Is it time for another hardware controller?

My opinion is that Sonos realized that the software change pace outstripped the ability for any single device to maintain the appropriate capability, by being locked in to a single CPU and memory constraints. It would be much easier to do what they are currently doing, relying on someone else (Android, Apple) to keep the ever increasing pace of those issues in mobile devices, and just develop for what the current standard is. 

It would be a challenge to predict in three years exactly what requirements the Sonos software needs from a controller perspective. Why not count on a third party device? 

Secondarily, Sonos has much more expertise in sound reproduction devices than they do in the creation of a controller. The investment in such a ongoing team would probably be considerable. 

I hear what you are saying.

But the situation now is different to when the CR200 was pulled.   Very  high powered devices now are abundant, and cheap from a no-name Chinese supplier ready for rebadging, and more than capable of running a single tasked app like S2.  Android is free, and the Sonos app already written.  Just tweak the hardware with some stop / play buttons, have the device boot into the app, and suddenly you have a very nice controller for much less than what it cost to sell the CR200.

And the cost to maintain the app for a known hardware device would be far less than maintaining compatibility across numerous versions of IOS and Android, with different screen sizes / resolutions etc.  

The elegance of the CR200 I guess has , for me, not faded.  It terms of overall experience it just seems to me streets ahead of what we have now.  Love Sonos, just  not the app !!!

And whatever this ‘new’ version is will be obsolete within x months. For the reasons I listed. 

I get the appeal, it just doesn’t seem to make any economic sense for Sonos to be in that market. It isn’t their ‘lane’. 

Sadly, I think this is a great idea & I agree that it makes no economic sense. 

We kept using our original CR100s until mid-2020 when somebody unfortunately did a software update.  They were clunky & outdated things (from the pre-iPhone Age of Gadgets - palm pilots, pagers, Blackberries, digital cameras) but for 14 years they were the best things about our Sonos system (which I generally love).  They were really well designed and built (you could see that when you took them apart to replace the battery), and far better than any phone app - came on quickly with their motion sensors, always in the same place in the house, always charged in their cradles, always worked, easy to use for small kids & technophobes and visitors who had never seen a Sonos (our CR100s probably created about five new Sonos customers), had dedicated volume and mute buttons - you can just hit one physical button when the phone rings - and great alarm clock functionality with a physical snooze bar, etc. 

But, back to the topic, I think Sonos would only do a dedicated controller unless it would be a really distinctive and high-quality one, fitting its brand.  Such a thing would probably cost $400-500 and possibly be obsolete in 5 years given hardware limitations.  Since the iPhone app came out in 2008, I think people - myself included - would not pay that when you can have a smartphone app that is 75% as good as the CR100 was, for free.  So no market there.

Why on earth would a dedicated controller cost $500?? You can get laptops that cost far less than that!

My point was that the hardware has already been ‘done’, in as much as Chinese factories are churning out Android compatible tablets ready for rebranding for small sums of money (Amazon sell theirs here in the UK for £50 and probably still manage to make a small profit).  And the software has already been ‘done’.  It’s approx 150MB and won’t strain any hardware out there for years to come.

So rejig the basic tablet with a  few buttons for play/stop/volume, rebrand it ‘Sonos’, preload the software they have already  written and sell it for £$150 and still make a profit.  
 

This is entirely Sonos’s ‘lane’ — they are predominantly a hardware company.  They don’t make any money on their software at all, but they could  do if they sold it preloaded on a tablet.  
 

I totally agree it didn’t make sense before when the hardware was very expensive.  But it isn’t now, it’s incredibly cheap.  It’s already being made.   A dedicated Sonos controller for £$150 —  really, you wouldn’t buy one ???

Spouse has finger issues that make touch controlled devices a problem, a controller with real buttons would be perfect for her needs.

Pretty much a CR-100 but with up-down buttons instead of the tracking surface.

We LOVED our CR100s and used them all day long (until they were purposely BRICKED). 

Seems the S2 app on iOS and Android is even more sluggish, ugly, and awkward to navigate than the S1 and certainly less useful than the PC desktop app which this household prefers to the clunky iOS app. 

Sonos has to get better at the user interface level.  The apps aren’t even consistent in that regard across platforms. 

We’d LOVE a dedicated controller. 

Nailed it with the key benefits.

• instant on
• fast response
• dedicated volume/mute buttons
• always Charged, in its cradle.

not flat, in the car, attached to ear, doing something else. In terms of use the controller beat the app hands down. But I don’t see another hardware controller coming soon, or ever. 

Lowest common denominator wins and they are now competing with Bluetooth speakers, or Amazon echos for the volume market. They will ultimately lose that fight to Google/Amazon. The whole house top end system is not their target market anymore. 
 

I’d agree they could utilise a donor hardware piece to reduce cost, and provide an upgrade path with updated chipsets. But don’t think it likely. I suspect that more control will be handed over to the likes of Spotify and they will become just another hardware platform with no real USP. 

Yup, once Sonos went public the primary focus shifted to the shareholder (and executive bonuses) not the paying consumer.  This all-to-typical short-sighted/quarterly earning-focused approach often diminish once great product/tech/consumer-focused companies.   Yes some stay afloat and even prosper, but many just die on the vine once they jilt their loyal consumers and forget their core competency. 

Sure, Sonos reported stronger than expected quarterly profit… that happens when you cut your staff, support, services, and software dev to the bone, then you’re bound to see good (short-term) results and fat bonuses. 

The S2 app is a slow, ugly, counter-intuitive interface to some amazing hardware. 

Hope Sonos can catch that once great whole-home, quality audio experience (I sunk over $10 into over the last 10 years for).  Hope may spring eternal, but patience wanes.  

I find the S2 app great. It’s blazing fast and responsive for me. Easy to navigate and don’t mind the colour theme. 
 

What device are you using to navigate? Could it be your wifi that’s slow?