Onkyo and Pioneer add Chromecast and Google Home voice control

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A firmware update will deliver integrated streaming and voice control to numerous Onkyo and Pioneer products

Your 2016-onward Onkyo or Pioneer kit may well get a whole lot smarter today. The siblings brands have released a firmware update to bring many of their home entertainment products bang up to date.

MORE: read all our Onkyo reviews

MORE: read all our Pioneer reviews

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The update affects products across both brands' stereo, home cinema and network speaker ranges. The Chromecast element connects compatible apps (both iOS and Android) via wi-fi, meaning wireless streaming of network-stored or streaming service-derived music, as well as internet radio, can be enabled.

MORE: Google Chromecast Audio review

The update will also allow owners to use voice-control for streaming playback on their newly updated components when using Google Home or other as-yet-unreleased Google Assistant devices.

These are the Onkyo products affected by the update: PR-RZ5100; TX-RZ710, -810, -1100 and -3100; TX-NR474, -555, -575E, -656, and -676E; TX-L20D and -50; LS5200 and -7200; HT-S7805; TX-8270; NS-6130 and -6170; R-N855; NCP-302.

And these are the corresponding Pioneer components: SC-LX501, -701, -801 and -910; VSX-S520, -S520D, -831, -832, -932 and -1131; VSX-LX302; SX-S30DAB; NC-50DAB; N-30AE; FS-W50; FS-W40; XC-HM86D; X-HM76, -76D and -86D; MRX-3 and -5.

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MORE: Google Home review

Simon Lucas

Simon Lucas is a technology journalist, with a strong emphasis on the audio/video side of consumer electronics and home entertainment, and has been since 2003. He worked for more than 14 years at What Hi-Fi?, the last six of which were spent as the editor of the magazine and website. Since then he's written for Wired, The Guardian, TechRadar, Stuff, GQ and many more besides. 

In the course of his career he's developed a pretty deep understanding of the way both the publishing and the electronics industries function, as well as the sort of intimate knowledge of audio products (both specific and general) that can make people very wary of him at parties.