Sonos now has a voice assistant for its smart speakers that lets you control playback — here's how it works and why it's safer than using Alexa

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The voice assistant was announced by the company. The new voice control feature is available on select speakers with built in mics.

These speakers already support digital assistants, but this new feature was built for the Sonos products. The company wanted to make sure customers didn't have to worry about their voices being recorded.

All the ins and outs of the new feature can be found below.

What is Sonos Voice Control?

The new voice assistant feature lets customers control their speakers with spoken commands. Once set up, users can simply say "Hey Sonos" to get the feature activated.

You can ask your speaker to play music, adjust volume, skip tracks, and more with the voice control. When you are on the go, you can control portable speakers with some commands.

In order to bring the voice of its digital assistant to life, the company enlisted the help of an actor. He is best known for his roles in "The Mandalorian" and "Better Call Saul."

The Sonos Voice Control is designed to manage music and play back. You can't use it for things like answering questions or checking the weather.

Does Sonos Voice Control record your voice?

According to the company, its voice assistant works locally, meaning that it doesn't record or save your voice to the cloud.

What speakers include support for Sonos Voice Control?

Sonos

All of the company's smart speaker models have the voice control feature. This includes the Sonos One and other products.

What music services does Sonos Voice Control support?

Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Deezer are supported by the voice control.

What's Sonos Voice Control like to use?

The initial testing shows that the voice control works well and is easy to set up. I was able to try out the new feature on a Sonos Beam with the SonosRadio service.

It's easy to set up voice control. The speaker needs to be updated through the app on my phone. I was able to change the speaker's settings with the update.

The wake word works well with initiating commands. The requests for play, pause, volume adjustments, and radio stations all led to quick results.

You don't have to say the wake word again to follow up voice commands. Say "Hey Sonos, play rock music" and then increase the volume by just saying "volume up" once it starts. It's a small thing, but it adds convenience.

If you're looking for a smart speaker that can do more than just play music, Sonos' solution is a better option than Amazon's. At the same time, you can use the voice assistant of your choice while still having the option to ask questions, so you can use both devices at the same time.