Recent weeks have seen new Sonos products leak eight ways through Sunday, but the company has finally made all of them official. Sonos Ray speakers, Sonos Voice Control, and the latest leaked new colors for the Sonos Roam portable speaker were announced today.
Leaks don’t usually tell the whole story, but in this case, what was expected is basically what we got. starting from Sonos Ray, which launches June 7 for $279. This is Sonos’ most compact and affordable speaker, thanks in part to its lack of smart features. There are no microphones on the Ray and, as a result, no support for Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa. It ties into the Sonos hardware ecosystem at its core – great sound.
There is actually very little connectivity on the Sonos Ray, with an Ethernet port and optical audio on the back. This means you can’t use it alongside the likes of Xbox Series X, but you can use it with older game consoles. Ray of course fits seamlessly into existing Sonos setups to deliver multi-room or surround sound. It offers Dolby Digital, but does not have Atmos, and it connects to your TV via this optical connection. It also comes with AirPlay 2 support if you also use an iPhone or iPad.
The other hardware announcement was the arrival of some hot new colors for the previously leaked Sonos Roam. Besides the stock colors, you’ll now be able to get Roam in Wave, Sunset, and Olive, also known as blue, red, and green. These are on sale right away for $179.
Sonos Voice Control This is the company’s first attempt at an in-house assistant. It’s designed to work alongside Alexa and Google Assistant if you want to, at least for the time being, and it focuses only on the core Sonos experience.
““One of the most natural ways to connect to your music is with your voice, but when we talk to our customers, we hear that privacy concerns mean many are choosing not to use voice control. Designed specifically for Sonos listening and built with privacy at its core, Sonos Voice Control provides the Sonos app experience using your voice. Just ““
“Sonos Voice Control finds the music you want to listen to, and processes all requests on the device. Local processing provides faster response times and easy follow-up. All you need is one “Hey Sonos” and you can proceed without the need for additional wake-up words.“
Sonos Voice Control will work on any audio-enabled speaker and will initially roll out in the US from June 1, with France to follow later this year. Other markets, including the UK, will follow at a later time. The icing on the cake is the sound that Sonos has chosen for its new system. After a “careful search” they settled in Giancarlo Esposito. That’s right, Gus Fring is the voice of Sonos. As the system expands over time, other voices will join in, but do you really want to exchange?
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