Reddit mentions of Speaker Groups

You can group speakers with Alexa now, saying (for example) “Alexa, play Jazz everywhere.” That command puts all of your speakers into one group.

There are also third-party Alexa skills that allow for other speaker groupings:

https://skills-store.amazon.com/deeplink/dp/B071YW8F1R?deviceType=app&share&refSuffix=ss_copy

https://skills-store.amazon.com/deeplink/dp/B07HGQGT6P?deviceType=app&share&refSuffix=ss_copy

The main thing that sold me on Sonos was something like, "It's so easy my wife can use it." Not to say the other vendor's systems are hard to use per se, but that Sonos hits a sweet spot in usability once you are fully engrossed in the system. That ease of use and cohesiveness is what sold my wife (a technophobe) on the system.

For me, the killer features are a combination of the following.

1. The lack of wires: I have 10 speakers taking up 10 different outlets. If I added other voice assistant speakers, like an Echo or Google Home to the mix, I have to take up additional plugs on one of those 10 outlets. Why is this a problem? Well some of the outlets are highly visible (like the kitchen counter) or need to be used for something else (next to the bed) and I don't want to add additional clutter adding a power trip/surge protector.
   
   
2. Lack of physical things: Complementing the above lack of wires is the fact that there are less physical things taking up space in my house. The TV soundbar (Playbar or Playbase) and each speaker is self contained and there is no need for a receiver. Not having to have another Echo or Google Home or HomePod means less physical counter/table space taken up and less clutter.
   
   
3. Changing speaker groups via voice: This is not officially supported by Sonos right now but is accomplished using the Speaker Groups Alexa skill and to me is a killer feature that distinguishes Sonos from the other competitors right now. I can say something like, "Alexa, tell Speaker Groups to play what's on in the living room in the office" and it will automatically group the living room and office speakers together. Later I can say, "Alexa, tell Speaker Groups to stop the living room" and then the living room will be disconnected from the speaker groups and paused, leaving audio playing in the other rooms.
   
   
4. Voice assistant agnostic (hopefully): Sonos announced that it is going to add support for Google Assistant in the future. It is a nice addition in case I do not want to fully rely on Alexa. For instance, if I wanted to add tasks to my Google task list.
   
   
5. Sounds great: For someone that is not an audiophile, an entire home Sonos system is going to sound great.
   
   
6. Spotify Connect support: I can seamlessly transition using just the Spotify app between my computer, my phone, and my Sonos speakers. This is not unique to Sonos, but it is a necessary feature.
   
   
7. Support for tons of audio sources: It supports lots of streaming services. I don't use anything more than Spotify and Pandora though, but having this many sources appeals to a wider group of people.
   
   
8. Stream TV audio: It is really nice to be able to stream my TV audio. I like to stream Twitch from my Xbox and soccer games from my cable box to different rooms.
   
   To understand how this all works together, imagine me and my wife's typical use case: I start playing music in my car, then I transition it to my phone and walk to my house, then I transition it to my home theater, and finally transition it to my office (turning off the home theater). To do this, I use the Spotify app to start the music, switch to the home theater using Spotify Connect and leave my phone on the counter. Since Sonos utilizes Wifi, it isn't making my phone battery go down. As I walk through the house I can use the voice assistant part to play songs, change tracks/volume and if I move to a new room, I can use the Speaker Groups skill (item 3) to change audio groups using voice, all without picking up my phone or any other remotes.
   
   It is a bummer you got two Sonos Play:1s instead of two Sonos Ones. I think the latter are a better indication of what the whole Sonos ecosystem is capable of.