Sonos One SL - Sonos upgrade their entry smart speaker
The 2nd announcement at the Sonos Conference in Berlin brought news that an alternative to the voice-enabled Sonos One was to be released on September 12th this year. The Sonos One SL includes all of the great internal components featured in the original Sonos One, just without the inbuilt microphone array.
Sonos One SL - Features
Like the Sonos One and Play:1 before it, the Sonos One SL houses two powerful Class-D Amplifiers tuned perfectly to match the drivers and acoustic architecture of the speaker. With a tweeter for crisp high frequencies and mid-woofer for faithful playback of vocals, the Sonos One SL can expertly handle your favourite tunes in a small-to-mid-sized space.
When we first got our hands on the Sonos One SL, we were keen to examine it for differences with the Sonos One. Side by side, the two look almost identical. The Sonos One SL features a slick monochrome finish in your choice of black or white and capacitive touch controls. It’s only when you look at the top of the speaker that you will notice the absence of the microphone; meaning the Sonos One SL will look great paired with a Sonos One to create a stereo pair.
Sonos One SL - Uses
Surround sound systems become that bit more affordable with the announcement that a Sonos One SL and Sonos One can be paired as Surround Rears to the Beam, Playbar or Playbase. When used as surround rears, the microphone will only activate on one of the speakers if using two Sonos Ones. This means customers can now save a bit of money when shopping for surrounds as they don’t need to purchase an additional Sonos One on which the microphone will become redundant.
Customers looking to match the Beam’s sleek touch controls and monochrome finish can opt for the Sonos One SLs as surround rears as their voice assistant needs will be covered by the Beam at the front.
The Sonos Play:1, released all the way back in 2013, provides a great option for customers wanting an entry-level Sonos Speaker providing great sound and functionality. The Sonos One SL builds on this legacy featuring the same internal speaker as the Sonos One and Play:1 before it, but builds further on the Play:1 with capacitive touch controls, updated internal components and Airplay 2 compatibility.
Airplay 2 support is a massive bonus for Apple and iOS users who will be able to cast any audio content running on their phone to the Sonos One SL. This means you can benefit from superior sound quality even when streaming from apps such as Netflix or Youtube.
We can really see the Sonos One SL coming into its own in commercial settings, perhaps sitting nicely in a Coffee Shop or Office. The lack of Voice Assistant functionality means the music can’t be tampered with by customers. Using a private wifi network will also allow you to make sure the Sonos system is completely secure, meaning the only music that will play is the songs or playlists you choose.
We absolutely love the Sonos One but for those who don’t see Voice Assistant compatibility as being for them, the Sonos One SL provides a great alternative. Sitting competitively at £179, customers can expect superior audio quality, Airplay 2 capability and a contemporary monochrome finish. All of these features combined make the One SL a great gateway speaker to a budding Sonos ecosystem.
Available to purchase 12th September 2019 with 6 year warranty and next day delivery
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