Although the Amazon Echo brought smart speakers into the forefront, it wasn’t until the Sonos One came into the picture that audiophiles paid attention to smart speakers. With the Amazon Echo Studio smart speaker, Amazon has taken notes and invested in sound quality while still packing the device with smart features. And with both devices selling for less than $200, it can be tough to choose which one to buy. To help you out, we’ve compared the two below.
Navigation
Echo Studio vs Sonos One Comparison Chart
Design
The Sonos One is a sleeker and more minimalist-looking speaker than the Echo Studio.
Launched in 2019, the Echo Studio belongs to Amazon’s Echo lineup. However, unlike the Echo Show speakers, the Echo Studio is purely an audio device. There are no displays here. Instead, you get a cylindrical-shaped speaker covered in a dark gray fabric mesh.
Near the base of the Echo Studio are two openings for the bass aperture. This means you can only set the device upright. Meanwhile, you’ll find physical volume controls at the top, just outside a blue light ring that surrounds an upward-firing midrange speaker. The light feature, which tells you if Alexa is listening or the mic is muted, cannot be customized to any other color.
Next to Amazon’s Echo Studio, the Sonos One is noticeably smaller. It’s about two inches shorter in height and diameter, making it a more compact option. The Sonos One also looks identical to the Sonos Play:1 speaker. But unlike its predecessor, the One’s wraparound grille comes in the same color as the speaker variant, either black or white.
Despite being released in 2017, the Sonos One’s matte finish and touch capacitive controls look more modern than the Echo Studio. And while it doesn’t have a light feature, the speaker does come with LED indicators.
At the back of the Echo Studio, you’ll find a 3.5mm mini-optical line-in and the power port. With the Sonos One, the power cable connects to the speaker at the base. Its rear is instead reserved for an ethernet port and dedicated pairing button.
Sound Quality
The Sonos offers a more balanced and cohesive listening experience, while the Echo Studio delivers a louder, more bass-heavy performance.
Echo Studio
Inside the Echo Studio, you’ll find two mid-range speakers and a forward-firing tweeter. You also get an upward-firing mid-range speaker and a bass aperture that maximizes the output of its five-inch woofer. The position of drivers is meant to utilize songs available in Dolby Atmos Music from Amazon Music Unlimited.
Amazon shares that this speaker array delivers immersive sound. And it’s true for the most part, even if directional audio from a single source is challenging. Like its physical height, the Echo Studio produces a tall soundstage. The frequency response is accurate, and the neutral sound profile makes it suitable for a variety of audio content, including stereo.
With its bass aperture, the Echo Studio delivers more power and weight than the Sonos One. However, it lacks in the low-bass department, and the bass tends to overpower the rest of the track. Where the Echo Studio instead shines is in 3D mixes. Here, the speaker’s dynamics give a sense of scale to sound. Plus, the Echo Studio can get loud with minimal compression.
Sonos One
Sonos is, first and foremost, an audio company. As such, the emphasis is always on sound quality. On Sonos One, this philosophy remains true. Despite its size, the speaker produces a spacious soundstage and balanced mix. This is thanks to two drivers — a tweeter and a mid-woofer — and two Class-D amplifiers.
The Sonos One downmixes stereo content to mono unless paired with another compatible speaker. Nonetheless, directivity is above average, and both vocals and instruments are given plenty of room to shine. Thanks to TruePlay, the Sonos One also corrects its sound based on the room for a full-bodied effect.
Like the Echo Studio, the low-bass department isn’t its strong suit. But overall, you get a solid bass performance and clear and bright treble. Now, it doesn’t get as loud as Amazon’s speaker. There’s no support for 3D mix, too. But the Sonos One offers a more cohesive listen than the Echo Studio.
Smart Features and Connectivity
The Sonos One has a slight edge over the Echo Studio when it comes to smart features and connectivity.
The Amazon Echo Studio and Sonos One are packed with smart features. The first of the tech you’ll find on both speakers is the built-in voice assistant. To assuage privacy concerns, the Echo Studio and Sonos One have dedicated mic on/off buttons.
As an Amazon product, the Echo Studio comes with Alexa. The speaker also comes with a far-field microphone array so you can talk to the speaker even at some distance.
In contrast, Sonos One has Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant built-in. Alexa is particularly well-executed, allowing you to talk to the Sonos One as you would on an Echo device. Both assistants also do an excellent job of registering your voice in noisy environments, thanks to noise canceling and a six-microphone array.
As for connectivity, both devices have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Sonos One uses Bluetooth LE, which is only useful for setting up the speaker. In contrast, you can stream content via Bluetooth on the Echo Studio, although pairing is limited to one device at a time. But in terms of Wi-Fi, Sonos One wins, thanks to its low latency and Apple AirPlay compatibility.
Since it’s also an Echo device, the Echo Studio allows users to control other smart home devices, set timers and alarms, or ask for facts and trivia. You can do the same on the Sonos One, but with the added benefit of opting for Google Assistant if you wish.
Content and Multiroom Performance
Sonos One offers more compatibility that makes its multi-room performance highly valuable. However, Amazon’s Echo Studio doesn’t lag behind in this department.
Naturally, the Echo Studio supports Amazon Music. But you also get Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, SiriusXM, and Pandora, among other streaming services. If you opt for the Sonos One, you benefit from more music streaming services. Aside from what works with the Echo Studio, the speaker supports YouTube Music, Audible, and Napster. You can also connect with less familiar names like Calm, Wolfgang’s Music, and Storytel.
Multi-room setup is also the forte of Sonos. The Sonos App, in particular, is the strength of this feature. Through the platform, you can control the entire system, label rooms, and see where the music is playing.
Music services and local sources are also integrated into the Sonos app. Plus, it’s compatible with third-party vendors like Roon and Onkyo. You can even voice-command the Sonos One to send music to any Sonos speaker, even those that aren’t Alexa-enabled.
Amazon has also been trying out a multi-room setup. While it only works with compatible Echo devices, there’s enough content source to stream around the house. From playlists and podcasts to radio and audiobooks, you can listen to whatever you want anywhere. Plus, you can connect the speaker with a Fire TV Cube, Fire TV Stick, or Fire TV.
The Alexa App has also taken great strides. Now, you can group speakers and move music across rooms. The only downside is that it only supports limited non-Amazon devices.
Verdict
The Sonos One is a better smart speaker than the Amazon Echo Studio.
If you already have an Amazon Echo device, it makes sense to get the Amazon Echo Studio Speaker, too. The speaker’s excellent sound quality is a welcome addition to the ecosystem. However, the Sonos One offers more compatibilities, including Amazon Echo functions, which makes it a better all-in-one device to buy.
In terms of performance, Sono’s smart speaker also delivers a more balanced audio quality than the Echo Studio. And it’s hard to argue against the intuitiveness and integration offered by the Sonos multi-room technology.
This isn’t to say the Echo Studio lags behind. For an Amazon Echo speaker, it should impress you with its expanding capabilities. However, the only good case for buying one is if you need a speaker loud enough for a large room. Otherwise, you’re better off with the Sonos One.
FAQs
Yes. When setting up the Echo Studio, Alexa will tune the speaker to create a sound fit for your room’s acoustics.
The Amazon Echo Studio comes with a one-year limited warranty.
The Sonos One’s power cable is six feet long.
Yes. You can stereo pair the second-gen Sonos One with the first-generation model.