How to enable and use Sonos Voice Control

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Control your Sonos speakers using your voice

Sonos Voice Control has been around for a couple of years now – since 2022. It’s a voice assistant that works alongside Alexa and Google Assistant rather than replacing them, offering a way to control Sonos speakers with your voice rather than having to use the Sonos app.

It is compatible with all Sonos speakers with a microphone and unlike Alexa or Google Assistant, there’s no asking about the weather, traffic, news or controlling your smart home. Sonos Voice Control is purely about accessing and playing your music, on your Sonos system.

It works with Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, Deezer and Sonos Radio media controls. Streaming favorite Spotify was late to the party but was added to the mix in March 2024.

You can use both Sonos Voice Control and Alexa at the same time, on the same speaker – but not Sonos and Google Assistant… which is odd but less of an issue given that Google’s digital voice butler hasn’t been included on any of the latest Sonos speaker launches such as the Era 100, Era 300 or the Move 2.

What you’ll need

A compatible Sonos speaker
The Sonos S2 app

The short version

Open the Sonos S2 app.
Tap on the settings cog in the top right corner.
Tap on ‘Manage‘ at the top of Your System list of speakers.
Tap on ‘Voice Assistants‘.
Tap on ‘Add a Voice Assistant‘.
Select ‘Sonos Voice Control‘ from the list.
Tap on ‘Get Started‘ and accept the Terms of Use.
Choose a speaker you want to add it to and follow the steps in the app.

How to enable and use Sonos Voice Control

Time needed: 3 minutes

Open the Sonos app and click on the settings cog
You’ll need to be running the Sonos S2 app on your smartphone, tablet or computer; the chances are that you are already if you’ve got a Sonos speaker that is Sonos Voice compatible. If you have updated your Sonos app recently, the settings cog is in the top right corner. If you haven’t, the settings cog is in the bottom right corner.
Tap on the Services & Voice Section
For those on the latest version of the Sonos app, you’ll then want to tap on ‘Manage’ at the top of your list of Sonos speakers. From here, tapping on ‘Voice Assistants’, followed by ‘Add a voice assistant’ if Sonos Voice Control isn’t already listed.
If you haven’t updated the Sonos app, you’ll want to head into the Services & Voice section of the settings and then press ‘+ Add a Voice Assistant’ if Sonos Voice Control isn’t listed next to Alexa.
Choose what speaker to add Sonos Voice too
You’ll then need to choose which speakers you want to add Sonos Voice Control too. Any Sonos speakers that have a microphone and are compatible with Sonos Voice Control will appear. On the latest version of the Sonos app, you can swipe through the cards for the available speaker, choosing ‘Select’ for the one you want. It will take a couple of minutes to add, and once done, that speaker will appear when you tap on Sonos Voice Control under Voice Assistants in the future. You will also see the option to ‘Add to Another Product’ when you select Sonos Voice Control.
If you haven’t updated the Sonos app yet, a similar screen still appears with a list of any speakers you’ve already added Sonos Voice too, if you have. If none are listed, or you want to add to another, just click ‘+ Add to Another Product’.

You can repeat the steps above for any other speakers you want included, it doesn’t install on all of them at once.

When it comes to step 3, after tapping Sonos Voice Control you’ll see all of the Sonos speakers where you’ve enabled Voice, and you’ll see the option to add more speakers.

11 tips and tricks to help you get to grips with the new Sonos app

How to use Sonos Voice Control

controls on Sonos Era 100 — (Image credit: The Ambient)

The wake phrase is “Hey Sonos” and you can daisy-chain requests together without having to say it every time.

The good news is that Sonos Voice is actually more advanced than Alexa and Google Assistant when it comes to your Sonos system.

Not only can you ask it to play songs, skip tracks, change the volume and so on, you can also use it to group Sonos speakers and move your music around your house.

You can say things like…

“Hey Sonos, play music I like”

“Hey Sonos, play Oasis”

“Hey Sonos, skip this song”

“Hey Sonos, turn the volume up”

“Hey Sonos, group the kitchen and living room”

“Hey Sonos, move the music to the office”

“Hey Sonos, play in this room instead”

“Hey Sonos, what’s this song?”

“Hey Sonos, how much battery have I got left?” (For Sonos Roam or Move speakers)

You get the idea.

There are also TV specific instructions if you’ve got a Sonos soundbar such as the Arc:

“Hey Sonos, turn the TV on”

“Hey Sonos, turn on Night Sound”

“Hey Sonos, turn Speech Enhancement off”

And, although it’s not designed to replace Alexa or GA, you can do some basic non-music stuff such as setting timers and sleep timers. Try commands such as:

“Hey Sonos, set a 12 minute timer”

“Hey Sonos, add 5 minutes to my timer”

“Hey Sonos, turn the music off in an hour”

Sonos Voice info

Sonos limits its responses and chimes so you can get to your music faster – a welcome change from services that repeat all your requests back to you, slowly, before actually giving you what you’ve asked for.

It’s designed with everyday language recognition too. And you might recognize the voice responding to you, as actor Giancarlo Esposito (Gus Fring in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, and Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian) is the voice of the service.

That’s for the English language version, at least. Sonos Voice is also available in French.

There’s good news for the security conscious too, as all requests are processed locally rather than in in the cloud to provide complete privacy, and hopefully reach customers who’ve previously held out due to these concerns.

You will, however, need to be using Sonos over Wi-Fi to get the most from the experience. On Bluetooth only mode, you’ll be limited to basic track controls.