One Of The Best Wireless Speakers Just Got Smarter

FOR Sophisticated sound; stylish build; Alexa control

AGAINST Not full Alexa; no hi-res audio; bug in software

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At Christmas, the world will be awash with so-called smart speakers. Apple’s HomePod will be out, Google will have launched the Home Mini, and there will be a second generation of Amazon Echos setting up shop in peoples' homes.

But these are all speakers made by companies that are smart, but not experts in audio first and foremost. The current trend is for audio companies to licence smart technology and, with that in mind, it’s exciting that Sonos has finally launched its own smart speaker, the One.

Synchronised Ziggy mode

The Sonos One is essentially a Play:1 with Amazon Alexa built-in, and that’s a winning combination in our book. In shape and size, the One looks identical to the Play:1. The only significant aesthetic departure is the replacement of the Play:1’s grey wraparound grille with a black or white grille, depending on the colour of speaker you’ve chosen.

The One blends into its surroundings even more effectively than its predecessor. On the top plate, the three buttons of the Play:1 have been replaced by a touch sensitive panel decorated with a circle of LEDs and symbols. These represent play/ pause, the microphone and Sonos’s familiar context-sensitive actions, while the LEDs illustrate when Alexa is switched on. Sonos points out that switching Alexa off is a matter of tapping the microphone symbol, and total privacy is represented by the lights being off altogether.