Sonos' improved Voice Control points to an intriguing smart home future

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After releasing new hardware this year -- such as the Sonos Play and Amp Multi -- and trickling out app redesigns, Sonos is making it clear that it's returned in full force. Sonos CEO Tom Conrad said on an earnings call that AI will be a focal point of the company's comeback, as reported by Bloomberg .

Also: I tested Sonos' new beta features on iOS and Android - how to opt in and what to expect

FCC filings point to Sonos readying the Sonos Ace Ultra headphones and a potential successor to the Sonos Beam (Gen 2). With new hardware and robust AI integration in mind, I have some ideas about what Sonos could unveil this year, and it's exciting to think about.

Bloomberg described Conrad's acknowledgment that the 2024 Ace headphones were released with too little integration with the rest of the Sonos hardware ecosystem. Notably, the headphones lack access to Sonos Voice Control and can only communicate with select soundbars to swap audio between them .

With deeper integration, what if I could wear the Ace Ultra while working in my home office, summon Sonos Voice Control, and ask it to turn on the Philips Hue lamp downstairs? Or, while I'm wearing the Ace Ultra during a TV Audio Swap session, I could trigger Sonos Voice Control and ask it to turn on my living room TV?

Also: Two years later, should you still buy the Sonos Ace? Why my answer is a resounding yes

Though Sonos makes several portable products -- the Sonos Ace headphones and the Sonos Play , Roam, and Move 2 speakers -- Sonos is a smart home audio company first and foremost. As a result, Sonos needs to make an irresistible appeal to its users, since most of its products are anchored to their homes.

This appeal includes beefing up Sonos Voice Control and allowing the Ace Ultra headphones to communicate with an entire Sonos home system. Here's something I'd like: to take my music with me. I often walk around my neighborhood in the evenings while wearing my Sonos Ace headphones.

In an ideal world, I could walk through my front door, summon Sonos Voice Control, tell it that "I'm home," and my music would shift from my headphones to my living room, which is my first pinned room in the Sonos app.

Or I could be wearing the Ace Ultra in my office and tell Sonos Voice Control, "I'm going to cook dinner now," and the music would switch from my headphones to my living room and kitchen counter.