Sonos One Review: Great Sound From an Alexa Powered Smart Speaker.

Many audiophiles and casual listeners are already familiar with the Sonos range of speakers, not only for their snazzy names but also for their incredible quality in both sound and build.

It’s no surprise that the new Sonos one received lots of attention before its refresh. But the question lingering on most people’s mind is, does it live up to all the hype?

With the advent of wireless home speakers and worthy competition from tech giants like Apple’s Homepod and Google’s Home MAX, the Sonos One may have to deliver much more than just impressive sound from a compact build.

What has however been conclusively established is that the speaker might have solved an age-old problem for Alexa, that is how to make Alexa better.

Design and Build

Much of the Sonos one design aspects take after its predecessors, namely the Sonos Play 1.

Out of the box, you get a sleek white or black cylindrical speaker. The speaker stands at six inches tall and has touch-sensitive buttons on its upper surface. These are the usual play/pause, stop, previous, next, volume and microphone on/off buttons.

Unfortunately, the Sonos one doesn’t have a screen but when you think about, who really needs one?

The other downside is that since it is an entirely wireless speaker, there is no 3.5mm jack to connect older devices.

Initial Set Up

Setting up the speaker is a piece of cake considering the speaker has its smartphone app which can be downloaded from the app store.

Once you download the up and set up your account, you connect the speaker to your phone via wifi and you’re good to go.

An added advantage of the device is that it supports over 40 music streaming services. These include Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal and many others.

If streaming music isn’t exactly your cup of tea, you can still listen to your favorite songs on your smartphone or any other wifi capable device for that matter.

Radio streaming is seamless with the Sonos one, especially with TuneIn radio.

What may be a bit of a bummer is the application’s constant suggesting to buy music on Amazon music, this can get a little annoying at times.

Also noteworthy is that the device doesn’t connect via Bluetooth, which may come as a drawback but isn’t necessarily a deal breaker.

Sonos One Plus Alexa Voice Assistant

As already said, the Sonos one comes with Alexa integrated into its hardware and software.

The wireless speaker has refined the voice assistant into more of a companion than an annoying tool.

With its array of six microphones on the top, picking out your voice over loud music or the usual kitchen din or office noise is an easy task for the Sonos one.

It has most of the functionality of the Amazon Echo including voice command, increasing or decreasing volume, setting reminders, doing basic calculations and connecting to the myriad of home devices the Amazon Echo supports.

I happen to find the listening capabilities of Alexa improved in the Sonos one. The same can be said about its voice which is also louder and much crisper. A simple download and Alexa is at your command.

Just don’t expect it to do the dishes.

Multi-Room Capabilities

If you are not familiar with the multi-room audio system concept then you will take great comfort knowing you are not alone.

Simply put, multi-room speakers connect multiple speakers or devices which are compatible with each other linking them to play the same thing.

In terms of Multi-Room speaker functionality, the Sonos One fairs exceptionally well amongst its competitors. It is also compatible with Sonos soundbars and the Amazon’s Echo speakers.

Sound Quality

It is well known that Sonos delivers amazing high-quality devices which produce deep, rich sounds and crisp vocals. It is no exception to this rule.

For its fairly small size, the Sonos speaker is a loud wireless speaker, The sounds emanating from the sounds are richer than Jeff Bezos and Deeper than the Red Sea, for lack a better comparison.

Bluetooth Speakers stand no competition against this monster when it comes to audio quality.

And for slightly over 200 dollars, what more could you ask for?

Final Verdict

The speaker is a sure winner and has lived up to its reputation as a brand. The integration with Alexa Voice Assistant and easy-to-use application enhances the speaker’s overall outlook and functionality.

For anyone looking for quality, inexpensive wireless speakers, Sonos is a solid choice.