What’s better than a brand new, $349 Apple HomePod speaker? According to Sonos, two of its One speakers.
Sonos announced today, Jan. 25, that it’s selling two of its newest smart speakers for the price of a single HomePod, which is scheduled to be released Feb. 9. It’s part of a campaign, including a full-page ad in The New York Times, promoting an open platform for smart speakers. Instead of relying on any one company’s music-streaming service or virtual assistant, Sonos wants to let its owners use any options they prefer.
Sonos speakers are already compatible with Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Soundcloud, Amazon, and Google Play Music, as well as Amazon’s Alexa assistant. Sonos added that it’s working to bring Google Assistant to its devices, soon, as well. It’s not clear whether it’s working on bringing Apple’s Siri to its speakers—the company wasn’t immediately available to comment—but perhaps that’s not such a bad thing, given that Siri is still terrible.
In short, perhaps think twice about pre-ordering that HomePod (which will do less than its competitors’ devices), and instead think about buying two Sonos speakers for the same price. Or you could buy seven Amazon Echo Dots and have a veritable chorus of virtual assistants dotted around your home.