"Bose recently joined in on the fun, unveiling its Lifestyle Ultra Speaker, which operates in a way that's familiar to Sonos's smart speakers. Both companies offer separately sold smart speakers that can stand on their own around the house, group together for left/right audio, or pair with a compatible soundbar to perform as rear speakers."
"Bose fitted the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker with native Google Cast, which is a plus for people with Android devices or a mixed-device ecosystem. I've tested several new smart speakers this year, and few are equipped with Google Cast built-in. Review: Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker Google Cast works like Apple AirPlay, allowing users to stream audio from their source device to the speaker, as long as both are connected to the same Wi-Fi network."
"I use AirPlay to quickly stream a YouTube video to a speaker, and it only takes a few seconds to switch the audio back to my phone. Note that while the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker has Google Cast, it does not support Google Assistant or Gemini."
"Yet, aside from a hard-to-miss $130 price difference, there are other differences to consider regarding ecosystem integration, smart features, and voice assistants. Specifications Connectivity Apple AirPlay; Google Cast; Spotify Connect Apple AirPlay; Spotify Connect Voice assistants Amazon Alexa; Alexa+ Amazon Alexa; Sonos Voice Assistant; Google Assistant (via a separate speaker only)"
Bose and Sonos both support multi-room audio and can pair separately sold smart speakers for left/right audio or use compatible soundbars as rear speakers. Bose’s Lifestyle Ultra Speaker includes native Google Cast, enabling streaming from a source device to the speaker over the same Wi-Fi network, similar to AirPlay. The speaker can switch audio back to a phone quickly after streaming. Bose does not support Google Assistant or Gemini on the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker. Sonos uses its own voice assistant and supports Alexa, with Google Assistant available only through a separate speaker. Connectivity and wired options differ between the ecosystems, including Bose’s USB-C approach and Sonos’s 3.5mm aux-in.
Read at ZDNET
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