I do not consider myself to be an audiophile so I am not sure how this compares with any of the Bose speakers, but comparing it against a first-generation echo unit (the tall one with the better speakers and sound quality) this blows that out of the water. Even with the volume set relatively low, I can hear details in songs or commercials that I could never hear through the echo. And the bass is so good that I sometimes mistake it for my neighbors making noise next door (I am in a townhouse with walls that are pretty easy to hear through).
It does have Alexa functionality (you have to put in your Amazon details in the Sonos app, and set it up in the Alexa app). It is a bit time-consuming but fairly straightforward. As long as you are not technophobic anyway. It can do most (but not all) of the things that a "regular" echo device can. It does not have as many microphones as the regular Echo does, so I find it spotty in responding correctly to the commands I say. It cannot do the "drop-in" functionality that the regular echo units can that allows people to talk to each other through the devices, and it also, at least for now, does not have the ability to have the wake word changed from Alexa to Echo. I preferred to use the latter, but this will only respond to Alexa as the wake word. That is really only a minor detail though. You can also connect it to an iHeart Radio, Pandora, Spotify, etc. account without having to go through the Alexa app. So if you do not have Amazon Prime you can still listen to content on any of those services.
One thing I hope will be changed in the future is the ability to connect it to a smart TV. For the moment it can only connect to other Sonos speakers, but cannot connect wirelessly to a TV. Aside from those relatively small issues, at least for me, it is a great option for a higher-end speaker that is a bit more affordable than some of the other options.
It does have Alexa functionality (you have to put in your Amazon details in the Sonos app, and set it up in the Alexa app). It is a bit time-consuming but fairly straightforward. As long as you are not technophobic anyway. It can do most (but not all) of the things that a "regular" echo device can. It does not have as many microphones as the regular Echo does, so I find it spotty in responding correctly to the commands I say. It cannot do the "drop-in" functionality that the regular echo units can that allows people to talk to each other through the devices, and it also, at least for now, does not have the ability to have the wake word changed from Alexa to Echo. I preferred to use the latter, but this will only respond to Alexa as the wake word. That is really only a minor detail though. You can also connect it to an iHeart Radio, Pandora, Spotify, etc. account without having to go through the Alexa app. So if you do not have Amazon Prime you can still listen to content on any of those services.
One thing I hope will be changed in the future is the ability to connect it to a smart TV. For the moment it can only connect to other Sonos speakers, but cannot connect wirelessly to a TV. Aside from those relatively small issues, at least for me, it is a great option for a higher-end speaker that is a bit more affordable than some of the other options.
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