What you need to know
- A software update is rolling out now in the U.S. that brings Assistant to the One and Beam.
- It's coming to Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Australia, and the Netherlands in July.
- You can switch back and forth between the Assistant and Alexa.
In October 2017 during the Sonos One announcement, Sonos announced that Google Assistant would be coming to the speaker at some point in 2018. That obviously never happened. Now, on May 14, 2019, Sonos is actually rolling out a software update that adds Google Assistant to the Sonos One and Sonos Beam.
Similar to any other Assistant-powered speaker, this means you can now say "Hey Google" or "OK Google" to your One or Beam to ask about the weather, control smart home devices, check your calendar, set timers, etc. The functionality is a near-complete copy of what you can do with a Google Home today, including controlling smart home devices and using the speakers as part of a group with other Assistant-enabled device. A handful of small missing features will be added later as they work out the details, Sonos and Google said.
Google Assistant has been added to Sonos speakers in a delightfully seamless way.
The great part about the Assistant integration is that it works in concert with all of the great features Sonos already offers. That means you can continue to use the Sonos app, or any third-party app, to play music on your Sonos speakers, and then seamlessly switch back and forth between controlling via an app or by voice. And when you have a Sonos Beam connected to your TV, you'll be able to use its HDMI connection to play content on the connected TV directly.
Amazon Alexa has been available on both speakers out of the box, and the good news is that Assistant isn't replacing it. Instead, you now have your choice if you want to use Alexa or Google Assistant. You can only have one virtual assistant active at a time on a specific speaker, but if you have multiple Ones/Beams in your home, you can pick and choose which ones have Alexa and which ones have Google Assistant.
Sonos One and Beam owners in the United States should get a software update today that adds Google Assistant functionality, and if you live in Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Australia, or the Netherlands, you'll gain access this coming July. Sonos also says that "additional countries" are coming at a later date.
It's been kind of incredible just how long it's taken the Assistant to make its way to Sonos speakers, but as someone that has two Ones, a Beam, and an Assistant speaker in virtually every room, I'm beyond excited that today has finally come.
A great-sounding speaker — now with Google Assistant.
The Sonos One has been one of the go-to smart speaker options for well over a year, and now that it finally supports the Google Assistant, it's even better than it already was. You have your choice of using the Assistant or Alexa, it sounds fantastic, and works beautifully with other Sonos speakers.
