Is it possible to 'disable' Alexa in the Sonos One?

Good question, and I assume you refer to wanting to use an external Echo device with it, with the built in mic disabled in the controller.

Why would you want to do this though? Unless you have read the complaints about the built in mic on the One being less responsive than the ones on Amazon made hardware...

But I will leave the question to those that have tried this to answer it.

I want a stereo pair of speakers, and both the Sonos Play:1 and Sonos One fit the bill, price-wise, but also due to their humidity profile. We have Echo devices in the house, and I was initially looking to purchase a pair of Play:1s to use with the Echo via the Sonos skill. The Ones - by all accounts - provide a better audio experience, but the Alexa integration is currently causing issues. I'd be happy to use them with an external Echo Dot until those issues are resolved.

Right; so your question needs to be answered by someone that has so used it.
Note however that most Alexa integration issues are because this is a work in progress, and would affect both configurations in the same way. A Dot + Sonos One with mic disabled would therefore not change things a great deal on that front. Some patience would still be needed while Sonos sorts out the bugs from what is a beta release of Alexa skills for Sonos.
Except the reported issue of the Sonos One mic being less sensitive at this time and requiring louder voice commands than what Amazon devices do; that would be solved I imagine, before Sonos does the same for mics in the Sonos One.

Yes

accuser wrote:

From a purely audio point of view, the Sonos One seems to be a better speaker than the Play:1 (from reviews, I don't have either). Given that they are currently retailing at the same price point, is it possible to use the Sonos One without Alexa enabled, and use external Echo devices with the Sonos skill?

Yes you can disable Alexa on the Sonos One. Bear in mind there is no screw hole in the Sonos One to mount them like there is on the Play:1. Are you in the UK, the Play:1 is cheaper than the Sonos One here.

You don't even have to disable Alexa, it is disabled by default. Never enable the Alexa skill and it is just a plain old Sonos speaker. In fact, there is a hardware button to disable the microphones for the truly cautious, and for those whose caution goes to extremes, the LED for the microphones is hardwired to their usage so the mics cannot possibly be listening without the LED going on, even if someone hacks the speaker.

Sonos truly covered every base (not that there aren't some who will still refuse to buy it :S).

accuser wrote:

From a purely audio point of view, the Sonos One seems to be a better speaker than the Play:1 (from reviews, I don't have either). Given that they are currently retailing at the same price point, is it possible to use the Sonos One without Alexa enabled, and use external Echo devices with the Sonos skill?

Go to your Amazon account and deregister the Sonos Ones from your devices. Also disable the Sonos skills in the Alexa app. That's what I've done and it appears to have disabled the Alexa voice service.

I'll keep monitoring it and hope it continues to get better but for now I have no need for it.

I do not have interest in using Alexa at all, I have multiple Sonos Ones and cannot figure out how to get the ‘red notification dot’ telling me to set up voice services in the Sonos app to go away. It is purely asthetic but I’d prefer it not be there (a red dot tells me there is somthing that needs tending to, like mail or the like) any advice is appreciated. Thanks 🙂

chan wrote:

I do not have interest in using Alexa at all, I have multiple Sonos Ones and cannot figure out how to get the ‘red notification dot’ telling me to set up voice services in the Sonos app to go away. It is purely asthetic but I’d prefer it not be there (a red dot tells me there is somthing that needs tending to, like mail or the like) any advice is appreciated. Thanks :)

If you turn the mic off by pressing the mic button does the light go out?

Thanks for your reply. No, all mics (indicating lights) are off. I can not even toggle them on or off as I never set up an a Alexa account or added the skill.

Same issue. I am not using Alexa on my One’s and won’t, but can’t get the red dot badge on the main menu (over ‘More’) or in the settings menu to go away. ?!?