Move Stereo Pair Bluetooth problem

  • 8 December 2019
  • 49 replies
  • 7342 views
H
Userlevel 2

Hi,

I have two Move-s in stereo pair which are working great.

I would sometimes like to use one of the speakers in bluetooth mode (connected to Iphone). When I use left speaker (from stereo pair) in bluetooth mode everything works great. However, when I try to use right speaker in bluetooth mode, it connects to Iphone, but no there is no sound.

 

I have tried to factory reset that speaker, and the problem persisted. I have also tried to separate stereo pair, then both speakers were working in bluetooth mode (separately of course) without a problem. I have also tried to switch left/right speakers when creating stereo pair, and then the other speaker was not working in bluetooth mode.

 

Does anybody have similar experience? Is it a software bug?

 

Many thanks for all the help!

 

Kind regards,

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49 replies

R
Userlevel 2
Badge

When are you going to update your Sonos Move firmware so they can stereo pair over Bluetooth?

Or is this not possible?

Please advise?

I
Userlevel 2

Sonos, another hand-raise for Bluetooth pairing, please!  I just bought two and can’t believe you can’t pair them. I have friends with JBLs that could pair 5 years ago!  This should be standard for a $800 speaker pair. 

S
Userlevel 1

This is lame. I had a pair ultimate ears speakers $100/each from 5 years ago and their app would allow you to play 2 Bluetooth speakers as a stereo pair. This is could easily be done if Sonos really cared about the user experience. 

S
Userlevel 1

I had the same issue with one of my speakers not playing in Bluetooth, I realise that you cannot pair two speakers in Bluetooth mode but assumed it would play in Bluetooth mode - only one selected for this - but it didn’t!! I removed the pairing in WiFi  mode and they then play ok in Bluetooth mode. It is a real shame you cannot pair in Bluetooth mode, I have other Bluetooth speakers which I pair as this is really useful for me, I was hoping my Sonos would also have this feature - can it be added please Sonos!!! 

I
Userlevel 1

 

This is lame. I had a pair ultimate ears speakers $100/each from 5 years ago and their app would allow you to play 2 Bluetooth speakers as a stereo pair. This is could easily be done if Sonos really cared about the user experience. 

I totally agree with scottjbco. Old UE speakers can be in a stereo pair for many years. Get your act together Sonos and fix the software on the Move. Surely this is not a hard thing to do???

N

The fact we cannot bluetooth pair is keeping me from buying a 2nd MOVE. Bring in that option and you will have one more MOVE moved off the store shelf.

S

Sonos,


As other users above have noted, its kind of ridiculous that you cannot pair 2+ Sonos Move speakers in bluetooth mode for stereo sound.  I hear that this feature is available on the new, lesser expensive Roam speaker…...why wouldn’t the Move be able to do the same thing?  $399.99 is a serious amount of money for a speaker that has less features than ones costing significantly less.  I almost feel ripped off for buying a Move.


​​​​​​​

T
Userlevel 1

When are you going to update your Sonos Move firmware so they can stereo pair over Bluetooth?

Or is this not possible?

Please advise?

Would be nice to hear if it's planned, or not planned and not lilkely to happen.

R
Userlevel 2
Badge

Are Sonos committed to finding a solution for providing bluetooth stereo pairing whilst using 2 x Sonos Move's?

G
Userlevel 7

@Jukkaw Two Roams cannot be paired as a stereo pair in Bluetooth mode.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
melvimbe

@GuitarSuperstar ah ok, yes, I can _group_ them, but no stereo, and as you say, no surround.  To my surprise, it does work with the “One”s.  W-T-actual-F?  The expensive ones can’t do it, but the cheaper / smaller ones do?  You’d expect the bigger ones an “upgrade”, not an expensive feature downgrade that just has a few more watts.  wtf.  Really disappointing.

 

Being able to play as a stereo pair and being able to play surround sound channels are two completely different things.   The reason why Sonos Ones can be used as surrounds, and Moves cannot, has nothing to do with price, but with how were they designed for the specific set of features.  Moves were designed to cover a wide space, which is not what you want from a surround speaker.  As well, the Move connects directly over WiFi to your router, not part of Sonos network, because the Move is portable.  It won’t be able to connect directly to your Beam the way Sonos does.  Likewise, Sonos One doesn’t have the same audio capabilities as the Move, lacks battery, bluetooth, and auto trueplay.  Each speaker is the right speaker for the particular need, regardless of price.  The Move isn’t an upgrade over the Sonos One.

Danny
W

@melvimbe can’t find any features that other BT speakers haven’t, really; the most important obviously being able to pair & play from multiple speakers at once (Boom, JBL, etc.), mono or steoero, don’t care really. 

In any case, that really sucks: Even in the shop they advertise stereo, and then WiFi+Bluetooth further down, and nowhere it says “*** BUUUT IF YOU USE BLUETOOTH YOU’LL ONLY EVER GONNA BE ABLE TO PLAY FROM ONE SPEAKER”.

Well, whatever, looks like we’re not gonna solve it here.  Hope some of the Sonos folks read this.

 

Cheers,

Wolf

 

melvimbe

@melvimbe can’t find any features that other BT speakers haven’t, really; the most important obviously being able to pair & play from multiple speakers at once (Boom, JBL, etc.), mono or steoero, don’t care really. 

 

Huh? A portable bluetooth speaker that connects to a wireless home audio system is most certainly not common for the typical wireless bluetooth speaker.  Not to mention voice assistant capabilities, auto trueplay, airplay compatiblity, etc.  I get that these may not be as important to you and others as bluetooth stereo pairing, but it certainly could have an impact on why/how the feature is not on the Move or Beam, but is on other bluetooth only portable speakers.

 

In any case, that really sucks: Even in the shop they advertise stereo, and then WiFi+Bluetooth further down, and nowhere it says “*** BUUUT IF YOU USE BLUETOOTH YOU’LL ONLY EVER GONNA BE ABLE TO PLAY FROM ONE SPEAKER”.

Well, whatever, looks like we’re not gonna solve it here.  Hope some of the Sonos folks read this.

 

Cheers,

Wolf

 

I generally think that’s it’s rather important to research products and avoid assumptions whenever possible. Know that features you expect and make sure you get explicit confirmation that the feature is there.  It’s too easy to do research and too many different products out there with different features. 

That said, people are not always even aware of the assumptions they are making, and Sonos could do a bit better to make some statements about the more common assumptions, like stereo pairing, without saying anything negative about their own product.  Seems like meeting in the middle  would be the best way to avoid customer frustration about missing features after they’ve bought the product.

Danny
N
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

I now have spent 800.00 on something I did not need and was misled on.


​​​​​​I love the sound that they produce while hooked to WI-FI but they knowingly hid the fact that it will not do a stereo pair while on Bluetooth.


Who misled you?

 

How did they hide the limitation? The FAQ’s say:

Can I stereo pair Move?

Yes. You can pair two Moves on WiFi for stereo sound.

Can Move stereo pair or group while in Bluetooth?

No. Move will only stereo pair or group with your Sonos system when connected to WiFi.


How is that misleading or hidden?

J

Looking forward to new firmware to resolve this issue. 

Have you received or verified any conclusive confirmation that this will be resolved in the next firmware release?

I have not but I want it badly. I should return my Moves cause they are currently useless and a waste of $800. 

O

I wish I have read this before I bought the 2nd Move. Sigh! The Move delivers excellent sound from my Sony Walkman via BT mode. I thought it would be an excellent idea to listen to all my CD songs (2000 CDs collections in total) stored in my Walkman. So, without given much thought, I just ordered the 2nd Move (4 months after I got my first Move - in February 2021). To my horror, I realised that it can't be paired in BT stedeo mode. I called the distributor to return but to no avail. My 2nd Move costed me S$729.00 and it is sitting on my shelf collecting dust. I think the company can easily develop this capability as this technology is not new in the market, and also if Sonos has the ability to develop such a good speaker, to me is the best BT sound I have heard so far, it is a piece of cake for Sonos to update the software to enable 2 Move speakers to deliver stedeo sound via BT mode. I really hope it will happen soon. Keeping my fingers crossed. I am keeping my faith with Sonos that they will not disappoint me. Really hope I can use my 2nd Move speaker soon. 

O
Userlevel 1
Badge

Bluetooth stereo pairing is such a strange omission for the Move and Roam, would love to see it implemented. Hopefully it will be done at some point, Sonos has actually been pretty good at listening to customer requests and adding missing features to their products this far.

G
Userlevel 7

@stemur1 Two Roams cannot be paired as a stereo pair in Bluetooth mode.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
W

@GuitarSuperstar ah ok, yes, I can _group_ them, but no stereo, and as you say, no surround.  To my surprise, it does work with the “One”s.  W-T-actual-F?  The expensive ones can’t do it, but the cheaper / smaller ones do?  You’d expect the bigger ones an “upgrade”, not an expensive feature downgrade that just has a few more watts.  wtf.  Really disappointing.

melvimbe

@GuitarSuperstar @melvimbe remains the subject of the inability of the Moves to play on more than one speaker when connected via Bluetooth.  That is also by design?  If any cheapo bluetooth box can do it (in stereo, independent of Android or IOs), I’d expect Sonos can develop that and send it as a firmware update.   But apparently it is cheaper to send you guys here to argue away all of the features...

 

You brought grouping the Move with other speakers (rooms) or using them as surround.  I don’t know why you’re annoyed that people addressed those questions and statements you made about it.

Regarding the specific original thread topic regarding stereo pairing of Moves, I have no idea why it’s not a current feature.  I could speculate, based on other features the Move has but other bluetooth speakers do not, but there’s not much point to that.  I have no idea if the feature can be added via firmware.   The Move doesn’t have bluetooth stereo pairing, and it understandable that customers want that feature.  If it’s more important than being able to play as part of the Sonos speaker system, then people should definitely buy a different speaker.

No one was arguing away a feature.  I and others have just been explaining what Sonos can and cannot do since there have been questions, unclear, or inaccurate statements throughout this thread.

 

Danny
J

Looking forward to new firmware to resolve this issue. 

B
Userlevel 1

I would not have bought my first MOVE speaker or the second MOVE speaker later if I knew it could not form a true stereo pair while in Bluetooth. I now have spent 800.00 on something I did not need and was misled on. And it was not easy to find out that Bluetooth pairing did not work after hours of trying. I am not very happy with the deliberate hiding of this by SONUS. I love the sound that they produce while hooked to WI-FI but they knowingly hid the fact that it will not do a stereo pair while on Bluetooth. JUST WRONG! Shareholder/Stock price over customers does not work in the long run. SAD AND DISAPOINTED.

R

Correct the Bluetooth stereo pairing and I’ll buy a 2nd Move. (Android user)

A

My first post - I have two Moves which I use as a a stereo pair. I sometimes use one of them in Bluetooth mode - I found that when I forgot to unpair the the stereo pair before switching one to Bluetooth, my system went crazy - several speakers (I have about a dozen) dropped in and out of my network, and software updates failed. Maybe this is something that everyone already knows, but I recommend unpairing the Moves from each other before switching either to Bluetooth mode. Since I have done that, no problem.

W

Can they at least both be paired and BOTH play mono sound?  From what I read here that‘s not possible!?!  Wtf Sonos, I spent a lot of money because so far you produced decent speakers, but now this!  Incompatibility to your own other products, why?!?  The Beam & Sub3 I have are in the same room as the Moves stereo pair, but they don‘t work together.  I‘m really shocked.  Had I known I had gone Bose.  I hope this gets added soon as a software update.  What‘s the point of having 2 moves but then over Blutetooth you can only ever only use one?!?

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