Mic-Free Sonos Arc SL Soundbar Offers The Same Sound, But More Privacy

A new edition of the Sonos Arc soundbar has appeared on Costco shelves,  and it comes without a microphone or built-in voice assistant for those who prefer privacy. The standard Sonos Arc was released earlier in 2020, boasting Dolby Atmos support and built-in Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant capabilities. As popular as these assistants can be, though, they aren’t for everyone.

This isn’t the first time Sonos has unveiled a mic-less version of a popular product. Following the release of the Sonos One smart speaker in 2017 — complete with six different microphones and support for both Amazon and Google voice assistants — the company announced the Sonos One SL in 2019. It was identical in sound to the original version but came without built-in microphones and simply offered a solution for users who wanted the quality of Sonos technology without the potential invasiveness of voice assistants.

Naturally, the new Sonos Arc SL, which was spotted by an observant Reddit user, mirrors both the purpose and the naming convention of the Sonos One SL. The highly capable soundbar sounds the same as the standard version but omits the built-in microphones of the original and comes in a ‘shadow edition’ trim. More significantly, the Arc SL is $50 cheaper than the original at $749, though it’s currently available exclusively through Costco.

Which Sonos Soundbar Should You Buy?

As previously stated, there are really only a few key differences between the Sonos Arc and the Sonos Arc SL. Both editions of the soundbar support the Dolby Atmos audio format and have upfiring drivers built to produce the popular 3D sound. Each soundbar can be paired with the Sonos Sub or several iterations of Sonos’ wireless speakers to create a 5.1 home theater set up. And each bar can be included as part of a whole-home audio setup, a feature that’s been the bread and butter of Sonos devices for more than a decade.

Besides the $50 price difference and the slight change of color, the key change is the lack of microphones and built-in smart assistants in the Sonos Arc SL. For those who enjoy interacting with voice assistants like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant and using them to play music or control other smart home devices, it’d likely be worth it to spend the extra cash for the standard Sonos Arc. However, there are plenty of users who just want to listen to high-quality music, without having microphones constantly listening for an assistant’s wake word. For this particular crowd, the Sonos Arc SL would be an attractive, discounted alternative.

To be clear, it is possible to disable the microphone on the original Sonos Arc simply by never enabling the potential voice assistants. Also, if users buy a Sonos Arc SL, they can still choose to control the soundbar with a voice assistant if they already have a smart device — like an Echo Dot or a Nest Audio — in their home. This is all to say, there are ways to utilize or work around voice assistants in both editions of Sonos’ soundbar. The Sonos Arc SL just represents a piece-of-mind option for individuals who are adamant about not dealing with microphones, virtual assistants, and/or smart homes for a slightly less expensive price.

Source: Reddit