I've read somewhere that it's possible to upgrade the software on existing Play:1 speakers to add the Alexa functionality. How can i make this happen?
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The latest version of Sonos software does this; just upgrade your unit via online updates.
You will still need an Echo or a Dot though, that will work wirelessly to send Alexa commands to the play 1 that does not have a built in mic; the newly launched Sonos One has that as part of its hardware and therefore does not need anything else for Alexa functionality.
You will still need an Echo or a Dot though, that will work wirelessly to send Alexa commands to the play 1 that does not have a built in mic; the newly launched Sonos One has that as part of its hardware and therefore does not need anything else for Alexa functionality.
but the upgrade has limited functionality. Apparently Alex integration will kick in only after you start Sonos manually and start playing the music. In other words if you say Alexa play my Sonos play list 1 etc it will not work
Sorry but this is incorrect, except for locally stored music or playlists. The functionality for a Sonos player combined with an Echo Dot is exactly the same as a Sonos One, except that you need to include the room name in each command. e.g. For a Sonos One called Kitchen Sonos and with Spotify set as your default music source, the command would be 'Alexa, Play Piano Chill Playlist'. If Kitchen Sonos was a Play:1 and Echo Dot combination then the command would be 'Alexa, Play Piano Chill Playlist on Kitchen Sonos'
I am talking about locally stored Playlist in Sonos Play 1. For me personally this does not work. I understand that SONOS is not providing any upgrade path either to upgrade the old SONOS Play 1 and Play 3 to the new ones with microphone and voice recognition software. They can easily do this for the cost of an Amazon DOT. Iinstead of forcing their customers to invest in a third party product for a sub standard solution. This is very disappointing and a let down to its wolrd wide loyal customers. I did by Amazon dot and tried it with Sonos Play 1 and decided to return it.
I still don't understand the issue of including the room name in the command. You have to do this with all Amazon or Google Assistant multi room set-up's. But I understand that different people have different expectations. For instance some people prefer the combination of a Play:1 with an Echo Dot over a Sonos One, as it enables the mic for voice control to be placed further away from the Sonos Speaker which is better for voice control when music is played loudly . I have both set-ups and am equally pleased with both, as they both have different strengths but that's just my opinion. 🙂
I am not a fan of Alexa what is the weather or Alexa add milk to my shopping list 🙂 . Just want to play music on Sonos.!
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