback systems. As a studio engineer, the Sonos is a great listening platform.
Glad I found your channel!
Great review. My thoughts and experiences mirror yours.
Any opinions of the Sonos Beam?
I don’t have a Sonos Beam yet, but might have one soon to review. If I do, I’ll be posting an update.
I have one and like it. Works best with the Sub or a pair of Ones. It’s a bit small by itself for larger rooms but works great with the additional supports. Would work well by itself in a small bedroom.
Thank you for the info. It saves me time and research efforts. More importantly, your videos are not time-consuming and are straight to the point. BTW, Alexa responded to your comments while the video was playing. Indeed, it was hilarious.
Ha! Sorry about the Alexa responses (I’ve gotten better about that). Glad you found the video useful. Thanks for watching!
This is the best Sonos one review
Great presentation! I'll definately follow you!good luck!
I'll love to know if there are any sales on these Sonos one speakers.
Thanks for watching, and keep an eye out for Sonos sales this time of year. If I spot any sales, I’ll be dropping back in and pin a comment to this video.
Great coverage on the Sonos. I wish you had gone more into the grouping process and how that works (or doesn't work) when you are using another Sonos device like a Beam or surround on your TV. Just a thought....
I don’t know if it’s been mentioned before, but my workaround for your multiple speaker issue is to rename the one in your kitchen’s wake word. I have two other speakers within earshot of my kitchen so I just use a different wake word so the other speakers ignore me.
Yep, that’s a sure fire way to avoid the problem. Amazon has been releasing updates that have also helped with the crosstalk issue.
To your timer complaint (around the 7 minute time mark).. I have the exact same issue. I've a bunch of alexa devices throughout the house and face the same problem when creating timers. One (smart IMO) workaround if you have smart bulbs (hue in my case) is to use an IFTTT recipe thats available that will blink a light (or set of lights) when the alexa timer hits 0, very useful and it gives you a visual aid in case you're blasting tunes on your Sonos speakers louder than the echo devices can get (I use "older" Sonos and separate echo devices), and it won't matter which alexa device took the timer command. I hope Amazon improves the experience in households with multiple devices though.
That’s a great suggestion for folks! I’ve got the same setup in my house and should have mentioned it. It still doesn’t stop the game of Marco Polo, but you don’t miss the alarm.
If you happen to have an iPhone and using Alexa, try turning off the wifi on the phone and then back on as the iPhone, unline android devices inherently keeps a death grip on the last connected wifi device so, if you have multiple WAPs or a mesh network, that may help with the issue (keep in mind that SONOS is its own proprietary mesh network and senses the last connection of the device you are using to control the Sonos system.
This channel is so factual and true. Would be a shame if that changed in the future.
Jack Wright - not any more👍🏼
Thanks Matt, loved your review, especially the story of 'Marco - Polo'...just bought two, so shouldn't have your issues, and I hope my wife loves her Christmas Gift.
Great video mate. Very informative.
How are you less than 1,000 subscribers?! Your production quality is great!
42k and climbing!
I have the yamaha nx-n500 musiccast speakers. Works really well and most importantly it is seen as generalised airplay/dlna device. I also have a really cool wifi speaker 'Clint Freya' from a danish company called Clint. It is a small company but the ios/android app works just like you would expect and again is seen as a generalised airplay/dlna device on the network. They also offer their own multiroom solutions.
The Yamaha NX-N500 are really nice speakers (looked into them myself), but I haven't heard of Clint (I don't believe anyone sells them here in the U.S.). Do they support Airplay 2, so you can use them as part of a multi-room setup directly from an iPhone without their app? How's the sound?
Yamaha is being a bit sketchy with the details about their plans for airplay 2 although I haven't checked that in a week or two so perhaps there has been some progress in that regard. Almost certain that Clint don't support airplay 2 as of the moment, although they are a small company that responds quickly to emails so it would be interesting to see how open they would be to developing airplay 2 compatibility assuming they had enough requests for it. Having had some more time with the speaker I was able to write a pretty comprehensive review of the speaker for the site where it was purchased, which I will leave here for you should you be interested :) cheers:
Having had experience using Yamaha's highly lauded 'MusicCast' ecosystem, I am very pleased to report that for all intents and purposes the usability of Clint's equivalent ecosystem in the form of the iOS app was every bit as easy and functional as the former. Albeit simplified compared to the likes of Sonos/Yamaha etc owing to the far simpler product line of this modest yet highly specialised Danish company, it competes in the wifi/multiroom audio segment of the market almost solely, outside of digital radios.
Build Quality: Superb. Front metal grill that sits flush with the plastic back plate that looks equally as elegant. A strong and sturdy 'Clint' infused piece of rubber is what forms the entirety of the base which is a nice touch. Buttons feel distinctively old school however they provide tactile response and inspire confidence in their build quality. It feels very rigid in the hands and the weight is well distributed throughout, there are no parts of this speaker that feel 'hollow' outside of the upper segment where the bass port is placed.
Sound: Overall the sound delivery is impressive. I have no real experience or knowledge in Mono speakers, nor do I know the extent to which the in-built DSP alters the sound however I have been blown away by how this mono speaker is able to image and create an actually balanced and 'imaged' sound at almost any point in the room. Unlike my stereo speakers that have such a strictly defined sweet spot, this mono speaker seems to exhibit a consistent and pleasing sound as one moves throughout the room. The volume levels confined by the 8 watts of power may not impress in close vicinity yet deceive in their ability to fill and wind through large spaces. This Danish company reminds us from form to function, that less is more. The sound errs to the warm side with an impressively strong and present mid-range that exhibits both smoothness and gruffness. I attribute this to the clearly tuned crossover between the surprisingly competent bass component and the tweeter, male vocals for example have this very real and breathy projection. Although warm the overall sound strives mostly for balance and the slightly recessed treble extends impressively high. Although highly dependent on setting the speaker seems to have a very real ability to image vertically and laterally with considerable magnitude where the soundstage is usually constrained by the spatial constraints in which the speaker/listener is situated.
Closing thoughts: This isn't one of those super hype bass! speakers nor one that exists to impress with outright volume levels. As an owner of several pairs of sufficiently capable speakers/headphones I can say confidently say the sound is good and I believe that sentiment would be shared by most. Everything about the speaker shows why the price is currently 260 euros in Europe, and why it was originally $400 in Australia. For $100 it is an absolute steal.
Thanks for sharing that review! Awesome ... I want to get one ... or at least listen to one. Just wish they were available over here right now.
Great review. Can you comment on the Sonos Play: 5 speaker system? Also, how easy would it be to connect an old turntable to it? Thanks.
Thanks! The Play 5’s are fantastic and offer a much fuller sound. Better range, especially on the lower end. I’d say the Sonos One’s are great for casual listening pretty much anywhere. The Play 5s are ideal for larger spaces or even critical listening in the right environment.
While the Sonos One doesn’t have any kind of line input (it’s only good as a networking streaming speaker), the Play 5’s have a line input on the back. You could hook a turntable up to the Play 5 with a 3.5mm to RCA cable, or you could hook a turntable up to something like a Sonos Connect (blog.sonos.com/en/how-to-use-line-in-on-sonos/). Either way, it would allow you to play your turntable through your Sonos setup.
Just bought the Sonos play bar for my new Samsung Qled TV. Works great but thinking of adding a couple of Sonos 1s as rears in a surround system.
Nice. Adding those will really help fill out the sound stage. I've found with my Sonos rear speakers that they're calibrated by default a little on the quiet side for my taste. After some adjustments in the advanced settings, I got it dialed it just right for how I like it though.
Good work-take a look at the Libratone Zipp which, with AirPlay since two years ago, has served all my casting to audio needs. I now have the Sonos system and prefer it for its better stability but I still like the Zipp for its portability-no wires!
I looked at the Libratone before going with the Sonos for just that reason (truly wireless). It’s still calling out to me ;-).
Very good review and a lot of fun !
Thanks!
Nice Video! I've had a Sonos One since November here in Canada and airplay 2 has been amazing.
Alexa has had troubles, especially with apple music, since you can't use voice commands to play apple music. That is my biggest frustration for sure. I've had some other minor issues like some you've mentioned. Also haven't been able to get routines working with my sonos one.
Thanks! I don’t use the Alexa routines, but use a combo of SmartThings, IFTTT, Stringify, Lutron, and Logitech Harmony. There are ways to get Alexa to trigger routines through those, but it’s obviously not as nice as having it baked in. Using third parties can sometimes be hit or miss, but it works the majority of time for me. You might want to check out Yonomi as another third party routine system.
Sonos is the best, we have 13 speakers plus two bass units. Works every time without any issues, Unlike the Bose units in our second home. The Bose units are not easy to use especially if you haven’t used them for sometime. The Bose app is a total let down too. Sonos - A+, Bose D-. Totally agree with your review too. Your channel will grow quickly, so don’t worry about that buddy.
Thanks! I’ve also got some Bose speakers in the house and am happy with the sound quality, but still prefer the Sonos experience. Really great product.
I'm jealous, I've been thinking about a Sonos One but 190 euro is a lot of money for me.
@@JoeriQuiksilver You can usual find them on sale around holidays, so look at prices then.
Definitely. There are always good sales around November and December each year.
I'm so intrigued by the voice assistant thing that I use both Google and Alexa. I have four Google Home devices, plus two Chromecast audios. I also have three Alexa speakers. I find that Google does a better job with answering questions and whole home audio. You can group the speakers into as many groups as possible. Where it falls down, and where I love Alexa, is in the routines. Alexa allows you to do far more with the routines than does Google. Alexa also handles news briefings much better. If Google thinks you've heard a news briefing before, it won't let you hear it without a specific command. I used to use Google more, I find myself leaning more Alexa these days.
Thanks I am currently looking to purchase a system and have been looking at Sonos.
I started with the Sonos One... got two. Kitchen and office. Then I got an Echo and a Dot. Then I got a Firecube. I’m slowly figuring out what product do what with the Cube being the my main focus now. If you could put together videos about customization on the Cube and the Echo and Sonos, that would be slick.
Side Note... I think the Sonos has limited capabilities with Alexa... I guess that is the current agreement?
I’m planning future videos on home automation, as well as more advanced Alexa setups. While Sonos doesn’t have every single feature of the Echo devices, it has the vast majority. Last March they added Audible support on Sonos, which had previously only worked on Echo devices. Sonos still doesn’t recognize trained voices or drop-in. I’d put money on those getting added at some point down the line.
Sonos does have very limited capability with Alexa.
HomePod easily beats the Google Max sound quality and is better than the Play 5 too. Much better dsp, has 360 sound, and far better microphones. I sold two Play 5s and two Sonos ones for four HomePods in two stereo pairs and could not be happier.
HomePod sound quality ... no argument that it’s better than Google Home Max, and arguably better than Sonos. The big downside though is Siri, which is WAY behind Google and Amazon voice assistants. I’m really looking forward to iOS 12 with the new Shortcuts and other Siri enhancements. That could be the thing that turns HomePod into a more full featured smart speaker against Google and Amazon. Competition is a wonderful thing.
Excellent review. Thank you.
Good video and you made a good point on the multi-service offering allowing much toe-dipping. I like the graphics. What did you use to create them. Cheers.
Love your username ... and thanks for the complement. The graphics are made in Apple’s Motion and Final Cut Pro X. Adobe After Effects could pull them off too.
Thanks
Great video! Keep it up. What about the connect with a record player? Are you thinking about trying that setup soon?
Sadly, the Sonos One doesn’t have an aux input, so you can’t use external wired sources like record players.
Jerry Delgado The (much) more expensive Sonos Play:5 has a 3.5mm Aux input, so you can connect a turntable etc. I have two Play:5s set up as a stereo pair and it works great.
thanks for practical reviews with cons and pros!
lol, "If you like Beats" - Very diplomatic way of saying "if you like horribly EQ'd speakers that drown you music in muddy booms"
That's not always the case.
OfficialKeithIt Perhaps not, but enough that we all knew what he meant.
That’s not what I meant by it. I totally agree that EQ is a matter of taste, which is why I mentioned you’d be disappointed if you prefer thumpy/heavy bass and used Beats as an example. No judgement on my part.
Well, I'll just clarify, that if your bass sound literally rattles my eardrums and makes the highs buzz in between the troughs of the bass sine wave, I'm gonna go ahead and say: That's horribly EQ'd, your inclusive all-hold-hands, celebrate our differences view can just jump in a lake. PLENTY of judgment on my part.
My personal taste is not in the beats realm for sure. I agree that kind of eq/audio tuning is horrible for quite a a lot of music, but there are genres of music that play fairly well on them. It really does depend on your personal taste, which isn’t just how your speaker is tuned, but it’s also for what you play on it. Pairing the right person to the right speaker is the path I prefer to go. There’s no such thing as a one size fits all approach.
I agree with you that Alexa and Sonos app's handshake part can be very confusing. I had the painful experience of setting up them in a new Wi-Fi environment. I did multiple resettings on my sons but the culprit was actually that the Alexa's Sonos skill wasn't recognizing the new Wi-Fi environment. My overall experience with my Google Assistant is definitely better than with Alexa, so now I am waiting for the Google Assistant and Sonos integration.
It can be very frustrating. I’m having issues getting some Echo Dots to connect to a new WiFi network, so I think most of these problems fall at the feet of Amazon.
The more I use Google Assistant, the more I like it. Definitely looking forward to that integration too.
Hey Matt. Great review, very thorough and detailed.
I'm looking for a wireless multi room setup in a retail environment and could use some advice. There are two adjacent rooms, one is 27' x 25' and the other is 12' x 25'. The ceilings are 9'8" high and the rooms are connected by a 6' doorway. I'll be using Spotify to play ambient background music and occasionally be playing audio from short promo videos on a TV in the store.
LARGE ROOM
Would you recommend two Sonos Play:5s, or four Sonos Ones? What kind of square footage coverage can I expect from each speaker?
SMALL ROOM
Would you recommend two Sonos Ones or a single Play:5?
TV
How can I connect the audio from the TV into the Sonos ecosystem? If I place one of the Play:5s near the TV and ran a 35mm audio cable to it, can I switch the the TV audio input on and off though the Sonos app? Or is there an affordable way to connect it wirelessly? BTW, I haven't bought the TV yet, so if there is a built in audio feature I should look for to achieve this, please let me know.
Thanks in advance!
Update: I think I'm going to go for a 4 x One setup in the large room and a single One in the small room. I've gotten advice to set the speakers in the large room to mono, in order to to give a seamless musical experience to shoppers wandering around the store. I'm thinking of placing them near the four corners of the room, close to the ceiling but angled down slightly. Any thoughts on that?
Does anyone know if it's possible to set up a stereo environment in the large room, then toggle back and forth between mono and stereo easily? I'd like to group the two speakers on the right wall to be the right channel and the two on the left wall for the left channel. (for when I'm the only one in the store)
Still not sure what to do about the TV audio... Worst case scenario I can look for a TV with good... fair... ok, "usable" speakers. Can anyone offer suggestions on how to send the TV audio to the Sonos speakers? It's only needed for occasional short promo videos. Thanks!
I'm going to make a bet that this channel will be the next big tech channel.
NO.
@@dreadog6425 YES
Add some humour maybe :)
Very clear. Just subscribed.
Great video! Can I pair four Sonos speakers at the same time in different rooms?
Hey nice video man, could you update your video once airplay works ? Or maybe with google assistant and how do they improve/change your experience ✌🏽
I actually just posted a video on the Airplay 2 support for Sonos: ruclips.net/video/kvc0CMA58i8/видео.html. And I’ll definitely be doing a video on Google Assistant once that’s released too.
I agree with everything that you said as far as the problems go as well as the strength. I do have a question Colin are you having problems with it understanding things that it used to understand reliably?
I haven't noticed any negative change in its reliability in understanding things.
I have 4 Alexa speakers (Echo Dot) and had the same issue with the wrong one responding. My workaround is to have them respond to different names. On each floor I have 2, so one responds to Alexa and one responds to Echo. (disclaimer: it did take some time to remember which was which)
I also have a Sonos One in my bedroom, but only really use the music in my phone as one of my kids rooms will be streaming Amazon Music and the other kids room will be streaming Spotify. It doesn't leave any streaming services left for me.
Using the different names is a workaround, but having to remember which name goes to which drove me 🥜
Cool. I subscribed. One thing,,,,I can tell Alexa to stop timers from any device. Just say Stop. It works at my house.
For a non-techy guy like me (!) can you please explain what exactly is "Airplay on Sonos" ? Thanks, really enjoyed hearing your views on the Sonos One. Mark
Great review buddy. Thank you
you're good man, interesting well tought out comments. I'm looking to buy an Sonos Beam to eventually expand it into a clean home cinema setup.
You bought? Got an beam and asking if upgrading with 2 ones Would be a good idea
I use SONOS for the last 7 years I think, and NEVER looked BACK, It does COVER my needs, I don't need and super power speakers anyways I don't want to disturbs my neighbors but they are laud enough to get in trouble with your neighbors if you are not careful with the volume, overall I love SONOS.
I forgot, I own:
2 SONOS PLAY3
2 SONOS PLAY 1
2 SONOS SUB's
2 SONOS PLAY BAR
1 SONOS PLAY 5
If I group them all, the police will show AMAZING sound quality WILL NEVER LOOK BACK!
Ha! That’s a lot of Sonos speakers that could easily blast you out the front door.
@@UndecidedMF LOL, I know right, hey thanks for the great video...
I took a gamble and bought the google nest wifi (1 router and 2 points) mesh. The points has mic and speakers and they sound much bigger than its look. I like them and bought another 2 points to put in the kitchen and bathroom. The point actually work as a Bluetooth speaker out of the box, the google home app let you group the speakers to play in multiple rooms but no stereo support. The speakers sounds natural and never lack bass especially in close proximity of a wall, on the table, etc. As a wifi mesh system the router is ac2200 but the points are ac1200, so it's good but not the best. On average it's about $76 per unit.
Good video. I liked the friendly tone.
@Matt Ferrell, what camera are you using to record your videos? really nice clean image on my end.
A Sony A6500. Great camera, but the only downside is that the view screen doesn’t flip out (not great for filming yourself).
@@UndecidedMF thanks for the response