Sonos One speaker with support for digital assistants costs 229 euros

Sonos has announced its One speaker and will release the device in the Benelux for 229 euros. It is the manufacturer’s first speaker with support for digital assistants, namely Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Assistant.

Alexa support will be available immediately, while Sonos will add Assistant support in 2018, the manufacturer says. In addition, the One gets support for Apple AirPlay 2, allowing users of iOS devices to route sound directly to the speaker without using the Sonos app.

The One is derived from the Play:1 and has control via a touch-sensitive part on the speaker. In addition, there are six microphones in the housing to be able to hear commands from the user from across a room. There are also LEDs to indicate the status, for example when the speaker is listening.

The Sonos unit has a tweeter, midwoofer and two Class D amplifiers on board for sound generation. The connection to other devices is via a local network. This is possible via WiFi, but the One also has an Ethernet port. Sonos will release the One on October 24 and the device costs 229 euros.