Sonos has announced an updated Play:1 speaker - called the Sonos One SL - which offers the same design asthe Sonos Onebut without the voice control smarts.
The new Wi-Fi speaker looks identical to the Sonos One apart from a slight rearrangement of controls on the top where there are no microphones on board. This means the Sonos One SL offers no built-in support forGoogle AssistantorAmazon Alexa, though it can still be controlled via a Google Assistant orAmazon Alexa-comaptible device, like other Sonos speakers.
The Sonos One SL has been created for those that want the design and internal upgrades of the Sonos One, such as Bluetooth Low Energy for easier pairing andAirPlay 2support, but they don’t want microphones. Those that have aSonos Beamwith voice control in their living room and want two Sonos One’s as surrounds, for example.
Inside, the Sonos One SL offers an identical sound composition to the second-generation of Sonos One, delivering the same sound experience, and as with the rest ofthe Sonos portfolio- except thenew Sonos Movewhen in Bluetooth mode - the Sonos One SL is controlled viathe Sonos app.
This therefore means it has access to all the features that Sonos offers, includingTrueplay tuning, stereo pairing with another Sonos One SL or Sonos One and the ability to group Sonos speakers together for multi-room audio, among plenty of other functions.
The Sonos One SL will cost £179 and it will be available to pre-order from 5 September, and available to buy from 12 September. Theolder Sonos Play:1will eventually be phased out, like the first generation model of the Sonos One.
