Sonos One w/Alexa

[k9kids]

Received it yesterday.

My first Sonos product.

The sound is incredible. Setup could be a bit more streamlined, but overall
it worked the first time.

Compared it to my Dot with Vaux speaker, Tap and both generations of Echo. Sonos is at the top.
Sure the cost is higher, but I'm willing to pay extra for it.

Is it as feature rich as a regular Alexa product... No.
It's for playing music and will reside in the garage. It does that quite well. Turning the garage light on and off
via the Insteon switch works good too.

Will probably add another one in the house somewhere later on.

[mike27oct]

I have been watching for the first post about the Sonos One to be posted here.  It took longer than I thought it would.

I want to tell readers about my recent experience with the product.  I received one upon its release date as a b-day gift from my generous wife in late October.  At that time I also decided to get a new iPhone when the new model was released and the previous mode. was reduced in price by Apple.  My wife offered to share the cost with me.  (Unbeknownst to me) she tried to cancel the Sonos One, since she was helping out with the phone, but was informed it was shipped a day earlier so it arrived to me in a day or so.  It was presented to me as a b-day gift.

Since I knew nothing about it, I checked Amazon for reviews.  There were already over 20 reviews and almost half were negative.  Problems were: hard to set up Alexa from folks who did not have an Alexa device (ignored those comments).  It would not work in tandem with other Sonos speakers, (no problem) but the comment that Sonos refuses to put bluetooth into their products was a deal-breaker comment.  How could I easily listen to my music other than Amazon streamed music?  I can do this on my many other Alexa and GH devices. This, along with other negative comments convinced me the Sonos One was not for me.

The Sonos One was returned unopened to Amazon.  My wife had spent enough on me with the phone assist anyway.  When I found out she has tried to cancel the Sonos order, I had no problem suggesting it be returned.

So, K9, not trying to rain on your parade, and only want others considering a Sonos One to check out the reviews at Amazon and elsewhere before making a purchase decidion.

[k9kids]

Nobody rains on my parade.

Im not a fan of Bluetooth streaming so the lack of that feature doesn't bother me.

These days all I listen to is Amazon Music and SiriusXm so I'm good with playing those on any of my products.

My 85GB personal music collection resides on my laptop and Nas system and hasn't been put to use in a few years. Getting lazy in my old age I guess.

I could upload all my music to Amazon, but don't want to pay for that feature.

Will watch where future development with Amazon and Sonos goes.
 

[mike27oct]

Just to clarify, my post was not directed to or at you.  I wrote it to alert others to "look before they leap" on a Sonos One or any gadget.

I happen to play mostly my music collection stored on my WD NAS to my Google Homes via google cast, not BT. It is only the Alexa devices and BT speaker that I use BT for.  BTW, the GH recently added a BT function, and it sounds as good as the casting feature.  No diff in sound.  I rarely play any music to or on Alexa devices due to the lesser quality sound.  The only Alexa device I play music on is the Taps.  I also can cast music to my Chromecast device where its audio goes into my stereo system.

So, for people like me who use BT, I think the absence of BT on the new Sonos is a big minus.  Having BT is much better than having no way to send music to a device.

[TheHoss71]

I just received a pair of Sonos One speakers yesterday and have them setup in my family room and master bedroom.  I also received some TP-LINK smart plugs to control some lamps in the house.  This is my first attempt with home automation gear and I am a first time Alexa user, but I am a Network Engineer so I am somewhat tech savvy.  The setup was a bit clunky because you have to follow MANY steps in the Sonos app, the Kasa app (for the TP-Link smart plugs) and then in the Alexa app.  I had some settings I had to change on my wifi (it did not allow connected clients to speak to each other) but after that was resolved everything worked great.

At this point being 24 hours into being a Sonos owner with Alexa enabled I am very happy so far.  I only have some basic home automation setup at this time but everything seems to be working well.

I wanted to correct a mis-statement from above.  Although the Sonos devices do not have Bluetooth you CAN stream from local playlists on smartphones.  This is done via the Sonos app under the Music Browse menu.  You have options for each of your online music providers as well as an option "On this iPhone".  With that option you can stream from your phone.  The iPhone has to be connected to wifi to work.  I have not been able to identify the proper Alexa voice commands to play from the iphone yet but as I stated above, I am a noob to smart home.  I will post here if I find a solution.

[k9kids]

Those TP Link smart plugs are great, aren't they.

I use the sunrise/sunset setting on some and it works great.

[mike27oct]

>>>>     wanted to correct a mis-statement from above.  Although the Sonos devices do not have Bluetooth you CAN stream from local playlists on smartphones.  This is done via the Sonos app under the Music Browse menu.  You have options for each of your online music providers as well as an option "On this iPhone".  With that option you can stream from your phone.  The iPhone has to be connected to wifi to work.  I have not been able to identify the proper Alexa voice commands to play from the iphone yet

There was no mis-statement when stating the Sonos device does not have BT.  The fact that the Sonos app can stream is another matter.  It appears real clunky to me.  The fact that you do not have it working yet demonstrates this in part. 

I do not keep any music or videos on my iPhone or iPad, because it is a waste of valuable storage memory.  Instead, I stream the files to these devices from my WD NAS at home and remotely using certain apps on the devices to do so. I can also relay this streaming music or videos onto many different devices, such as all Alexa devices and Chromecast devices like the Chrome stick or the Google Home AI speakers.

I do not subscribe or listen to Amazon music other than what is included for free.  My eMusic and Slacker streaming services both have apps with capability to cast music.  For apps or devices that don't have this feature, using BT works fine.

My favorite iOS music app called Music Streamer can do more tricks than any that I know of, and I use it all the time to play music from my NAS to all my devices either with casting or BT.

[AlanH]

In other words, you haven’t a clue what you’re talking about. I have Sonos speakers throughout the house, including a stereo pair of Play 1s and a Sub, and I can controls them fully via Alexa. I would suggest that anyone thinking of buying Sonos speakers do their research online, read tech blogs and reviews, and avoid posts from those with zero experience of the product.

[mike27oct]

Who doesn't know what he is talking about, and in reference to what comments?