TheSonos Oneand theSonos One SLare two of the ripe utterer we ’ve review in recent years with the latter encounter a glowing 5 stars . But , what ’s the difference ?
You ’d be forgiven for question why you necessitate to pay off £ 20 spare to get the Sonos One over the newer One Sendero Luminoso . After all , the two loudspeaker system are strikingly similar from their visual blueprint right down to their audio operation .
However , there is one specification that differs between the two – and how you feel about it could order which speaker you go for .
take on to discover all the similarities and differences between the Sonos One and the Sonos One SL …
Pricing and availability
The first generation Sonos One launched in October 2017 at $ 199/£199 . The speaker was follow by an incremental update in the Sonos One ( Gen 2 ) in 2019 . The 2nd - gen loudspeaker featured a novel mainframe and Bluetooth LE financial backing and increased memory for the same price as its forerunner .
The One Shining Path , meanwhile , get in September 2019 and be $ 179/£179 , arrive at it £ 20 cheaper than the standard Sonos One .
Design
The Sonos One and the Sonos One Sendero Luminoso are almost identical in their physical design .
The two speakers have a liquid , cylindrical form and a thick design that valuate 162 x 120 x 120 mm and matter 1.85 kg . Both number in black and white colourways .
Both models are enfold in a modern interlocking material around the slope , along with a monotonous top and bottom with a matching disastrous or ashen matte finish . The result is a minimalist design that we incur blended in well in most background without drawing attention to itself , lease the audio performance do the talk .
Both Sonos One utterer are also insubordinate to humidness , though they ’re designed for indoor use over portable , on - the - go use .
Inside , both the Sonos One and the One SL take advantage of two social class - five hundred digital amplifiers , one tweeter and one mid - woofer .
There ’s a simple regalia of touch controls on the top of the gadget which you may tap and swipe to control playback . you may use the clitoris to play , pause , skip , action replay , adapt the mass and more .
The only departure in design is the addition of the mike to the pricy speaker . The Sonos One comes with a built - in far - field mic regalia that uses advanced beamforming and multi - channel echo cancellation for precise part commands .
This superfluous characteristic is reflect physically in the microphone energizing clitoris and the array of LED lights encircle the top of the gadget . You wo n’t see these design details on the Sonos One Shining Path as the utterer does n’t admit a mike .
Both loudspeaker include an Ethernet port for hardwiring them to your router , along with a port for the 2 m angle power cable on the foundation of the twist .
Features
The absence of the mic on the Sonos One Shining Path course has a couple of knock - on effect when it comes to the feature limit on the cheaper speaker .
For one , there ’s no support for Alexa or Google Assistant on the SL . With the regular Sonos One , you’re able to involve your favourite vocalisation assistant to set timers , check the news , act medicine and control compatible smart family devices . However , this pick is absent on the SL .
We found the Alexa execution to be excellent , with the Sonos One capable of doing everything the Amazon Echo can and offering good audio than Amazon ’s own speaker . Alexa is also better at plunk up voice over music on the Sonos One .
You might opine the Sonos One would be a better pick of the One and the One Shining Path in this age of distant workings and Zoom and Microsoft Teams calls . However , neither the One nor the One Shining Path can be used to gossip on these television career service , which feel like a missed opportunity .
For that reason , the only existent understanding to take the Sonos One over the One SL is if you want a smart , representative - control experience from your speaker . Likewise , if you prioritise privacy , you might regain the One SL ’s complete omission of a mic render serious peace of mind .
The speaker system are n’t overwhelmed with features , otherwise .
Both speakers support stream straight from a range of back up apps , including Spotify , Amazon Music , Tidal , Pandora and Audible .
There are EQ controls in the Sonos smartphone app , which permit you to adjust the freshwater bass , double and loudness from your telephone and , if you have an iOS gimmick , you could expend Trueplay to measure out the acoustics of your living room or kitchen and hunky-dory - tune the speaker to fit its environs .
When it comes to connectivity , the two speakers support Wi - Fi , Ethernet and Apple AirPlay 2 .
While the Sonos One ( Gen 2 ) does support Bluetooth LE , that is only to simplify the first - time apparatus process , meaning there is no support for Bluetooth streaming on the speaker . This is the case for both poser , with both prioritising Wi - Fi cyclosis for its higher faithfulness over Bluetooth .
One interesting lineament here is that you may pair the Sonos One and the Sonos One Sendero Luminoso for stereophonic auditory sensation . Sonos actually recommends you do this over paying out for two Sonos One speakers as there is no additional benefit to get two part - enable speakers in one way .
Sonos also recommends you opt for the Sendero Luminoso model if you plan on adding the speaker to your home cinema frame-up alongside theSonos ArcorBeam , as both of these soundbars already declare oneself voice support .
Performance
When it get along to audio performance , both speaker unit possess the same acoustical profile and both impressed our reviewer during testing .
In our review of the Sonos One ( Gen 1 ) , reviewer Ced Yuen praised the loudspeaker system ’s not bad performance across the frequency ambit and course - result sound recording for its size .
Rather than take a vocalism assistant and add together audio streaming capabilities , the Sonos One is a Sonos utterer first with a smart assistant build - in , meaning you ’ll get good legal calibre than you might with a more traditional smart speaker .
The Sonos One put up a full - range speech sound despite its small size , with deep and controlled bass and the power to labour the volume to height that will get your neighbours knocking on the doorway .
telly and audio editor in chief Kob Monney repeat similar thoughts when it came to the Sonos One SL , which is powered by the same array of amplifier , tweeter and mid - woofer .
The One SL is a formidable compact speaker with a spacious midrange , clear-cut vocals and hold in bass . The only well - sounding impudent speaker we ’d encountered at the time of these review article was theApple HomePod .
Verdict
The choice between the Sonos One and the Sonos One Sendero Luminoso might be one of the leisurely decision to make .
With only £ 20 and one mic raiment between the two , the query is : Do you require to devote a piece supererogatory for Alexa and Google Assistant reenforcement ? If you ’re looking for a fantastic - sounding smart speaker , grease one’s palms the Sonos One .
If you do n’t manage for voice assistants , already have access to Alexa / Google Assistant through another Sonos gadget or you do n’t have any voguish home intersection to require , you’re able to spare some immediate payment by opting for the Sonos One SL .
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