Sonos makes some fabulous portable speakers, and they usually sell for a premium price too. Although the Sonos app allows you to stream music from an array of partners like TuneIn, Spotify, and SoundCloud, it's nice to have a voice assistant for added convenience. Sonos speakers boast Alexa integration, but only in a handful of markets. That's changing this year: customers in dozens of new regions will soon be able to enjoy the simple pleasure of shouting “Alexa!” to get answers, control smart home devices, and more.

Alexa support will roll out to Sonos speakers including the Roam, Move, Arc, Beam, Five, and One. Owners can get started using the feature after installing a software update schedule to arrive later this spring. Sonos will offer the international version of the voice assistant in new markets, so supported languages are limited to English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Alexa support is coming to 27 new regions:

With Alexa integration, you can command your Sonos speaker with simple voice commands that control music playback. Alexa’s international version works well with most of the music streaming apps supported in the Sonos S2 app. You can also use the voice assistant to set timers, ask about the weather in an area, add items to your Amazon shopping cart, control other Alexa-enabled smart devices linked to your account, and then some. Importantly, Alexa will work alongside the Sonos Voice Control functionality introduced in the US and France last year.

Now, we understand that Sonos audio gear doesn’t fit in everyone’s budget, but the average consumer is spoiled for options these days. If all you seek is Alexa built-in, check out our favorite Alexa-enabled smart speakers. Amazon makes its own Echo range, all of which come with Alexa support right out of the box, and typically sound quite good too.