Launched in English-speaking countries in June 2022, Sonos Voice Control has the particularity of analyzing questions locally, without sending anything to Sonos’ servers. The company relies on this feature to appeal to people who categorically refuse Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.
A voice assistant for people who hate voice assistants, that’s Sonos’ bet. The company announced on December 6 the deployment of Sonos Voice Control in France, after a launch in English-speaking countries in June 2022 (Sonos Voice Control technically worked in France, but only in English).
Using the “Hey Sonos” keyword, Sonos speaker owners can now control their music on Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Deezer (not yet Spotify), as well as control their device settings (volume, input device, standby, etc.). The Sonos Assistant is not connected to the Internet and therefore cannot answer more varied questions.
Voice control that increases music listening
In its press release, Sonos reveals the first results for its voice assistant, and these may surprise. We learn, for example, that 40% of users who had not activated Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa on their speaker activated Sonos Voice Control, while listening to music is 30% higher among people with the assistant activated. Sonos seems to have won its bet, proving that those who resist voice control are not because of the technology, but because of its developers.
The whole bet of Sonos lies on its promises in terms of privacy. When the keyword “Hey Sonos” is spoken, the phrase spoken by the user is neither recorded nor transmitted to the company’s servers. Everything is analyzed locally, which guarantees an almost immediate response, even if the risk of error is greater. Of course, once the request is understood, Sonos retrieves the requested music online.
In the settings of the Sonos application, you can choose the voice assistant of your choice between Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Sonos Voice Control. Strangely, the last two can coexist (the speaker then reacts to “Alexa” and “Hey Sonos”), but it is impossible to install Google Assistant and another assistant simultaneously.