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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Your Sonos speakers have a built-in voice assistant.
- Sonos Voice Control isn’t as smart as other assistants, but it’s not useless.
- Daily alarms, weather reports, and timers can elevate your experience.
I’m not a smart-home enthusiast, but I do have several Sonos smart speakers around my house. Though I’m not a huge fan of automated voice assistants, I often use Sonos Voice Control. Aside from basic play/pause directives, I try to find every way to make my speakers smarter and more integral to my whole-home audio system.
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Whether it’s on my bedside, in my living room, or on the kitchen counter, as someone who works, rests, and is always trying to keep busy at home, I’m constantly commanding my speakers to do something. Here are my favorite commands.
Bedside table
Commands: Set a daily alarm clock; Give weather reports
To start my day, I use a Sonos Play as an alarm clock. Using this speaker as an alarm clock helps me avoid the temptation to scroll on my phone as soon as I silence my alarm first thing in the morning. You can use the default Sonos Chime to wake you up, or you can choose one of your Sonos Favorites Playlists.
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I opt for the Sonos Chime, as immediate morning doomscrolling is equally as jarring as being awoken by the songs in my “Long Live Boybands” playlist. You can set alarms in any room with a Sonos speaker or soundbar for any time of the day.
After waking up, I ask my Play speaker about the weather, and Giancarlo Esposito tells me if thunderstorms are in my future. You can get creative with your weather requests, like asking if you should wear a jacket or bring an umbrella for later.
Living room
Commands: Turn TV on/off; Move rooms
I have a Sonos Arc Ultra connected to my TV, and my favorite magic trick is showing guests how I can ask it to turn my TV on and off. This command also comes in handy when I’m rushing to leave the house and can’t find the TV remote.
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Other than that, I mostly command the living room to move music from there to the other rooms in my house, and you don’t have to be overly explicit about it. Sometimes, before going to my home office, I’ll say, “Hey Sonos, move the music to my office.” Other times, if I’m already in my office and music is playing in the living room, I’ll say, “Hey Sonos, move the music here.”
Kitchen counter
Command: Set a timer
The Era 100 speaker in my kitchen is my favorite Sonos speaker in my house. I like to spend more time cooking on the weekends, but not without something to listen to, whether that be a TV show, a documentary, a YouTube video, or music.
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While I’m cooking, I use all of the basic commands: play, pause, skip, start over, and play something else. However, my favorite feature is using the Era 100 as a kitchen timer. This feature is especially useful when I have multiple items in the oven, as my oven cuts off once the built-in timer ends.
What Sonos Voice Control can’t do
Sonos’s voice assistant runs on-device and handles hardware control exclusively. As a result, it might not be as “smart” as you’d like. You can’t ask it to create specific reminders or add events to your calendar. The controls are simple, but can be useful if you aren’t enthusiastic about automating your home.
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Though Sonos says its voice assistant can play specific songs, it’s often hit-or-miss, unless you’re streaming from Spotify. If I ask Sonos to play my Sonos playlist or a specific song, it will either play the wrong thing or stream from Spotify, though Apple Music is my preferred service.
However, I notice that when I ask Sonos to play a specific song and follow up with “…on Apple Music,” it sometimes gets it right.
Is Google Assistant or Siri better on Sonos?
If you want the most utility out of a third-party voice assistant with your Sonos speakers, Amazon Alexa may be the way to go.
To enable Siri on a Sonos speaker, you need an Apple HomePod or HomePod Mini as an anchor device. Google Assistant can be unreliable on Sonos products; the company doesn’t advertise Google Assistant or Siri compatibility on its website, though it boasts compatibility with Amazon’s Alexa.
I’ve noticed that I can add the Google Assistant to my older products (Era 300 and Arc), but I cannot add it to my newer products (Arc Ultra and Play). I hypothesize that as Google aims to replace Google Assistant with Gemini, implementation has been slow.
