This Black Friday Sony speaker deal lets you rock out using Google Assistant or Alexa
Amazon is currently offering a discount of 50% for the Sony SRS-RA3000 Wi-Fi/Bluetooth wireless speaker. It usually goes for $398, but this earlyBlack Friday dealreturns it to the lowest price this speaker has ever seen. Down to a much more reasonable $198, this deal makes it one of thebest smart speakersyou can get.
Well, it might be slightly inaccurate to call this a smart speaker as it has no microphone; rather, this speaker is smart-adjacent: you’re able to stream music to it via Google Assistant (via Chromecast Built-in), Amazon Alexa (via a nearby Echo device), Spotify Connect, Bluetooth, or a good old-fashioned 3.5mm jack.
Amazon’s Early Black Friday deals have dropped the price of Sony’s home speaker SRS-RA3000 by 50%, allowing you to get a richer, fuller sound for your upcoming holiday party. By supporting both Alexa and Assistant, the SRS-RA3000 can work seamlessly with either smart home ecosystem.
While this speaker works with Alexa, it’s not quite as seamless an experience as using the SRS-RA3000 with Google Assistant and Google Home. Because this speaker supports Chromecast Built-in, once you complete the initial setup via the Sony Music Center app on your phone — and a quick pit stop in the Google Home app — you can use any Assistant device to summon music to the speaker, but Alexa needs more. For Alexa support, you need an Echo device (an Echo speaker or anEcho Show display) on your local network for Alexa to work.
As mentioned before, Google’s Chromecast Built-in is supported here, meaning that you won’t have to kick over to Bluetooth for most media apps, as that’s built into most music streaming services (and video streaming services) already. For you Spotify addicts, Spotify Connect is here, too, so you can seamlessly shift your morning mix between rooms as you get ready for the day.
The speaker looks exceptionally premium, with its hexagonal shape that holds its controls on the top. You can get it in either Black or Light Gray colors. In my opinion, Black looks more premium, with its bold copper grills alongside the alternate edges.
Unlike smart speakers, sound quality is first and foremost on this Sony Reality Audio speaker. It has omnidirectional sound, both horizontally and vertically, reaching every part of your room. Sony touts this speaker for its 360-degree spatial audio, but that’s only available for limited selections on Amazon Music Unlimited, Tidal, Deezer, and a few niche services. In our experience with this 3000’s big brother, the SRS-RA5000, the 360-degree sound can feel gimmicky, but it’s easy enough to swap the sound profile back to a more normal sound rather than the speaker trying to make stereo tracks spatial.
Also, for those who remember the tediousness of Chromecast Built-in on some other speakers and audio systems, casting to the SRS-RA3000 is quick, consistent, and lag-free over 95% of the time. This won’t be the onlysweet smart speaker dealwe see between now and Black Friday, but it’s one of the most flexible.
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