Sonos One, we analyze the most direct rival of the HomePod

We have in our hands the Sonos One, the smallest of the smart devices with a voice assistant that Sonos has in its range… Do you want to know what we think of this great little product? Stay with us and discover why it is positioned as the best alternative on the market in multiroom brands.

The HomePod is just around the corner, it couldn't be any other way than in ActualidadGadget We will do your review, but we must keep in mind that The HomePod is not the rival to beat, the smart speaker from the Cupertino company reaches a market of smart devices that offer high quality sound where there is already a clear leader to beat, Sonos.

As always, our analysis will cover each of the details of this device with the intention of making you feel that you have it in your hands, so you can determine if it is really worth your purchase or not, let's go there.

Materials and design: Sonos quality, proven quality

On this occasion we are not going to dwell too much on understanding whether or not this Sonos One is a quality product, I think that whoever comes to purchase something like this assumes that it is, and Sonos is not a brand that leaves no doubt. We have an upper and lower polycarbonate base, with a multimedia touch control with LED indicator lights located at the top where we can manage everything and more (including future voice assistant). The metal grill of the speaker is once again built in aluminum, but this time we have it varnished in white to give a touch of continuity to the device, and boy do they succeed.

The back is for the Ethernet connection and a button for link. We found dimensions identical to those of the Sonos Play: 1, We have 161,45 x 119,7 x 119,7 millimeters, with a total weight of 1,85 Kg. The packaging is what you would expect, identical to the Sonos Play: 1, both have a poster with instructions.

We have no doubt that this Sonos One will look good almost anywhere, just like its brothers it is resistant to humidity, so you will know where you place it, it will not be a problem. It is diaphanous, simple and beautiful, so you will not have too many complaints when placing it where you want, it will hardly look bad, In fact, in our photographs you will see that we have used more classic furniture and another more Nordic style so you can see that it does not clash wherever it goes.

Technical characteristics: High quality and precision audio

Sonos does not agree to give excessive information about the hardware of their devices, we are satisfied with knowing that features an active dual-way monitor (mid and treble), with two built-in class 'D' digital amplifiers which are what give this variety of tones that make this speaker one of great features, power and above all audio quality at full volume. We will be able to play AAC, AIFF, Apple Lossless, FLAC, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, WAV and WMA.

Connectivity is not going to be a problem, we have Wi-Fi 802.11b / g at 2,4 GHz and a 10/100 Ethernet port (we do not need more for streaming music). Once again, I see as a negative point (and strange in a North American product), not having 5 GHz Wi-Fi, which is increasingly demanded by users. It goes without saying that being Wi-Fi and not Bluetooth we will be able to generate a Multiroom environment that allows us to create a musical thread in our home in the easiest way. However, let's stop at a key point, This Sonos One has six long-range microphones that will be able to capture our dictations to work with the most common voice assistants on the market.

To work once again use a standard power cable but adapted to the design of the Sonos to be integrated into the chassis with 100-240 V and a frequency of 50-60 Hz, you should not worry about consumption.

Voice assistant: Yes, but in the future

If you live in Spain or Latin America, I'm sorry, you won't be able to use Alexa or Google Assistant to play your music. So they have decided, although from Sonos and even their own website informs us that the voice assistant in Spanish is about to arrive in a future update. Meanwhile, you will have to settle for enjoying all the options that it offers us, such as audio via Wi-Fi, which gives us a quality that we will not achieve with Bluetooth under any circumstances, of course, you should know that you are not purchasing a speaker Bluetooth to use, makes it independent but tedious at the same time. Below is a "small" list of all the music services compatible with Sonos and its application. Once we have it, its six long-range microphones will do the rest. We remember that other alternatives such as the HomePod are not available in Spanish either.

For all this, once again the application is highly decisive, we will not only be able to adjust the music services and even multiroom management from it (if we want, once adjusted it is not necessary to use it), but we have a system that will allow us to analyze the room with our telephone to offer us the best sound without offering cracks or reverberations, both indoors and outdoors, which guarantees that the Sonos One sounds just as good at low volume as at maximum power, and we have been able to verify this in Actualidad Gadget, what Sonos calls Ultra Sound.

Editor's opinion on the Sonos One

We have not tested the device, we have enjoyed the deviceAnd that said, when you take advantage of the Sonos One in the hands of any other Sonos device like a Play: 1, you realize that you don't need anything else when it comes to audio. The quality is excellent for a product of this size, not having a battery and the fact that we only play music through Wi-Fi should have something positive, but not all the credit goes to the connectivity, the hardware that Sonos places With that pampering under the chassis it is entirely to blame, this undoubtedly places it at the height of brands like Bang & Olufsen despite the brand's youth (Sonos was born in 2002).

Notably Sonos One is not as smart in Spain as in the United States, definitely not even changing the region of our mobile device have we been able to access the virtual assistant of Alexa or Google Assistant, a real shame. However, we are clearly facing a medium-term purchase, Voice assistants will be increasingly present in our homes, and this Sonos One is undoubtedly a must-have alternative for any user of sound, design, and of course, technology.

Not having Bluetooth is a negative pointFor example, you will not be able to play your favorite music from YouTube with your phone. But this in turn is a plus point, it is the way that Sonos has to prevent a low quality sound from being emitted by its speakers and makes you confuse the culprit. That's right, the Sonos One is a product that is aimed at a fairly specific audience in terms of both price and functionality, if you like music and technology you will appreciate it, if you are only looking for a speaker to emit sound, consider other alternatives. You can get him Sonos One in his web page from €229.