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SONOS ALEXA Integration?



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Userlevel 7
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With Sonos giving out Echo's like Candy today I assume we will see a lot of first time posters here bashing Sonos for working with Amazon to bring us Alexa integration (not in their timeframe wanted).

Poster above doesn't seem to appreciate what Sonos offers so maybe he is better with a Bluetooth speaker. And far superior to about any offering out there when it comes to multiroom (what it is meant for)

P.S. Sonos wireless is far superior to Bluetooth
Userlevel 6
Badge +14
Echo is good, but not comparable to Sonos in sound quality. Bluetooth to headphones is a plus.. Also, you are tied to Amazon Music or Spotify - no access to your own music library. Voice control is useful but not the Holy Grail some people expect it to be.
This person does actually...ive had my sonos for quite a few years thank you. Things have changed and Sonos hasnt. Whether the quality is better or not the fact is it should have built in bluetooth as standard. The only reason it doesnt is purely to tie you in to buy more Sonos products and speakers. If my internet went down i have basically a useless speaker. If had bought 5 sonos play 1 for example for each room they would be rendered useless if i didnt have wireless or internet fact. Not only that i need to buy a bridge just for one speaker!! Every other brand have Bluetooth to just play music ad actually the quality is pretty good unless youre a complete sound nerd. Have you actually heard the Big Amazon Echo? Its very good and I dont have to worry one bit about Sonos integration and actually the Sonos speaker arent actually that great they are quite bassy. Everyone is integrating with Alexa EVERYONE. But as I said we can move to other products. There is a legitimate reason people are bashing Sonos. They are now out of date people want instant On, not have to have lots of things just to play music.
Echo is good, but not comparable to Sonos in sound quality. Bluetooth to headphones is a plus.. Also, you are tied to Amazon Music or Spotify - no access to your own music library. Voice control is useful but not the Holy Grail some people expect it to be.

Its not been out long. It will integrate with everything. Remember when the Sonos app first came out? It was a nightmare just setting up Sonos never mind trying to link to Spotify. Sonos app doesnt support other music streams yet either. Again without an internet connection sonos is rendered completely useless.
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
Echo is good, but not comparable to Sonos in sound quality. Bluetooth to headphones is a plus.. Also, you are tied to Amazon Music or Spotify - no access to your own music library. Voice control is useful but not the Holy Grail some people expect it to be.

Its not been out long. It will integrate with everything. Remember when the Sonos app first came out? It was a nightmare just setting up Sonos never mind trying to link to Spotify. Sonos app doesnt support other music streams yet either. Again without an internet connection sonos is rendered completely useless.


1) Alexa doesn't work without an internet connection
2) The significant majority of music listened to via Sonos is streamed - That doesn't work without internet.
3) Internet radio streams don't work without internet.
Userlevel 6
Badge +14
Echo is good, but not comparable to Sonos in sound quality. Bluetooth to headphones is a plus.. Also, you are tied to Amazon Music or Spotify - no access to your own music library. Voice control is useful but not the Holy Grail some people expect it to be.

Its not been out long. It will integrate with everything. Remember when the Sonos app first came out? It was a nightmare just setting up Sonos never mind trying to link to Spotify. Sonos app doesnt support other music streams yet either. Again without an internet connection sonos is rendered completely useless.


I really think you don't understand how the Echo works. The Echo is rendered pretty useless without an internet connection.
Echo is good, but not comparable to Sonos in sound quality. Bluetooth to headphones is a plus.. Also, you are tied to Amazon Music or Spotify - no access to your own music library. Voice control is useful but not the Holy Grail some people expect it to be.

Its not been out long. It will integrate with everything. Remember when the Sonos app first came out? It was a nightmare just setting up Sonos never mind trying to link to Spotify. Sonos app doesnt support other music streams yet either. Again without an internet connection sonos is rendered completely useless.


1) Alexa doesn't work without an internet connection
2) The significant majority of music listened to via Sonos is streamed - That doesn't work without internet.
3) Internet radio streams don't work without internet.


You know alexa works with bluetooth right?

I.think you need to check things before posting
Echo is good, but not comparable to Sonos in sound quality. Bluetooth to headphones is a plus.. Also, you are tied to Amazon Music or Spotify - no access to your own music library. Voice control is useful but not the Holy Grail some people expect it to be.

Its not been out long. It will integrate with everything. Remember when the Sonos app first came out? It was a nightmare just setting up Sonos never mind trying to link to Spotify. Sonos app doesnt support other music streams yet either. Again without an internet connection sonos is rendered completely useless.


1) Alexa doesn't work without an internet connection
2) The significant majority of music listened to via Sonos is streamed - That doesn't work without internet.
3) Internet radio streams don't work without internet.


You know alexa works with bluetooth right?

I.think you need to check things before posting


No, Alexa needs an internet connection for voice control. Perhaps you meant Echo, which can be used as a crappy Bluetooth speaker, but what's the point?
Userlevel 7
Badge +17
Sonos got caught napping. Things moved on. Everyone and their mum offers a wifi speaker now. Sonos wanted to keep it a closed ecosystem to guarantee future sales, but the market has exploded and Sonos have changed track and are now trying to integrate whilst not becoming another casting speaker where they are overpriced.
A fine line to tread, I wish them well, but feel they may have left it too late.......blackberry phone anyone ;O))


You know alexa works with bluetooth right?

I.think you need to check things before posting


Alexa doesn't work at all without an internet connection. Sonos does, at least for local libraries. The fact Alexa/Echo uses Bluetooth does not mean it does not use the internet. It requires an IP (aka "an internet connection"). It has to connect to WiFi (aka "an internet connection") and finally, all voice control functions are processed in the cloud (aka "an internet connection").

It really seems you are the one who should check things before posting.
Sonos got caught napping. Things moved on. Everyone and their mum offers a wifi speaker now. Sonos wanted to keep it a closed ecosystem to guarantee future sales, but the market has exploded and Sonos have changed track and are now trying to integrate whilst not becoming another casting speaker where they are overpriced.
A fine line to tread, I wish them well, but feel they may have left it too late.......blackberry phone anyone ;O))


*Yawn*

Do you ever play another tune? If Sonos has "left too late" please name the other multi-room music systems that support Alexa voice control.


Its not been out long. It will integrate with everything. Remember when the Sonos app first came out? It was a nightmare just setting up Sonos never mind trying to link to Spotify. Sonos app doesnt support other music streams yet either. Again without an internet connection sonos is rendered completely useless.


The Sonos app predated Spotify support, so yes it was quite difficult to connect to Spotify when the app first came out.

Sonos supports more music services than every other multi-room music system combined.

As stated many times, without an internet connect the whole purpose of an Alexa device is rendered useless. No internet connection equals no cloud connection equals no voice control.
Userlevel 7
Badge +17
I don't even want voice.
I want bbc iplayer radio, which voice might one day bring to sonos through google home. I can't see any other way it will ever happen. Again this might not add many sales to sonos, but might keep current UK customers from selling up.
I don't even want voice.
I want bbc iplayer radio, which voice might one day bring to sonos through google home. I can't see any other way it will ever happen. Again this might not add many sales to sonos, but might keep current UK customers from selling up.


So why are you posting about it in the "SONOS ALEXA Integration?" Not only are you a broken record, you are an off-topic one.

So why are you posting about it in the "SONOS ALEXA Integration?" Not only are you a broken record, you are an off-topic one.


Posting that you don't want a feature in that feature discussion forum is on topic. Talk about broken freaking record.
Userlevel 2
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I can't wait for integration either. We just picked up an Alexa and we have a sonos, but the Alexa is already playing more music in my house just because it's so much easier for my wife to just ask it to play something. It drives me nuts because teh Sonos Play 5 is sitting right next to it, quiet, but she just wants the song to play.
Userlevel 4
Badge +13
I can't wait for integration either. We just picked up an Alexa and we have a sonos, but the Alexa is already playing more music in my house just because it's so much easier for my wife to just ask it to play something. It drives me nuts because teh Sonos Play 5 is sitting right next to it, quiet, but she just wants the song to play.

I just don't get this asking it to play something! I have hundreds of albums and thousands of tracks, so how on earth can I recall some music choice I wish to hear by remembering it and therefore asking for it to be played? Surely we'll just finish up lazily asking for a genre to be played or specific albums to artists which happen to spring to mind!
I can't wait for integration either. We just picked up an Alexa and we have a sonos, but the Alexa is already playing more music in my house just because it's so much easier for my wife to just ask it to play something. It drives me nuts because teh Sonos Play 5 is sitting right next to it, quiet, but she just wants the song to play.

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/control-sonos-speakers-with-alexa,news-24892.html
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I can't wait for integration either. We just picked up an Alexa and we have a sonos, but the Alexa is already playing more music in my house just because it's so much easier for my wife to just ask it to play something. It drives me nuts because teh Sonos Play 5 is sitting right next to it, quiet, but she just wants the song to play.

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/control-sonos-speakers-with-alexa,news-24892.html


There is also an FAQ from Sonos which I find easier to understand :

https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4158/kw/alexa
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
Vannypie - if the Play:5 is sitting right next (... if an echo dot just hook it to the Play:5 and it will act as that Dots speaker for you). Instant temporary integration.


You know alexa works with bluetooth right?

I.think you need to check things before posting


Alexa doesn't work at all without an internet connection. Sonos does, at least for local libraries. The fact Alexa/Echo uses Bluetooth does not mean it does not use the internet. It requires an IP (aka "an internet connection"). It has to connect to WiFi (aka "an internet connection") and finally, all voice control functions are processed in the cloud (aka "an internet connection").

It really seems you are the one who should check things before posting.


Actually.... neither *needs* the "internet". All they need is wireless signal (aka WiFi; or 802.11 wireless lan). I was in a situation recently where I was without "internet" but then I just made a local area network with some ethernet cables I had lying around, plugged them into my wireless router and walla, Sonos music was blasting through my house, though I had no internet access. I did the same thing to get my Phillips Hue bulbs up and running.

Many of Alexa's services rely much more on actual internet cloud services like being able to search wikipedia or check your google calendar; but I bet it could still talk to you, set timers, and control devices on your local area network, without "internet".

Apologies for the redirect! WiFi are often thought of at the same thing; I like to correct that misunderstanding where I can. All things aside, I am very excited for the day I can lazily shout at my echo Dots to play whatever artist, genre, playlist, etc. As long as it happens eventually, I can wait.
Sigh.
TravelingWriter,

May I ask you to do a test with your Echo/Alexa device? Unplug the external (internet) connection from it, leaving it as just a provider for your local wifi, with no external connection. Then try doing anything with the Amazon device. I'm relatively certain that anything will fail, except for maybe connecting to it with Bluetooth. There's no "smarts" inside that device, just a trigger to recognize it's own name, and then call out to the cloud for processing the command given after the name.

Please let me know what your test reveals, I'd be interested if my assumptions were incorrect..
Don't feed the troll...
Userlevel 7
Badge +26
The way most voice control functions today, the device listens for its wake word, then it records the audio that follows, sends it up to the appropriate cloud, where it's translated into a command and sent back down. Without an Internet connection, the assistant is just going to tell you that their service isn't available. This page has a good rundown of how Alexa works.

Once an alarm or timer has been set, it'll still go off without the internet, but the voice control to turn it off wouldn't work.