Sonos fires back at Apple's HomePod by offering a pair of One speakers for $349
Responding to the imminent sale of the HomePod, Sonos has cut the price of the Sonos One, selling a two-pack of the speaker for $349 -- the same price as one HomePod.
Individually, the Sonos One sells for $199. The limited time deal for a pair of them cuts the bundle price by $50, giving users an alternative to the HomePod for the same price.
Sonos has already said that the Sonos One will get AirPlay 2 compatibility at some point in 2018 -- but like all the other manufacturers, there is no clear date. Apple has yet to roll out full AirPlay 2 functionality, with it appearing in the iOS 11.2.5 beta as a selectable option for rudimentary testing, and more completely in Wednesday's iOS 11.3 beta in conjunction with tvOS 11.3 devices as streaming targets.
The Sonos One is a a single-channel speaker, which can be paired with a second unit for stereo sound. At present, the device supports Amazon Alexa, with Google Assistant coming soon, and Siri support being added with the aforementioned AirPlay 2 update later in the year.
In AppleInsider's review of the Sonos One, we found it to fill a space with "extremely pleasing sound -- in some ways surpassing a mid-range, 2.1-channel Logitech setup."
An hour-long hands-on session published on Thursday found the sound quality in the HomePod to be generally superior to that in the Sonos One.
The offering starts Friday -- the same day HomePod preorders begin -- in the U.S. and U.K. when purchased direct from Sonos. U.S. pricing is $349 for the pair, with U.K. pricing coming in at 349 pounds.
Individually, the Sonos One sells for $199. The limited time deal for a pair of them cuts the bundle price by $50, giving users an alternative to the HomePod for the same price.
Sonos has already said that the Sonos One will get AirPlay 2 compatibility at some point in 2018 -- but like all the other manufacturers, there is no clear date. Apple has yet to roll out full AirPlay 2 functionality, with it appearing in the iOS 11.2.5 beta as a selectable option for rudimentary testing, and more completely in Wednesday's iOS 11.3 beta in conjunction with tvOS 11.3 devices as streaming targets.
The Sonos One is a a single-channel speaker, which can be paired with a second unit for stereo sound. At present, the device supports Amazon Alexa, with Google Assistant coming soon, and Siri support being added with the aforementioned AirPlay 2 update later in the year.
In AppleInsider's review of the Sonos One, we found it to fill a space with "extremely pleasing sound -- in some ways surpassing a mid-range, 2.1-channel Logitech setup."
An hour-long hands-on session published on Thursday found the sound quality in the HomePod to be generally superior to that in the Sonos One.
The offering starts Friday -- the same day HomePod preorders begin -- in the U.S. and U.K. when purchased direct from Sonos. U.S. pricing is $349 for the pair, with U.K. pricing coming in at 349 pounds.
Comments
the Sonos One is a single-channel speaker. funny nobody had panic attacks about it being mono...yet now people are upset at the multi-channel HP and its seven drivers!
Of course none of these speakers will satisfy a true “audiophile” (I’m not talking about the sudden crop of overnight “audiophiles” eagerly awaiting HomePod as if no other good speaker exists). Thankfully Sonos has true audiophiles covered with the Connect and Connect:Amp options. One connects to your existing home stereo systems to play music through legitimate high end speakers. The other provides an amp so no home stereo system is necessary.
Apple can’t compete with Sonos. They simply don’t offer what Sonos does, no matter how good HomePod sounds. Discounting and bundling the Sonos One is a smart move. It steals a bit of Apple’s thunder (not that there’s much thunder around HomePod’s delayed and feature incomplete release), plus highlights just how weak Apple’s offering is compared to Sonos.
Let’s see, I can get one speaker with a half-baked voice assistant that supports a single music service...or two speakers that can link to create true stereo output, that work with numerous music services (including the only one supported by HomePod), and allow me to use a variety of voice assistants. Seems like a no brainer to me.
Hah! Famous last words. Just ask Blackberry and Amazon how well the phone biz is working out for them now. What was the market share of every MP3 player compared to the iPod?
It's good that Sonos appears to not share your opinion. They do have a lot to worry about. The industry's best-run and most successful HARDWARE company just decided to play in their sandbox. So, this is probably a smart defensive move to keep their dealers happy for a few more minutes.
As they've done before, I'd bet Apple opens up HomePod to 3rd parties gradually. I believe you'll see more music and other services offered soon. Maybe even announced at WWDC this year.
That said, I believe Sonos doesn't think this is a "no-brainer" and may or may not survive or grow by going in directions that Apple is not. Can their "better" stuff support the business with decreased sales of their entry-level product? I don't know, but it looks like they may find out.
/s
Of course Sonos knows the HomePod is aimed squarely at them. A move like this makes sense to maybe nab iOS customers who aren’t all in on Apple Music.
I don’t use Sonos personally other than a couple friends houses. But they can’t speak to their Sonos speakers, they have to use a Sonos app to control everything. So how does that count as a ding against Apple’s “half baked” voice assistant? It doesn’t. Using an ipad or iphone or appleTV I can playback music from any service and output to the HPs, so again how is the experience different than using a Sonos app for playback?
If the HP has great sound then it’s a fine shelf speaker, even if the channel separation is different than physical stereo. Unless I’m sitting in the middle of the shelves, which I’m not, I don’t know why physical stereo is a decided advantage to two crappier Sonos One drivers. I’d rather have one, better-sounding device with multi channel separation.
And no, Apple can’t compete with Sonos. I’m not saying that HomePod is a bad product. I’m sure it sounds great. But it’s one product. Sonos offers a range of products from simple Wi-Fi speakers like HomePod to soundbars and subs for home theater setups to speakerless boxes that either connect to an existing home stereo or drive TRUE high end speakers of the consumer’s choice. Apple offers none of this. So no, they can’t compete with Sonos.
That's 3 million HomePod sales a year, more or less.
Data tells me that, in fact Apple might be able to not only compete, but become the leader in revenue.
But, yeah, unit sales, in which Amazon exceeds Sonos.