Question

Sonos One abilities

  • 13 October 2017
  • 13 replies
  • 1007 views

Will the new sonos 1 have all the abilities of the echo units, such as timers, alarms, voice calling and Drop in?

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13 replies

Sonos has stated Drop In will not be supported.
Userlevel 6
Badge +11
This page clearly says Everything that Alexa does

http://www.sonos.com/en-gb/shop/one.html

So the Sonos marketing is lying, not good!

Userlevel 7
Badge +21
Someone else asked about calling (here), but unfortunately it hasn't been answered yet. I would imagine that if drop in isn't supported, calling probably isn't either.
This page clearly says Everything that Alexa does

http://www.sonos.com/en-gb/shop/one.html

So the Sonos marketing is lying, not good!



Marketing didn't tell you something a product does not do? I'm shocked!! Next you will tell me that Frosted Flakes are not really part of a "Gr-e-e-e-e-aT Breakfast!" and are nothing but teeth rotting, blood sugar spiking, diabetes causing death nuggets! There goes my childhood . . . 😉
Userlevel 6
Badge +11

Marketing didn't tell you something a product does not do? I'm shocked!! Next you will tell me that Frosted Flakes are not really part of a "Gr-e-e-e-e-aT Breakfast!" and are nothing but teeth rotting, blood sugar spiking, diabetes causing death nuggets! There goes my childhood . . . ;)


Well I don't know about the US but here in the UK it is illegal to falsely advertise a product 😃

For people, like myself, that are/were potentially planning to replace an echo/dot with a Sonos One this is important.


Well I don't know about the US but here in the UK it is illegal to falsely advertise a product 😃


As it is here. However, there is a pretty high threshold for what they call "false advertising" and I don't think that crosses it, in England or the US. After all, Sonos used the slogan "All the music on Earth" for years, and the last time I wanted to listen to live Borneo drum circles, or Edison wax cylinders, nothing came out of my Sonos. And trust me, I can't tell you the number of times people quoted that slogan and screamed about "false advertising!!" because they can't play some esoteric audiophile track. As far as I know, no law suits ensued.


For people, like myself, that are/were potentially planning to replace an echo/dot with a Sonos One this is important.


If it is important, any smart shopper should know better than to trust marketing blurbs. They should always dig deeper, as you did, and got the answer you seek.
Userlevel 6
Badge +11

As it is here. However, there is a pretty high threshold for what they call "false advertising" and I don't think that crosses it, in England or the US.


You lot sued Red Bull because it didn't give you wings :P
http://uk.businessinsider.com/red-bull-settles-false-advertising-lawsuit-for-13-million-2014-10

In the UK, i'd say the threshold is incredibly low, and in this day and age Tony the Tiger would be held to account.

Saying Everything that Alexa does, when it doesn't do everything that Alexa does, is clearly false advertising.
[You lot sued Red Bull because it didn't give you wings :P
http://uk.businessinsider.com/red-bull-settles-false-advertising-lawsuit-for-13-million-2014-10

In the UK, i'd say the threshold is incredibly low, and in this day and age Tony the Tiger would be held to account.

Saying Everything that Alexa does, when it doesn't do everything that Alexa does, is clearly false advertising.


When the judgment come from the court, be sure to post your check here! :8
It seems that there has been two general groups that have been defined when referring to Amazon voice control. There is 'echo devices' and 'alexa enabled devices'. There certain features only the echo devices can do, such as the calling features and messaging features. The other group can't do these things. You can't make a call from your firetv, or your fire tablet for example. If you buy some other device that's labeled 'Alexa enabled', like the 3rd party speakers and such that are popping up, it's the same thing.

The Sonos One is an Alexa enabled device. It's not really false advertising as they are telling the truth in that 'everything Alexa can do' can certainly imply it's an Alexa enabled device. If they said it can do everything an echo can do, well that would be false. Of course, a consumer could misunderstand the meaning, but I don't think that means Sonos is liable for a consumer making the wrong assumptions about functionality.
I think that distinction is one we're all going to need to learn, melvimbe. Alexa enabled does not equal Alexa.

For the OP, the two products are PLAY:1 and Sonos One. In the "older" product, the numeral is used. In the new product, it's a word. I was schooled earlier in the month on this, and recognize that it actually helps us determine which device people are talking about. which isn't the case with the PLAY:5 (gen 1 and gen 2).
Userlevel 2
Badge +1
The only thing which has annoyed me on the marketing side is that when I updated my app the message on screen made a big point of what can be done with the new Sonos One but didn't mention you can do it all with an existing echo device. It is clear Sonos want to make us spend the money when that may not be necessary for all of us. I am considering getting an Alexa enabled Sonos speaker but I wish they'd be honest with us and be upfront with the information instead of making it hard to find in the hope we'll just fork out another £200.
Userlevel 7
Badge +26
Good questions, guys, and great answer Melvimbe. You're right on with that analysis. With Sonos One you get all the convenience from Alexa in a Sonos speaker that is Alexa enabled. You'll be able to use Alexa skills on Sonos One, and a lot of the Echo features too, like alarms, lists, and timers. However, some specific Alexa features only work on Amazon Echo devices. The drop in and Alexa calling and messaging are such features. Currently, they're only available on the Amazon Echo devices. There might be more in the future, but one day they may become available on Alexa enabled devices, like the Sonos One.

The Sonos One will get news and answers, manage your smart devices and enjoy the wide selection of Alexa skills. While it's not an Amazon Echo device, you can definitely enjoy the vast majority of Alexa convenience on the Sonos One.
We bought ours just before Christmas and Sonos are still selling the package and not making a point of telling us that you don't get all of the features eg calling and messaging. I'm pretty sure i wouldn't have bothered paying an extra £50 for a partial service if I'd known 😞