Question

One vs Play:1

  • 24 October 2017
  • 28 replies
  • 28065 views

I saw that both One and Play:1 have the same price. They seem quite similar, except that One has voice control.
Is there any advantage for Play:1 over One?
If not, why are Sonos selling two almost-identical products, with the same price?

I'd have expected the Play:1 to be cheaper, or even to be obsoleted, and be completely replace by the One.
What am I missing here?

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28 replies

I don't understand: how can it be COMPATIBLE and play TOGETHER with the other devices if it's not in stereo? What's the point? I mean: what kind of sound do you get, then: something like mono's in choir??

Sonos is a above everything else a multi-room music system. It was made to play music all over your house in multiple rooms. As such, you can have stereo Ones and a Sub in the living room, a Play:3 in the Kitchen, a Play:5 in the bedroom, a 5.1 Playbar, surrounds, and Sub in the den, and a Play:1 in the bathroom, all grouped together playing the exact same music in perfect sync.
The basic advantage of one over the other is if you already have one. Since you can't pair the PLAY:1 with the Sonos One, whichever one you already have is the better one to purchase a second of. Then you can stereo pair them, or use them in a surround setup.

But if you don't already own one, I'd say the Sonos One is a better purchase, since it has slightly more features, and is more future proof.
I wonder if Sonos is saving a price drop on the Play1 for Black Friday?

But if you don't already own one, I'd say the Sonos One is a better purchase, since it has slightly more features, and is more future proof.


Turns out the ONE also has less features than the Play:1 - due to the Alex integration the ONE does NOT support playing back anything from your local Music Library (your own FLAC or MP3s)...which is really sad.


I'm sure this only means you cannot vocally request local files but obviously the Sonos app will still allow you to play them since they all run off of the one app
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I'm sure this only means you cannot vocally request local files but obviously the Sonos app will still allow you to play them since they all run off of the one app


Unfortunately that is not the case. SONOS ONE will NOT play back from your Music Library from the app or Controller on PC. I haven't even tried voice control.

SONOS customer support have confirmed this does not work and it is because of integration with Alexa.


Incorrect. This is a regular Sonos speaker in every respect, plus voice control.
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Unfortunately that is not the case. SONOS ONE will NOT play back from your Music Library from the app or Controller on PC. I haven't even tried voice control.


Hmm, well then it's a good thing nobody told my Play One about that, because I'm playing music from my Music Library right now.
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Incorrect. This is a regular Sonos speaker in every respect, plus voice control.

OK, that is good to hear.
Are you also using the ONE stand-alone to playback from Music Library?


Yes, my two ONEs are on their own, in separate rooms. They behave like all my other SONOS devices when it comes to local library playback (as well as for everything else).

I can see from the other thread that you were given misleading information by Sonos. There is something else going on in your case -- I don't see why your ONE shouldn't be able to play local library content that your Player can, but note that I don't have any Sonos home theatre gear, so I may be missing some subtlety here.
But they are NOT the same price: a Sonos One costs 199 Pounds while a Play 1 costs 149 Pounds --BIG DIFFERENCE for only voice comntrole that doesn't work in my country anyway... Yet I was given a ONE as a opresent and now I can't build a soujnd system with it unles I spend much much more for no difference????

Good grief. The Sonos One is compatible in all ways with every other Sonos device ever sold. It will connect, play, group with, and/or play separately with any Sonos system you wish to add it to. The only thing you cannot do is use it with anything except itself in a stereo or surround configuration; which is exactly like every other Sonos device ever sold.!
You'd get essentially the same thing as every other Sonos speaker, if played alone. Just like a portable radio with one speaker. Both right and left would be mixed together coming out of the single speaker. They sound great that way, all of them, the PLAY:5, the PLAY:3, the PLAY:1 or the Sonos One. They sound even better when they're paired as stereo speakers, rather than singles, but that's a choice each individual, and their wallet, has to make. The nice thing is that you can buy one now, and then get another one later, and assuming that they're both the same kind of speaker, you can pair them at that point.
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clear! many thanks!
The Play:1 is already being discounted at Amazon US.
I saw that both One and Play:1 have the same price. They seem quite similar, except that One has voice control.
Is there any advantage for Play:1 over One?
If not, why are Sonos selling two almost-identical products, with the same price?

I'd have expected the Play:1 to be cheaper, or even to be obsoleted, and be completely replace by the One.
What am I missing here?
I wanted to know if the play1 is compatible with One ?
I wanted to know if the play1 is compatible with One ?

Compatible? Yes, in that it will operate along with every Sonos device ever sold. But it is not the same as a Play:1, despite visual similarities, and cannot be paired as a stereo pair or used as surrounds with anything but another Sonos One.
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But if you don't already own one, I'd say the Sonos One is a better purchase, since it has slightly more features, and is more future proof.


Turns out the ONE also has less features than the Play:1 - due to the Alex integration the ONE does NOT support playing back anything from your local Music Library (your own FLAC or MP3s)...which is really sad.

If not, why are Sonos selling two almost-identical products, with the same price?


You have essentially answered your own question there.. other than the voice capabilities along with new capacitive touch to play/pause and change volume, they are basically the same product (except as mentioned you cannot cross breed with stereo pairing)..

but it is worth noting many places have the Play:1 roughly £20 cheaper then the new Sonos one
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I'm sure this only means you cannot vocally request local files but obviously the Sonos app will still allow you to play them since they all run off of the one app


Unfortunately that is not the case. SONOS ONE will NOT play back from your Music Library from the app or Controller on PC. I haven't even tried voice control.

SONOS customer support have confirmed this does not work and it is because of integration with Alexa.
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Incorrect. This is a regular Sonos speaker in every respect, plus voice control.


OK, that is good to hear.

I see you have a LOT of Sonos gear :D
Are you also using the ONE stand-alone to playback from Music Library?

I have the ONE in the kitchen and would like to use it separate from my Playbar.

My Playbar plays back my Music Library perfectly. Also if I combine playback Playbar+ONE it works great on both.
If I only use ONE as playback it doesn't work....(for me).

Anyway, probably best to continue discussion here:
https://en.community.sonos.com/music-services-and-sources-228994/can-t-add-music-folder-from-my-computer-computer-not-responding-6790045/index1.html#post16159853
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I suspect that the ONE cannot be used in a bathroom environment either (?) if using capacitive features unlike the Play1 (providing that the plug socket is in a safe location)
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Great, thanks for confirming! Good to hear.

I will redo the setup and see if that makes any difference.

I've also asked for additional clarification from Sonos.
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I suspect that the ONE cannot be used in a bathroom environment either (?) if using capacitive features unlike the Play1 (providing that the plug socket is in a safe location)

The Sonos One actually is humidity resistant, just like the PLAY:1.

For the UK and some regions, we wouldn't recommend using it the bathroom due to the local power concerns. But as long as the plug is in a safe place you should be good.
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Upgraded a Dot+PLAY:1 to One. Very happy with it.

One advantage of the PLAY:1 over the One is the threaded mount in the back of the PLAY:1. If you want to mount them on the wall or ceiling with the Sanus mount, or use the Sanus speaker stand. The One doesn't have that. Looks like the Sanus wall mount works with the One but it doesn't look as clean.
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I am sure Sanus will start producing products that work with the One...
Even if they offer wall mount, that may not be a good place to keep the mic enable Sonos One, so that voice commands work well.
Which is why I'll be interested in what Flexson comes out with. With the PLAY:1, you could mount it upside down, so you could have access to the buttons on the "top". It will be interesting to see if they can achieve the same thing for the Sonos One.