Move Software Update for Stereo Pair in Bluetooth Mode?

  • 25 January 2021
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Any word on a software update, allowing the Move to stereo pair with another in Bluetooth mode?  It has been a year and a half since the Move came onto the market.  It’s absurd that Sonos didn’t take care of this major issue in the initial release, but it should definitely be a high priority to address it with a downloadable software update.   

A friend just bought me a fully waterproof Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2, which retails for around $100.  You can stereo pair via Bluetooth 2 of these little guys together, but the $400 Sonos Move can’t be? 

The technology is out there.  C’mon, Sonos… please make this happen!   The Move is designed to take on the go, that’s the point, all features should be available while… on the go!  


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Many other brands can do this and some have been able to do it for yesrs. Maybe Sonos don’t think people will pay 2x400 for an outdoor pair - so have not bothered with the functionality?  

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If Sonos is selling the speaker for $400, it suggests they fully expect consumers to purchase them.  They market the Move to stereo pair two together (on WiFi), so that’s one of their selling points (stereo pairing 2 speakers). They also market it as a speaker to play anywhere (outside or in, it’s weatherproof after all).  So it all boils down to making this selling point extend to work on Bluetooth mode, as well as WiFi.  

The Move is a pretty hefty unit and I should have thought that the number of people who want to take two of them out and about is limited.  I am also sceptical about the value of stereo outdoors, although I can see that double the volume might be welcome in some contexts.

Price comparisons are pointless if one just concentrates on one feature.  The price is for the whole package, and no speaker has the monopoly of all the good features in every scenario.

Having said that, I was also a bit surprised when I learned it wasn’t possible, and it’s certainly reasonable to request this feature.

To answer the question in the original post… no, there is no word on this and almost certainly won’t be until it happens, if it does.  That is the Sonos way.

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No doubt the Move is a bit hefty when compared to most other portable Bluetooth speakers, but it’s really not that much heavier than my old Bose SoundDock that I lugged around for years (4.6 lbs. versus 6.6 lbs.).  

As for outdoor stereo pairing, it comes in handy at tailgates, or any other outdoor gathering at the beach, camping, poolside, firepits... and whether it’s a true stereo pair or just pairing in mono, the increased number of speakers (overall volume increase and increased listening area) is definitely welcome to a lot of folks who entertain outdoors.  

At any rate, hopefully the Sonos Powers-That-Be realize there’s a population of Move customers that are anxiously awaiting this feature.  I’m not an engineer so I have no idea the cost/difficulty of adding it via a software update..  

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Well there was just an update to 12.2.4 and the Move was the only speaker which now shows that build number.  Maybe it has arrived?

No doubt the Move is a bit hefty when compared to most other portable Bluetooth speakers, but it’s really not that much heavier than my old Bose SoundDock that I lugged around for years (4.6 lbs. versus 6.6 lbs.).  

As for outdoor stereo pairing, it comes in handy at tailgates, or any other outdoor gathering at the beach, camping, poolside, firepits... and whether it’s a true stereo pair or just pairing in mono, the increased number of speakers (overall volume increase and increased listening area) is definitely welcome to a lot of folks who entertain outdoors.  

 

 

Just FYI, if you’re an android user, you can pair connect to two BT speakers at the same time for mono.  You wouldn’t need Sonos for this and your second speaker doesn’t even need to be a Move.    However, I can’t say I’ve tried the feature myself to see how well it works.

 

 

At any rate, hopefully the Sonos Powers-That-Be realize there’s a population of Move customers that are anxiously awaiting this feature.  I’m not an engineer so I have no idea the cost/difficulty of adding it via a software update..  

 

Thank you for not saying “it should be easy”. :smiley:   I read a lot of threads on here, and while there is some demand for this feature, I can’t say that it’s overwhelming to the point where Sonos is definitely losing significant sales because this feature is missing.

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Hey Danny - I have an iPhone (don’t judge me! Haha), but that Android feature sounds great.  Wish I had it!

Who knows how many sales they’re losing from it, as I think a lot of folks buy one Move and love it for what it can do, but refrain from purchasing a second one because of the lack of this feature.  Hard to tell, but for every comment on here from a person like me voicing a call for this feature, I have to imagine there are many many more out there who don’t take the time to leave a comment or even know about this forum, but feel the same way.   

Since so many other portable Bluetooth speakers do have pairing capability, a lot of consumers may just be buying those for that purpose, versus buying the Move. 

For me, the Move is hands down the best portable Bluetooth speaker on the market for sound quality and functionality (in WiFi mode), so I’ll continue to use it.  I just wish it checked ALL the boxes and could pair in Bluetooth mode… then we would be talking 5-stars, 10/10 rating.  Right now I give it a 4.5-star and 9/10 rating.  Which, yeah, is probably good enough for Sonos to not put the time/effort/$ into the upgrade from a profit standpoint.  But a guy can keep on wishing and hoping!  

 

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Well there was just an update to 12.2.4 and the Move was the only speaker which now shows that build number.  Maybe it has arrived?

I can’t find any real info on the 12.2.4 update.  One site mentioned a hardware update for the Move, but I have to imagine if stereo pairing with the Move was now possible via Bluetooth, it would be a loud announcement.  

It would be a large announcement, and much more likely to be a bigger version number jump, likely to 13.x. 

Anything with a small version number change, such as 12.2.3 to 12.2.4 is most likely be just minor bug fixes. 

Hey Danny - I have an iPhone (don’t judge me! Haha), but that Android feature sounds great.  Wish I had it!

Who knows how many sales they’re losing from it, as I think a lot of folks buy one Move and love it for what it can do, but refrain from purchasing a second one because of the lack of this feature.  Hard to tell, but for every comment on here from a person like me voicing a call for this feature, I have to imagine there are many many more out there who don’t take the time to leave a comment or even know about this forum, but feel the same way.   

Since so many other portable Bluetooth speakers do have pairing capability, a lot of consumers may just be buying those for that purpose, versus buying the Move. 

For me, the Move is hands down the best portable Bluetooth speaker on the market for sound quality and functionality (in WiFi mode), so I’ll continue to use it.  I just wish it checked ALL the boxes and could pair in Bluetooth mode… then we would be talking 5-stars, 10/10 rating.  Right now I give it a 4.5-star and 9/10 rating.  Which, yeah, is probably good enough for Sonos to not put the time/effort/$ into the upgrade from a profit standpoint.  But a guy can keep on wishing and hoping!  

 

 

Eh, I’ve never really felt the feature was missing for me, but that could very well be for my specific needs.  Part of that could be that when the Move came out, I already had all the rooms in my house covered, except for rooms I didn’t really need it.  My Move gets used mostly in the part of my yard that isn’t (yet) covered by outdoor speakers), and that’s in WiFi range already. And although I could use it as a pair, I’ve never thought the audio would be so much better that it’s worth $400 more dollars plus using two hands to carry it all.  That said, due to COVID, I have not taken away to the beach or anything like that much, where I might miss it.   Maye in the future, but not now.

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Hey Danny - I have an iPhone (don’t judge me! Haha), but that Android feature sounds great.  Wish I had it!

Who knows how many sales they’re losing from it, as I think a lot of folks buy one Move and love it for what it can do, but refrain from purchasing a second one because of the lack of this feature.  Hard to tell, but for every comment on here from a person like me voicing a call for this feature, I have to imagine there are many many more out there who don’t take the time to leave a comment or even know about this forum, but feel the same way.   

Since so many other portable Bluetooth speakers do have pairing capability, a lot of consumers may just be buying those for that purpose, versus buying the Move. 

For me, the Move is hands down the best portable Bluetooth speaker on the market for sound quality and functionality (in WiFi mode), so I’ll continue to use it.  I just wish it checked ALL the boxes and could pair in Bluetooth mode… then we would be talking 5-stars, 10/10 rating.  Right now I give it a 4.5-star and 9/10 rating.  Which, yeah, is probably good enough for Sonos to not put the time/effort/$ into the upgrade from a profit standpoint.  But a guy can keep on wishing and hoping!  

 

 

Eh, I’ve never really felt the feature was missing for me, but that could very well be for my specific needs.  Part of that could be that when the Move came out, I already had all the rooms in my house covered, except for rooms I didn’t really need it.  My Move gets used mostly in the part of my yard that isn’t (yet) covered by outdoor speakers), and that’s in WiFi range already. And although I could use it as a pair, I’ve never thought the audio would be so much better that it’s worth $400 more dollars plus using two hands to carry it all.  That said, due to COVID, I have not taken away to the beach or anything like that much, where I might miss it.   Maye in the future, but not now.

Yeah, if one isn’t taking the Move out of house WiFi range, then Bluetooth pairing isn’t a feature that would be missed.  I use it outdoors in my yard, as well, and it’s been great to have the flexibility to bring it to the front or backyard, depending where we are hanging out.  I had planned to install outdoor speakers at some point, but honestly I don’t see the need now that the Move is here.  I can just bring the Move(s) outside and place them anywhere I want, and they won’t stay outside, subjected to weather.  

This is all fine and good… but let’s not forget the Move is heavily marketed as a Bluetooth speaker for on-the-go listening, wherever you may be… out of WiFi range.  So for many of those consumers, the lack of Bluetooth pairing is a sorely missed feature.  Sure, during Covid times we all aren’t on-the-go as much, but normally I host a lot of tailgate parties, beach days, camping trips, beach fire pits nights… and having 2+ Moves will make a big difference in the overall music listening experience for my crew.  

I just purchased the move (with no intentions of buying another to create stereo) and I love it. Back when the play 1’s first came out I had purchased it to take to a beach house we rented expecting it to have WiFi. Unfortunately it didn’t but I was able to create a WiFi hotspot with my iPhone and set the Pay 1’s (I have 2) up as a new system and it worked in stereo just like it would at my house on my WiFi. My question is…. has anyone tried it with the Moves? I don’t see why it wouldn’t work just the same.  

Sonos doesn’t ‘know’ it is on a hotspot, all it knows is it is on a network, and eventually how quickly it can get data. But yes, a pair of Moves can be set up on a WiFi network. 

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That’s a question that I have… can I connect my Sonos Move to someone else’s Sonos WiFi network?  Of course my 2 Moves are currently associated to and connected to my home Sonos WiFi network, but can I take my Moves over to a buddy’s house for instance and locate and connect it to his WiFi Network while still having them associated (but not connected to, because I’m out of range), with my home Sonos WiFi network? 

Or in your example of connecting to a WiFi hotspot via my iPhone, while still being associated with my home Sonos WiFi network? 

I guess what I’m asking, can you have multiple Sonos networks that you can connect to, depending which one you are at, without having to detach from and set everything up again on your main home Sonos WiFi network when you disconnect from a different Sonos WiFi network?  

You can do it, you would just have to delete the existing setup and setup as new. I was able to do it on my hotspot I setup on my iPhone and it worked flawlessly. Only downside is if your network sucks for streaming music. 

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You can do it, you would just have to delete the existing setup and setup as new. I was able to do it on my hotspot I setup on my iPhone and it worked flawlessly. Only downside is if your network sucks for streaming music. 

Yeah, plus it sounds like a pain to have to delete your existing setup, only to have to reload and personalize that again when you get home. 

It’s too bad you can’t have a few different Sonos WiFi network profiles on the Sonos app that you could toggle between and could connect and configure to different WiFi networks, depending which particular WiFi network you happen to be using at any given time.   

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I would really like this feature to be added too, I watch YouTube videos on my MacBook with audio sent to my Move, and since airplay 2 has significant delay and rarely lip syncs I use Bluetooth. Would purchase a second Move if stereo pairing with Bluetooth was available.