A smart speaker without voice control? Horror... or... rejoice! There are those who love Alexa and have Amazon's voice assistant, Siri, or the Google Assistant controlling the music, lights, and more in their home. However, there are some people for whom the mere thought of a voice assistant on the latest and greatest Sonos speaker is a deal breaker. Point out the Sonos One SL, a Sonos One (Gen 2) without an always-on microphone, and therefore without Alexa or any other voice-activated assistants. In fact, it's a direct replacement for the Sonos Play: 1. If you think this makes the Sonos One SL a retro device, there are three big reasons why the Sonos One SL exists and will perform just fine. The first is confidentiality. If we had been told ten years ago that we would all now actively buy devices with always-on network microphones to scatter around our homes, no one would have believed it. For those who don't want voice assistants around, the Sonos One SL is a welcome product.
(Image credit: Future) The second reason is for people who think voice assistants are stupid and unnecessary. They don't mind light switches and are happy to use apps to check the weather and, yes, to 'manually' send tunes to a wireless speaker.
- Sonos One SL (Black) on Sonos in the US and Canada for € 179
The third reason is of course replication. If you already have a lot of voice-activated speakers and the like, the arrival of another is unnecessarily confusing. This goes double if you already have a Sonos One in your home. [Update: The Sonos One SL has been given an eco-friendly update. The upgraded model comes with aa redesigned base that eschews unnecessary plastics, and comes in packaging that Sonos says is kinder to the planet. There have been no changes to the features or functionality of the Sonos One SL, though the new model will only work with the S2 Sonos app.]
Prices and availability
As a bonus, the Sonos One SL (£199 / £179 / AU$269) is also a small saving on voice assistant with the Sonos One (Gen 2) (£199 / £199 / AUS$299). All of this makes the Sonos One SL seem quite reasonable, if a bit unexpected, which should work very well as it should appeal to a wide range of people. However, it's not what the Sonos One SL lacks that makes it a must-have, but rather what's inside its sleek and decidedly modern chassis.
(Image credit: future)
Integrated
With the same monochrome color finish as the One, the One SL is also a definite stylistic upgrade from the Play:1. The top of the drive, which is available in black or white, has a fingerprint-resistant smooth matte finish containing capacitive touch controls. . This is where there is a big difference between the One and the One SL. As voice control has been discontinued, there are no microphones or a dedicated microphone 'button', just play/pause, volume up and down 'buttons', which also double as track skip controls if you swipe finger all over the area. There's also a small LED status light to indicate when the One SL is connected to the network. A matte black or white grille of small oval holes sits above the speakers, which roll out nearly 360°, leaving a small space at the rear for a pairing button and Ethernet port. As with the One, the power cord plugs into the bottom of the device, which is a good idea in every sense of the word. There's a subtle light gray Sonos logo on the front. It is small, it is hidden and it is practically impossible to see. This is exactly how we like our logos.
(Image credit: future)
Install on pc
Like the One, the One SL does not have Bluetooth connectivity. This is not strictly true. Like the One, it has Bluetooth Low Energy, but only for setup. This initial setup is simple, though you also have to choose between connecting the One SL to your home network via this wired Ethernet port or via Wi-Fi. The concept of a network-only smart speaker is not without its potential drawbacks; What happens if the home network goes down? This would leave the Sonos One SL completely featureless. Barring a network armageddon, the next steps, but only if you're using an iPhone and downloading the Sonos app, are to go through a simple process to get the One SL on your home network, choose where you want to put the One . SL and turn on Trueplay, Sonos' tuning software. The latter is very easy to use. When prompted by the Sonos app, the assistant starts when the One SL emits several strange pulses. They are received by the microphone of your smartphone and the application calculates how the sound waves resonate with furniture, walls, etc. and calibrates an acoustic profile for a One SL in a specific room. The small drawback is that you have to gradually walk around the room moving your iPhone up and down. Next, the One SL is tuned. Everything works fine and only takes a few minutes. However, this is one of the lesser-known features of Sonos speakers that perfectly justifies the existence of the One SL; stereo coupling. As with many wireless speakers, the One SL can be daisy chained to the One, each acting as a left or right channel in a stereo soundstage. It's simple, it's amazing, and if that's what you're aiming to do with the Sonos One SL, you'll understand why there's no reason for it to include Alexa. The One and One SL can also be connected to a Playbar, Playbase or Beam and serve as rear speakers in a home theater setup.
(Image credit: future)
Sound quality
Although it has Bluetooth Low Energy, the One SL does not support Bluetooth streaming. Are we missing it? No, we don't. The One SL is all about Apple Airplay 2, which means you can stream anything - music physically to your phone, Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Deezer, Netflix (and 100 streaming services in all) - from an iPhone. . The sound and acoustic properties of One and One SL are identical. Inside are two Class-D digital amplifiers, a midrange woofer and a tweeter, and together they create a sympathetic soundstage best described as warm and precise. There's bass, but not too much, and there's enough punch for loud, high-octane music, but still no distortion. He also handles spoken words very well; the One SL is a super all-rounder. While we don't doubt the value of Trueplay, it doesn't make drastic changes to the One SL's sound quality. We know this because we went through the setup process in one room, then unplugged the One SL and used it elsewhere. Has there been a drop in performance? Perhaps very slightly, but in practice it didn't make much of a difference.
(Image credit: future)
Final verdict
The popularity of Amazon Alexa is allowing brands like Sonos to thrive, but there's a privacy schism at the heart of the smart speaker market that the Sonos One SL aims to address. While appeasing voice control haters, this mic-less smart speaker can receive music from an iPhone controlled via Siri. It's really about avoiding replication. Paired in stereo with a One and also used as the rear of a home theater if you have a Sonos Playbar, Playbase or Beam, the One SL saves you from paying for features you simply don't need. However, we have a question that no one seems to be able to answer; What does SL stand for? Price - Sonos One SL: ▼
