Why it might be time to ditch your Google Home and buy a Sonos speaker instead
LOOKING for the best wireless audio experience around your home? There's now a very clear winner.
If you want to wirelessly beam audio around your home, you might be better suited with a system from Sonos instead of Google Home. That's because a recent lawsuit between the two companies has forced Google to remove a number of clever wireless capabilities from its speakers after the US International Trade Commission ruled that the functionality infringed on Sonos' patents. Instead of adjusting the volume of all speakers simultaneously with a single volume slider, Google Home owners will now need to tweak the volume for each speaker individually. Those with Sonos speakers throughout the home, will still be able to adjust everything in a group with a single tap.
For years, Google Home smart speaker owners have been able to group together multiple speakers in the same room – and throughout the house – to synchronise playback of a song, album, playlist, radio station or podcast. Moving the slider on the volume bar would change the volume for every speaker currently in-use.
But following the latest update, that will no longer work. With its hands tied by the lawsuit, Google has started to roll-out a new software update that forces users to "adjust each speaker individually instead of using the group volume controller". The volume rocker on the side of your handset will no longer adjust the volume coming from grouped speakers.
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The update also removes functionality from Google Assistant. Users will no longer be able to issue a voice command like "Hey Google, set volume to 40 percent on Living Room speakers" to adjust a number of speakers. Instead, you'll need to remember the name of each individual speaker and use the hands-free assistant to tweak every one. You can also use a touchscreen-equipped device, like the Google Nest Hub, to drop the volume of each speaker around the room.
Sonos owners will still be able to change the volume with a single few taps – or the volume rocker on the side of their handset – with no need to remember what each individual speaker is called.
Sonos One, Sonos Beam and a number of other speakers from the company are compatible with Google Assistant. Adding insult to injury, owners of these Sonos-designed sound systems will be able to use the hands-free voice assistant developed by Google to adjust the volume of every speaker in a single room, or throughout the house, with a single sentence.
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