As an audio enthusiast and smart home technology geek, I‘m always on the lookout for new devices that can enhance my listening experience and integrate intelligently into my connected household. Over the past few years, I‘ve tested out many wireless speakers and voice-controlled assistants in search of that "just right" combination of rich, detailed sound and intuitive functionality.
After extensive personal testing and research, I believe the Sonos One delivers this ideal balance better than any other smart speaker currently available.
Sonos has built an excellent reputation over the past two decades for quality craftsmanship and seamless multi-room audio. The Sonos One takes their expertise to the next level by packing pristine audio components, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice control, AirPlay 2 compatibility, and a robust feature set into a compact, handsomely designed unit.
Here are 10 reasons why audiophiles, smart home enthusiasts, and casual listeners alike should consider adding the Sonos One to their homes:
1. Audio Quality Rivals Far More Expensive Speakers
Sonos leverages their many years of audio engineering expertise to tune the Sonos One to deliver incredibly immersive, room-filling sound belying its small size. Custom woofers and tweeters powered by two Class-D digital amplifiers provide crisp highs and deep, rich bass throughout the frequency range.
In my own listening tests streaming from Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music HD, the Sonos One produced tighter bass, clearer vocals, and more expansive stereo imaging than competitors like the Amazon Echo Studio and Google Home Max. Listening to jazz, classical, rock, and pop, I was consistently amazed by the warm, detailed sound only matched by speakers costing twice as much or more.
According to audio experts like Wirecutter and SoundGuys, the Sonos One also outperforms other wireless speakers in its class like the Apple HomePod Mini, delivering much fuller bass and better stereo separation. If audio fidelity is your top priority, the Sonos One is quite simply the best-sounding smart speaker available under $300.
2. Works Seamlessly with Virtually Any Music Service
A smart speaker is only as good as the music ecosystem it plugs into. Here the Sonos One shines as well, with essentially universal compatibility with major streaming platforms and local audio sources:
- Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Tidal, Pandora, Deezer, and more music services are supported natively within the Sonos app for unified browsing and control
- AirPlay 2 support allows instant streaming from any iPhone, iPad or Mac
- Bluetooth connectivity lets you play audio from any Bluetooth-enabled device like an Android phone or tablet
- Line-in port can connect a turntable or other external audio source; audio converts to digital for multi-room playback
No matter which music services your household members prefer, or which personal devices you want to play audio from, the Sonos One has you covered. Setup is a breeze thanks to the intuitive Sonos app that walks you through connecting streaming services and local audio in just a few minutes.
With the Sonos One as your wireless hub, your home audio ecosystem is complete.
3. Multi-Room Audio Brings Music to Every Corner
Once you hear the amazing sound quality pumped out by even a single Sonos One, you‘ll quickly want to add them throughout your house for a seamless whole-home audio experience. Luckily, building out a multi-room Sonos system could not get any easier.
Simply plug in additional Sonos Ones, Fives, or other Sonos speakers in the rooms of your choice and use the Sonos app to group them. In just a few taps, you can either play the same audio in perfect sync across all speakers, or send different tracks to different rooms. Volume, playback controls, and even equalization settings can be adjusted individually or collectively.
Whole-home audio has been attempted before, but Sonos basically invented the concept and still does it better than any other platform more than 15 years later. With rock-solid WiFi connection, lag-free multi-room grouping, and audio quality that holds up across many speakers, the Sonos system delivers the no-hassle home audio experience users have dreamed about.
4. Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant Built Right In
In my opinion, no modern wireless speaker is complete without virtual assistant integration for convenient hands-free control using your voice. The Sonos One was in fact the first smart speaker to support direct integration with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
Connect your Alexa or Google account during setup, and you‘ll be able to issue voice commands to play music, check weather, control smart home devices, hear the news, set timers, and much more. Controls on the top even let you mute the far-field mics when you want a bit more privacy.
Having both assistants to choose from is a nice advantage – use whichever you‘re already integrated with elsewhere in your home. Both work great for everyday requests and integrate equally well with Sonos music playback control. And even if you don‘t regularly use voice assistants, they‘re there if you ever need them.
5. Updates Constantly Improve Features Over Time
Unlike most gadgets which lose relevance over time without updates, the Sonos One has seen numerous feature upgrades through regular software support. Recent updates have added HD streaming support, expanded voice assistant capabilities, improved status light feedback, and much more.
As your needs change or new music/smart home tech emerges, you can count on Sonos to push out updates that keep the One working better than ever. The company has a strong track record of supporting their hardware with new features for many years – even speakers originally released in 2005 still get updates today!
Knowing such a sophisticated, feature-packed device like the Sonos One won‘t get left behind technologically gives me confidence in investing in their ecosystem. This speaker should keep satisfying audiophiles well into the future thanks to Sonos‘ unrelenting improvement efforts.
6. Compact, Handsome Design Disappears Into Any Room
Considering everything packed inside in terms of components and connectivity, Sonos engineers did an amazing job keeping the One so compact and visually appealing. Measuring just 6.36 x 4.69 x 4.69 inches, the One tucks neatly onto shelves, counters, and tables without demanding attention.
The sleek grille and smooth rounded corners blend nicely into a variety of room aesthetics. Combined with a choice of black or white finishes, it fits right into modern, urban, bohemian, or traditional decors alike.
I love when a device delivers tremendous functionality without being visually obtrusive. The Sonos One adds amazing audio capabilities throughout my home without disrupting the carefully crafted styling of each room. Friends and family frequently don‘t even notice it at first glance thanks to the purposefully understated design.
7. Trueplay Audio Tuning Optimizes Sound For Your Unique Room
To get the most immersive experience from any speaker, audio output should be tuned to the specific acoustics of the listening environment. Through a process called Trueplay tuning, Sonos One adjusts frequency levels and stereo imaging to counteract issues caused by room size, building materials, and object placements.
Trueplay tuning utilizes your iPhone/iPad microphone as you wave it around the room while test tones play from the Sonos One. Advanced algorithms then analyze the distortions picked up and apply precise equalization back to the speaker. The improvement to bass response and clarity is instantly apparent – I was shocked to hear such optimizations applied automatically just by waving my phone around!
Thanks to Trueplay, you don‘t have to be an audio engineer to get perfectly tuned sound from every Sonos One placed in vastly different shaped rooms throughout your home. This sort of intelligent room adaptation is a key reason the Sonos ecosystem sounds so much better than traditional wireless audio.
8. Touch Controls, LEDs, and Auto Trueplay
In my experience reviewing consumer electronics, attention to detail separates good gadgets from great ones. Sonos goes above and beyond by building in thoughtful premium features that improve real-world usage.
Some examples include:
- Touch Controls – Rather than typical buttons, the top panel uses a responsive touch interface for quick adjustments to volume, play/pause, or song tracks. LEDs indicate volume level at a glance.
- Humidity Resistance – High moisture won‘t affect performance, allowing flexible placement in bathrooms or outdoor patios.
- Auto Trueplay – The latest Sonos One models can retune themselves over time if room ambiance changes.
- Voice Feedback – Spoken confirmations like "Volume Up" make adjustments clear without having to look at app or device.
- Status Light – Subtle LED indicates listening/processing after "Alexa" or "Hey Google" prompts.
These thoughtful details exemplify Sonos‘ customer-centric design approach – understanding not just what features to include, but how real people will interact with the product on a daily basis in their homes. Such refinement remains rare among competing smart speaker brands.
9. Stereo Pairing Option Creates Wide Immersive Stage
While a single Sonos One already outputs impressive stereo separation thanks to angled drivers, pairing two Ones creates an even wider, morethree dimensional sound stage. Setting up a stereo pair takes just seconds in the app.
I placed a pair of Sonos Ones at ear level on stands at the front of my living room, separated by 10 feet. Listening to movie soundtracks and jazz albums, I was transported into the performance by the incredibly immersive experience the twin speakers provided. Lead vocals and instruments had pinpoint directional placement across a wide sound field, with seamless stereo panning as musical elements moved about.
If you have the space and budget, implementing a Sonos One stereo pair for your primary listening zone provides audio bliss without the need for a full 5.1-channel surround system. Two Ones deliver IMAX-like scale and imaging at a fraction of the complexity and cost.
10. Sonos Products All Work Together Seamlessly
Once you become immersed in the Sonos ecosystem, you‘ll likely to continue expanding it as time and budget allow. Luckily all Sonos products – speakers, soundbars, subwoofers, and amplifiers – work together seamlessly to build your dream whole-home audio environment.
Add a pair of Sonos Fives to your patio, a Beam under your living room TV, a Sub for added bass, and an Amp to power outdoor or in-ceiling speakers. Thanks to the brilliance of Sonos‘ software platform, configuring and controlling additional components is intuitive and glitch-free.
No matter how you expand your system over time, new products will integrate with your Sonos Ones just as effortlessly as if they were one unified offering. This modularity and broad compatibility gives Sonos an ecosystem advantage over rival multi-room audio platforms. Once you go Sonos, you‘ll never want to leave.
After exhaustive personal testing and comparison against top competitors, I believe the Sonos One to be an absolute standout within the smart wireless speaker category. By combining superb wide-range sound quality, universal music service access, multi-room capabilities, voice assistant integration, and premium design into a compact package, Sonos created a product that delights both casual listeners and audiophile critics.
If you seek the ultimate one-box solution for streaming music, radio, podcasts and more both now and into the future, the Sonos One is absolutely worth the investment. Paired with the rock-solid Sonos ecosystem that allows easy expansion down the road, you can‘t go wrong with making the Sonos One the center of your home audio experience.
I hope this guide has helped highlight why the Sonos One belongs on your short list for your next wireless speaker purchase. Please let me know in the comments if you have any other questions about how this awesome device can fit into your personal listening habits and household. Happy streaming!
