So, the Sonos One is a great idea and it sounds great. Just like you'd expect from Sonos. I bought Sonos almost on day one and I am a great fan. BUT I put off buying the Sonos One because of its limitations as reported in the press. It's Amazon Echo skills are seriously lacking and I am hopeful that Sonos are trying to fix them. The shortcomings are very poor for a company that I used to respect. Here are some of the problems I have found. Please let me know if they have been fixed as I haven't found them to work yet.
1) the inability to put the Sonos One into groups.
2) inability to set up routines based on a key phrase, such as "Alexa, good night"
3) When streaming a music station the music will continue to play despite saying "Alexa stop" in as many ways as possible. This doesn't always happen but when it does it is REALLY annoying. And guess what...instead of stopping...it turns the volume up!
4) When trying to play a particular station on the radio, most of them will play if you just say "play BBC Radio 4". However if you ask for "classic FM" it says that it doesn't have that skill. However, if you add the words "from tune in radio" then suddenly it works.
5) Ask Alexa what is in your diary, schedule, calendar in as many different ways as you like. All you get back is "sorry I don't understand". Ask an Amazon echo and it answers straight away...I am sure this once worked!
6) fortunately, they have now fixed the links to Spotify which was one of the key reasons for not buying it in the first place
So, the bottom line, in my opinion is that if you are considering adding Sonos One to you collection of Echos, then stop right now and wait until they sort out the problems.
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1) the inability to put the Sonos One into groups.
You're referring to Alexa's groups, not Sonos groups, right? Are you referring to using the groups for playing audio in sync or for smart control?
2) inability to set up routines based on a key phrase, such as "Alexa, good night"
3) When streaming a music station the music will continue to play despite saying "Alexa stop" in as many ways as possible. This doesn't always happen but when it does it is REALLY annoying. And guess what...instead of stopping...it turns the volume up!
This seems to be an issue with Alexa's speech recognition in general as I've run into the same issue with echos.
4) When trying to play a particular station on the radio, most of them will play if you just say "play BBC Radio 4". However if you ask for "classic FM" it says that it doesn't have that skill. However, if you add the words "from tune in radio" then suddenly it works.
Again, isn't this an issue with Alexa in general? If you make the same request of an echo, do you get different results?
5) Ask Alexa what is in your diary, schedule, calendar in as many different ways as you like. All you get back is "sorry I don't understand". Ask an Amazon echo and it answers straight away...I am sure this once worked!
6) fortunately, they have now fixed the links to Spotify which was one of the key reasons for not buying it in the first place
So, the bottom line, in my opinion is that if you are considering adding Sonos One to you collection of Echos, then stop right now and wait until they sort out the problems.
That really depends on what features are important to you. I personally have no use for Alexa's groups, I don't do smart routines through Alexa, and I don't really use calendar features with Alexa. I do make music requests through voice often, I like the sound quality, I like the stereo pairing, and I want to have the airplay ability. I agree with you though. Don't buy a product that doesn't currently meet you functional needs.
Thats why I sold my Sonos Ones and bought four Homepods. Better sound quality by far too.
So their Alexa implementation is much better than the One? Because that was the whole reason for the OP's disappointment.
Just popping in for a visit, then?
Just popping in for a visit, then?
More like a drive by.
Personally it's difficult for me to get frustrated with features on a product like this b/c there often isn't a distinction or clear line as to where the responsibility lies. For example, Sonos lists pretty clearly what features are available (https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3514) so if you're looking for something not listed is this due to Sonos not programming it in the skill or is this a limitation of Alexa's API with 3rd party products? Overall though I'd say that if it's not on there you're setting yourself up for failure expecting it.
I've only been playing with a Beam for a few days but overall I'm impressed with the Alexa concept. I think it has some maturing that is still needed. So far though I'm using Beam to trigger home automation scenes like a bedtime routine and wake up routines for my kids. I'll be excited when they figure out (not sure if it's Amazon or Sonos) grouping commands for Sonos b/c I have sonos in every room of the house and I have to use the Sonos app to group. I'll also like when we can default a speaker to an Alexa device so if you are using an Echo in a room you can set the default Sonos speaker to play rather than having to specify the room when it's sitting in the same room. Deal breakers? Nope. Disclosed limitations? Yep.
I've only been playing with a Beam for a few days but overall I'm impressed with the Alexa concept. I think it has some maturing that is still needed. So far though I'm using Beam to trigger home automation scenes like a bedtime routine and wake up routines for my kids. I'll be excited when they figure out (not sure if it's Amazon or Sonos) grouping commands for Sonos b/c I have sonos in every room of the house and I have to use the Sonos app to group. I'll also like when we can default a speaker to an Alexa device so if you are using an Echo in a room you can set the default Sonos speaker to play rather than having to specify the room when it's sitting in the same room. Deal breakers? Nope. Disclosed limitations? Yep.
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I've only been playing with a Beam for a few days but overall I'm impressed with the Alexa concept. I think it has some maturing that is still needed. So far though I'm using Beam to trigger home automation scenes like a bedtime routine and wake up routines for my kids. I'll be excited when they figure out (not sure if it's Amazon or Sonos) grouping commands for Sonos b/c I have sonos in every room of the house and I have to use the Sonos app to group. I'll also like when we can default a speaker to an Alexa device so if you are using an Echo in a room you can set the default Sonos speaker to play rather than having to specify the room when it's sitting in the same room. Deal breakers? Nope. Disclosed limitations? Yep.
100% agree. 🙂
I bought the Songs One hoping to have higher quality sound compared to my Alexa. It is an improvement but it doesn't have the same listening skills that Alexa has.
Most annoying is saying "Alexa stop" - it flashes but doesn't stop. My Amazon Echo always hears and responds to commands accurately. My Amazon Dot did as well. So this is not an Amazon issue, its a Sonus issue. I've updated my software but it hasn't improved.
Its volume levels seems to not be granular enough. One setting is too loud and the next is too low.
The audio quality is good and I suppose if you were using it for non-Amazon Alexa purposes it would be acceptable.
The Sonus One device has become a source of frustration.
Most annoying is saying "Alexa stop" - it flashes but doesn't stop. My Amazon Echo always hears and responds to commands accurately. My Amazon Dot did as well. So this is not an Amazon issue, its a Sonus issue. I've updated my software but it hasn't improved.
Its volume levels seems to not be granular enough. One setting is too loud and the next is too low.
The audio quality is good and I suppose if you were using it for non-Amazon Alexa purposes it would be acceptable.
The Sonus One device has become a source of frustration.
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