Sonos will ramp up Google Assistant private beta tests for Sonos One and Sonos Beam speakers throughout the first few weeks of 2019. It expects to have many more users testing the personal assistant by the end of January. 

A private beta started at the end of 2018. And, after a round of stringent screening of applicants, a select few have been testing Google Assistant voice control on Sonos One speakers already.

The beta will soon expand to thousands more homes in order to help Sonos stress test the feature. Many of the settings are yet to be finalised, so this is an important process for the company.

"Part of the beta is understanding what people want," a Sonos representative told Pocket-lint.

For example, the company hasn't yet worked out whether users will be able to use both Alexa and Google Assistant at the same time or whether they will have to pick one at setup. 

It is expected a full public launch will still occur later this year, however, although Sonos couldn't confirm an exact date. 

When it does, two companies also plan to introduce Google Assistant compatibility to other Sonos speakers via the Works With Google Assistant programme. 

You will be able to ask Google Assistant to play music on any Sonos speaker, not just One or Beam, but you will need an external device, such as a Google Home.

This is similar to the way Alexa support has been added to the entire family of devices. If you own an Echo Dot, say, you can ask it to play music on a Sonos speaker somewhere in your set-up.