I currently own a Sonos PLAY:1 (the 1st Gen speaker) but am building out a Google Home Ecosystem at home. I have 2 Google Home Mini’s and would like to replace my Sonos PLAY:1 with either the Google Home Max or Sonos One (2nd Gen).
I know the Sonos would have better audio quality and supports Google Assistant however, it has some limitations such as not being able to group together with the other Google Home speakers which is where the GH Max would…
You’ve kinda answered your own question - if its important to group it with your existing products, get the Google device. If you want better quality and dont mind it not being grouped, get the Sonos!
Sounds to me like the Google Home Max is better suited given you’re replacing the Play:1 rather than adding additional speakers to your setup.
@caspararemi Yep, I know I’ve addressed the main things but was wondering if I’d missed anything or whether there would be additional advantages to either of the 2…
Also, when was the Max released? If it’s been out for a while, do we think they could be releasing an updated model in the near term?
There’s a thread on Sonos which probably includes all the viewpoints on why people like multi-speaker Sonos systems.
I’ve settled on Sonos after trying various other options (including Google Home) partly because I think Sonos is easiest to use, but views differ on this. I would ideally like to be able to integrate Google Home Hub or Echo Show into the system (in terms of speaker grouping) but its not a priority for me. Obviously if it is for you then you should probably go the full Google route.
Sonos have an event at the end of August. You might want to hold on until then to see if they announce further integration will Google products following integration with Google Assistant earlier this year.
It has an additional smart benefit that I don’t think the Sonos stuff has. It utilizes the microphones to determine where you place it in the room dynamically, meaning it makes appropriate adjustments to the EQ depending on where it’s placed in the room and thus sounds great no matter where you put it!
I’ve got a full-house speaker setup now across all the Home devices I have, and the Max is in the living room as the centerpiece.
@simonb I am very tempted by the Max, but what you’re describing sounds quite similar to the Trueplay feature of Sonos where you walk around the room so it can adjust where you’ve placed it but this is part of set-up and probably a static setting. Are you saying the Max does it dynamically and continuously?
With Sonos TruePlay an iOS device is needed as a listener to facilitate the auto-tuning. Its foolproof but user intervention is needed everytime the speaker is moved to a new location. https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3251?language=en_US
