How to Add Sonos Beam to Alexa Speaker Group - Online Home Theater Resource

Creating Alexa speaker groups in your home is a very good way to pinpoint exactly which set of speakers should respond to Alexa whenever you interact with the AI bot. As a music or movie lover who wants to enjoy spiced-up sounds on your streaming devices, the Alexa groups help to streamline the functions of the several speakers in your home. It even gets better when you include Sonos products such as the Sonos Beam, which is aimed at maximizing your audio experience. With the Sonos Beam in your Alexa speaker group, you are just a voice command away from accessing all the music playback features from your favorite music services.

If you have already created an Alexa speaker group in your room and you want to add the Sonos Beam to it, this article will help you do just that.

You can add Sonos Beam to your Alexa speaker group by using the Sonos app to set up Alexa service for the Sonos Beam and then add it to your preferred Alexa speaker group/room on the app. After adding Sonos Beam to the Alexa group, you can include music services in the group and also control the playback features of music that play in that group by using voice commands.

Sonos Beam devices have the Amazon Alexa service already built in them so you do not need an Alexa device like the Echo to control it. You can directly talk to Alexa on the Sonos Beam by starting with the “Hi Alexa” wake words. If you want to know more about Sonos Beam and Alexa speaker group, continue reading this article because I’ll explain in detail how you can add the Sonos Beam to your Alexa group and what you can do with it afterward.

Setting Up Sonos Beam

Sonos Beam and Sonos One are quite unique among the Sonos products, in that, you can directly talk to Alexa on them without using any Alexa-enabled device like the Echo.

In spite of this, you need to set the Sonos beam up for the Alexa service before you can issue voice commands. You will also have to set up the Sonos Beam for your Sonos system and then enable the Sonos Skill on either the Sonos app or Alexa App before you proceed.

Both the Sonos and Alexa apps are available for download on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. It is important to download and install them on your smartphone in order to successfully set up your Sonos Beam.

Also Read:

Step-by-step guide on grouping Sonos speakers with Alexa

Can Alexa and Sonos Play at the Same Time

How to Set Up Sonos Beam Using the Sonos App

You will need to include your Sonos Beam in your Sonos system before you can use it. To set the Sonos Beam up for the Sonos System, follow these steps:

Plug your Sonos Beam and connect it to your WiFi.
Download and install the Sonos app on your smartphone.
Open the Sonos app and navigate to Set Up New System.

Log in to your Sonos account. Create one for yourself by signing up if you don’t have any.
The Sonos app will start to search for nearby Sonos products. If your Sonos Beam shows up, select it by tapping on the Add button and then hit the Continue button.
Go to Set Up Product and follow the on-screen instructions to set up the Sonos Beam.

After adding the Sonos Beam to the Sonos system, the Sonos beam will be ready for the Alexa service and you can add it to the Alexa group after that.

How to Add Sonos Beam to Alexa Speaker Group Using the Sonos App

Adding the Sonos Beam to the Alexa speaker group becomes easier after you set up the Sonos Beam using the steps that I described above. You will need to add Amazon Alexa service to the Sonos beam and then you will be set to add it to the group.

I assume that you have already created your Alexa speaker and named it accordingly.

To add Sonos Beam to the Alexa speaker group, follow the steps below:

Open the Sonos app on your smartphone or tablet and sign in to your Sonos account.
Go to Settings.

Go to Voice and choose Services and Voice.
Select Voice Assistant and then choose Amazon Alexa.
Choose Add to Sonos. This should display a list of your Sonos products that support the voice service. The Sonos Beam will appear. You will also see a list of groups or rooms including your Alexa speaker group.

Select your Sonos Beam and your preferred Alexa speaker group or room and hit Add Amazon Alexa.
Tap the Sign in to Amazon button. You will be redirected to the sign in page of Amazon. Log in to your Amazon account. If you don’t have an account sign up for one. After you sign in, you will be required to test how well Alexa works with the Alexa app on your smartphone.

After adding your Sonos Beam to the Alexa Group using the above steps, you will have to enable the Sonos Skill in order for Alexa to work properly on your Sonos Beam. You can simply tap on the Enable Sonos Skill on the Sonos app or if you are on already on the Alexa app, just follow these steps:

Go to More at the bottom of the Alexa app.
Choose Skills and Games and then select Your Skills.
Choose Sonos and select Enable Skill.

What’s next? You should add your music services like Spotify o Amazon Music to the Alexa app. You can add the services by using these steps:

Go to Settings on the Alexa app and navigate to Music.
Select Link New Service.

You will see a list of music services on your screen. Tap on your preferred service or services to add them to Alexa. You can also specify which your Default Service should be.

After linking your music services, you should go back to Sonos app and add the same music services on the app. After that choose the ” I’ve set up my music in Alexa” option.

Finally, you will be set to use voice commands on your Sonos Beam and interact with Alexa.

Alexa Commands Via Sonos Beam

You interact with Alexa directly on your Sonos Beam since the Alexa service was automatically included in its design by the manufacturers.

Alexa on your Sonos Beam can respond to all the music playback commands as well as unrelated musical commands such as weather.

You should however take note that, you can use the Sonos Beam that you have connected to Alexa speaker groups for multiple rooms. This means that Alexa and the Sonos Beam will only play music in the room that it was connected to.

If you named your group as “living room” or “kitchen”, some of the popular voice commands you can give to Alexa will include:

Alexa, play next song in the living room
Alexa, pause song in the kitchen.

Alexa, skip track
Alexa, resume song in the kitchen
Alexa, turn music down in the living room.

Alexa, mute music in the kitchen.

You can always instruct Alexa based on your needs, just remember to start with “Alexa” in order to prep Alexa for instructions.

You can also use Alexa to control your TV that has the Sonos Beam connected to it via an HDMI-ARC cable. How you will do it by telling Alexa to turn on or turn off your TV.

You can also ask Alexa to increase or decrease the volume on your TV. This is a very exciting feature for movie fans.

Moreover, if you have a Fire TV that is connected to a Sonos Beam, you can let Alexa control your channels or streaming services with just your voice.

For example, you can say “Alexa, change channel to this or that” or ” Alexa, tune in to Netflix” and you will have your TV switched to that service or channel.

How to Disable Alexa on Sonos Beam

If for any reason, you prefer not to use Alexa on your Sonos Beam, you can disable the Alexa service using the Sonos app. In order to disable Alexa on the Sonos Beam, follow these steps:

Open the Sonos app.
Go to Settings and then select Voice Services.

Hit the Disable Alexa after that.

If you want to set up the Alexa service on your Sonos Beam again, you can use the steps that I described earlier to set up Alexa on it.

Conclusion

The Sonos Beam offers music and movie fans the opportunity to instruct Alexa without the need for external devices like the Amazon Echo. Combining it with a group of Alexa speakers is even better because of how easy it makes the audio architecture in your smart home.

This allows you to control a set of speakers in a room with a single voice command to Alexa. If you want to add the Sonos Beam to the Alexa speaker groups, you will need to do so using the Sonos and Alexa apps. The steps I described in this guide should make it easier for you.

You can then add your music services like Spotify to the group so that you will be able to control how the music plays using the Sonos Beam or Alexa speaker.

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Josephine

Josephine is a home theater and tech enthusiast who is curious about electronics and how they are interconnected to produce beautiful sound and images. Beside coding, I also write about technology.