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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Reports indicate Sonos is readying new hardware as soon as this fall.
- Also expected is a major AI-powered upgrade to Sonos Voice Control.
- An upgraded voice assistant is necessary to compete with smarter assistants like Gemini and Siri.
After releasing new hardware this year — such as the Sonos Play and Amp Multi — and trickling out app redesigns, Sonos is making it clear that it’s returned in full force. Sonos CEO Tom Conrad said on an earnings call that AI will be a focal point of the company’s comeback, as reported by Bloomberg.
Also: I tested Sonos’ new beta features on iOS and Android – how to opt in and what to expect
FCC filings point to Sonos readying the Sonos Ace Ultra headphones and a potential successor to the Sonos Beam (Gen 2). With new hardware and robust AI integration in mind, I have some ideas about what Sonos could unveil this year, and it’s exciting to think about.
Ace Ultra as a hub controller
Bloomberg described Conrad’s acknowledgment that the 2024 Ace headphones were released with too little integration with the rest of the Sonos hardware ecosystem. Notably, the headphones lack access to Sonos Voice Control and can only communicate with select soundbars to swap audio between them.
With deeper integration, what if I could wear the Ace Ultra while working in my home office, summon Sonos Voice Control, and ask it to turn on the Philips Hue lamp downstairs? Or, while I’m wearing the Ace Ultra during a TV Audio Swap session, I could trigger Sonos Voice Control and ask it to turn on my living room TV?
Also: Two years later, should you still buy the Sonos Ace? Why my answer is a resounding yes
Though Sonos makes several portable products — the Sonos Ace headphones and the Sonos Play, Roam, and Move 2 speakers — Sonos is a smart home audio company first and foremost. As a result, Sonos needs to make an irresistible appeal to its users, since most of its products are anchored to their homes.
This appeal includes beefing up Sonos Voice Control and allowing the Ace Ultra headphones to communicate with an entire Sonos home system. Here’s something I’d like: to take my music with me. I often walk around my neighborhood in the evenings while wearing my Sonos Ace headphones.
In an ideal world, I could walk through my front door, summon Sonos Voice Control, tell it that “I’m home,” and my music would shift from my headphones to my living room, which is my first pinned room in the Sonos app.
Or I could be wearing the Ace Ultra in my office and tell Sonos Voice Control, “I’m going to cook dinner now,” and the music would switch from my headphones to my living room and kitchen counter.
Also: Google Home vs. Sonos Era 100: I used both smart speakers, here’s what I recommend
If Sonos can successfully make the Ace Ultra headphones a true part of the ecosystem, there’ll be no need for Sonos fans to buy other headphones, even if they only have one Sonos speaker in their personal ecosystem.
A way smarter voice assistant
As the smart home speaker market becomes more saturated, Sonos’ push to further intertwine its ecosystem and beef up the AI processing of its proprietary voice assistant is paramount to maintaining its user base. With Google fitting its home speaker with Gemini and the anticipation that Apple will fit an upcoming HomePod with Siri AI, it’s more important than ever for Sonos speakers to do more than just play music.
The opportunities for an improved user experience with conversational, predictive, and knowledgeable Sonos Voice Control are abundant, as Sonos’s hardware lineup includes speakers and soundbars in various sizes.
In its current form, Sonos Voice Control is limited to device controls (play/pause, volume, room switching), basic information, and low-level tools (weather reports, timers). On the music front, you can ask Sonos Voice Control to play music from a certain artist, saved playlist, or genre. However, the more specific your ask, the less reliable your results are.
Also: Your Sonos smart speaker has an underutilized automation feature – 5 helpful ways I use mine
The Sonos app also offers a unique opportunity, as it is the hub for all your connected music, podcast, and radio station apps that play through your Sonos speakers. If Sonos Voice Control behaves as a true in-app assistant, it could remember your listening habits and preferences. In turn, it could make your requests for playing music more conversational and contextual.
I like to cook a nice dinner to unwind from the day, and I usually listen to music on my kitchen counter’s Era 100 while I do it. Instead of telling Sonos Voice Control to “play R&B,” I’d like to ask it to “play something mellow but not too downbeat for a relaxing evening alone.”
And once I clean up the kitchen, I can give commands in sequence (which Sonos Voice Control already supports) to play the music I was listening to this morning and move it to the upstairs bathroom.
Conrad says Sonos has an advantage over competitors because its hardware “knows the shape of a home and the way a family lives in it.” In my house, that could mean telling Sonos Voice Control that “we’re all watching TV in the living room now,” and it would stop the music on my kitchen counter and entertainment room, and switch the living room’s audio output to HDMI.
Sonos’s unique advantage over Alexa, Gemini, and Siri
Sonos can’t beat Alexa+, Gemini, or Siri AI in how those AI models complete conversational smart home commands, handle complex tasks across a wide range of connected home devices, and maintain a contextual understanding of your behaviors across apps.
Also: I brought a Bose, Sonos, and JBL speaker to the beach – this one’s my new outdoor essential
I agree with Conrad; Siri may have access to your email, and Gemini may be able to set your thermostats, but neither smart assistant can control all of the Sonos products in your home. The most dedicated Sonos fans have a speaker in most, if not all, rooms of their home, which creates even more leverage.
However, this “smart tasks” disadvantage is where Sonos’s advantage appears: curating your at-home listening experience based on your home’s layout, habits, and interests. The end goal is audio continuity throughout your home, with a smarter, more understanding assistant at the helm.
