Like many Sonos owners, I have long wanted to incorporate my home theater in my multi-room Sonos audio setup. But the irrationally overpriced Sonos Connect has kept me from doing so for years.
At $349, the Sonos Connect is basically just a bridge that allows you to stream whatever you happen to be streaming to your other Sonos devices to a connected stereo. I’ve always joked that if you drop the 3 from the price, you have a well priced item for what it does. And that’s exactly what Amazon has just accomplished with the Echo Dot.
With its ability to connect to virtually any stereo via Bluetooth, line or line to RCA, and the newly released Alexa multi-room audio feature, the Echo Dot does virtually everything that the Sonos Connect can do at a seventh of the price.
What can’t the Echo Dot do that Sonos Connect can do?
- Sonos Connect allows for optical and coaxial outputs and a single RCA input that allows you to stream any connected device to all Sonos speakers.
- In comparison to Sonos, Echo devices have a “limited” amount of streaming sources. Sonos is far and away the king of streaming services, but Echo is second and will allow you to stream the most popular music services.
- Echo Dot can’t sync music with Sonos speakers…yet.
The last point is the most important of all. If you’re heavily invested in Sonos, you may be tempted to stick with the Sonos Connect in order to bring your stereo into the fold. But Amazon and Sonos have been touting their partnership since 2016, and both companies have already announced that Alexa and Sonos will live in harmony in just a few weeks. This means you’ll be able to sync audio across Echo and Sonos devices very soon. With Echo Dot’s ability to connect to virtually any stereo or Bluetooth speaker, there will soon be very few reasons to ever need a Sonos Connect.
When faced with two devices with similar feature sets and wildly different prices, if the cheaper device can do 90% of what you need it to do, and the other 10% doesn’t happen to include the major feature you need, I see no reason to spend the extra money. Especially when we’re talking about a $300 price difference!