Sonos One
Published: 28/02/19 By: Luke Gammons
The Sonos One has now been out for over a year but demand for this little speaker just keeps on increasing. I look at why it’s so popular and is it worth the price tag?
The upgrade to the Sonos Play 1 released 2013, This little smart speaker is now even smarter with voice integration from Alexa. It has a slight design change with touch sensitive controls for volume and track changing. For me personally these don’t get used all that often due to the impressive voice control from Alexa.
I have located my Sonos One in the Kitchen relocating my original play one to the conservatory. First thing I do as I walk in the kitchen ‘Alexa play Frank Turner from Spotify’ (or any other artist that I want to listen too) she confirms with ‘Frank Turner from Spotify, playing in the Kitchen’ , Thanks Alexa.
Being in the Kitchen your hands are often busy, chopping food, washing up, scrolling through Facebook! So with a quick ‘Alexa volume up’ ‘Alexa skip track’ ‘Alexa set a 10 minute timer’ ‘Alexa tell me a joke!’ she will do the required task immediately.
A very impressive and responsive voice activated speaker, not only that but the sound quality is seriously impressive. In this small speaker housing is a pair of Class-D amplifiers and custom-built drivers that have been specifically tuned to this speakers acoustic architecture. The single tweeter and the Mid-Woofer together make for impressive mid-range vocals with deep base. The base and treble are both adjustable via the easy to use app.
A choice of two colours white or black will keep most people happy and either blend in or stand out as a feature. At a height of only 161.5mm and width and depth of 120mm it can fit neatly on the kitchen top or any shelf.
If you prefer a stereo sound then buy two and pair them quick and easy through the Sonos app. I have two Play ones in my living room that are acting as surround sound speakers for my Playbar and sub. All the Sonos speakers can be paired with the sub woofer if you desire extra base, personally I would say adding a sub to a Sonos One would be a bit excessive, unless you have a large room, but then I would suggest a larger Sonos speaker.
I found the set up process of the speaker very easy but a tad time consuming. Customers have told me they feel the same way. Wades offers an installation service for setting up smart speakers, which several customers have used and said it’s worth the money, all they want to do is use the speaker not set it up.
The Sonos One is priced higher than other voice activated speakers like the Amazon Echo plus (2nd Gen) at £139.99 but the sound quality is second to none. I think once you have had chance to listen, used the app, tried the voice commands you’ll be hooked. I have bought into the Sonos brand and now have speakers in everyroom in my house, which also means I can group them all together and listen to the same track all around my home or keep them all totally separate.
To finish, I believe the Sonos One to be a very classy smart speaker that is a must for every home, is it worth the £199.99 price tag, Yes! However we all like to grab a bargain, so when you see these speakers on sale (usually by £20) grab one………….Plus as a shameless ad we offer the Sonos One at only £149.99 when bought with any Sky TV package, it pays to shop local, which may be what my next blog is about.
Stay tuned for more
Categories: News & Reviews