Audio device maker Sonos this week announced a deal in which it will offer two of its Sonos One smart speakers for $349. The offer, a $49 discount, went live at various retailers on Friday. It will remain in effect for “a limited time,” according to the company.
The deal appears designed to fend off any traction that might be gained by Apple’s much-anticipated HomePod speaker, which launched on Friday for the same $349 price tag. Apple has advertised the HomePod as a small Internet-connected home speaker focused on audio quality, a market category where Sonos has been strong in recent years. Like the Sonos One, Google Home, and Amazon Echo, the HomePod will also connect to a voice assistant, in this case Siri, to answer questions, send messages, and play music, among other tasks.
That said, the HomePod is launching with a few significant caveats: It won’t be able to pair with a second HomePod and stream multi-room audio, its voice commands do not support any music streaming service besides Apple Music, and Siri is generally seen as inferior to Alexa and Google Assistant for this class of device. It’s also relatively expensive.
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Source: Ars Technica – Dealmaster: Sonos feels the HomePod heat, offers two Sonos Ones for 9