Why No Bluetooth Stereo on Move and Roam?

Show first post
This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

109 replies

melvimbe

There are many of us that feel your pain.  Some say they don’t think this is a widespread issue with the Roam and Move.  The number of frustrations posted on various sites say otherwise.   The only question is (which no one on this forum seems to know), why would Sonos do this?  It’s deliberate, yes, but a huge oversight on speakers that are marketed as being able to stereo pair, and also marketed as portable with Bluetooth capability.  It must have added some sort of complexity from a financial or engineering standpoint.  

As you’re implying, I don’t think a logical argument could be made that Sonos didn’t know this feature would be desired, or that inclusion wouldn’t make it a significantly better product.  It’s something people expected with the Move that never happened then either.  I can’t imagine there is a deliberate reason for leaving the feature off.  More people would buy a 2nd Roam with this feature, and I can’t imagine leaving the feature off somehow generate sales of other Sonos speakers. If there is a financial reason, it would have to be cost of producing the Roam in hardware or development costs.

I know it sounds simple from the outside looking in, but I really don’t know the complexity of a device that can communicate with multiple devices through WiFi and receive a bluetooth signal….and then send that signal to a nearby partner speaker.  I would guess that it requires the ability to send the signal via bluetooth, as I imagine other speakers do it.  Maybe Sonos intended to do it with WiFi, since they have the hardware, and that’s taken more to develop. Don’t know.

 

edit:  I should add that although I want bluetooth stereo pairing, I personally find it more cumbersome to deal with de-pairing of my Roam speakers every time I want to use one of them on bluetooth.  It messes up the connection with Alexa and other smart home settings to the point where I’m considering just never using them for bluetooth, or never strereo pairing them for WiFi.

Danny
T
Userlevel 2

Thank You for the response 

L
Userlevel 3
Badge

I was going to buy 2 Sonos Roam speakers for stereo pairing over Bluetooth but when I found out that's not possible I was like WTF. Their are plenty of practical reasons why you need stereo pairing over Bluetooth instead of WI FI because WI FI isn't available everywhere but Bluetooth always is. I was wanting to replace my Dennons but at least I can pair them in stereo using my Bluetooth. I own the Arc with 2 One SL s and absolutely love them but I really wanted 2 Sonos Roams for the Portibility factor however without stereo pairing over Bluetooth your stuck with stereo pairing over WI FI only which sucks. Reality check WI FI isn’t portable  but Bluetooth is .I was wanting to take 2 Roams every time I went to a park etc.  When stereo pairing over Bluetooth is supported only then will I buy 2 Sonos Roam speakers. 

There are many of us that feel your pain.  Some say they don’t think this is a widespread issue with the Roam and Move.  The number of frustrations posted on various sites say otherwise.   The only question is (which no one on this forum seems to know), why would Sonos do this?  It’s deliberate, yes, but a huge oversight on speakers that are marketed as being able to stereo pair, and also marketed as portable with Bluetooth capability.  It must have added some sort of complexity from a financial or engineering standpoint.  

T
Userlevel 2

I was going to buy 2 Sonos Roam speakers for stereo pairing over Bluetooth but when I found out that's not possible I was like WTF. Their are plenty of practical reasons why you need stereo pairing over Bluetooth instead of WI FI because WI FI isn't available everywhere but Bluetooth always is. I was wanting to replace my Dennons but at least I can pair them in stereo using my Bluetooth. I own the Arc with 2 One SL s and absolutely love them but I really wanted 2 Sonos Roams for the Portibility factor however without stereo pairing over Bluetooth your stuck with stereo pairing over WI FI only which sucks. Reality check WI FI isn’t portable  but Bluetooth is .I was wanting to take 2 Roams every time I went to a park etc.  When stereo pairing over Bluetooth is supported only then will I buy 2 Sonos Roam speakers. 

K

 if one day I’m able to Bluetooth pair them, the 10 second walk out of my house to my vehicle won’t prevent me from bringing them along to tailgates, beach bonfires, camping or any other outdoor group gathering where I provide the tunes.  

I did exactly that when I travelled extensively in the pre Covid times with my mini rig portable BT speakers. They do wireless stereo pairing via bluetooth and when it works fine, it makes a big difference to the listening experience even outdoors. But here is the thing with them - the bluetooth pairing can be glitchy at times and perhaps that is a bluetooth limitation. 

J

I have no doubt that there will be potential purchasers who don't buy the Roam because this feature is missing. Just as there would have been those who would not have bought it if it hadn't had Airplay, or autotrueplay, or the ability to bring Bluetooth to the rest of the system, or its waterproof capabilities, or sound quality, or…

Nobody would vote against stereo over Bluetooth. All things being equal, having it would be better than not having it.

But Sonos must have considered including this feature, alongside otber features, and decided the development budget was best spent elsewhere. 

I have no way of knowing if that was a good judgement or a bad one, but it has to have been a deliberate one.

I don't imagine Sonos expect to capture 100% of the Bluetooth speaker market. You can't please all of the people all of the time.

G
Userlevel 3
Badge +2

The question that really matters, surely, is: "For how many potential purchasers is lack of stereo pairing over Bluetooth a deal breaker?"

I would venture to suggest that the answer is "hardly any".

If so, Sonos' decision not to have this feature is neither embarrassing nor inexplicable. 

Maybe so.  That said, I currently own 20 zones of Sonos gear spread over three systems, and absolutely love every single one of them.  As for the Roam, I’d have already ordered two (and probably four for two systems) if Bluetooth stereo pairing was available, but for now I’ll be ordering zero and just staying with one of the other portable Bluetooth speaker manufacturers that supports this feature (which is most of them).  

George
L
Userlevel 3
Badge

I posted on this issue a couple months ago:  

 

I continue to see posts related to this issue, so there appears to be a growing number of Move customers that would like to see Bluetooth pairing added to the available features.   

What I haven’t seen is Sonos officially comment on the missing feature; only opinions of posters on this forum.   

Clearly, there must be a good reason why they didn’t include it with the initial release, and continue to ignore the request from a growing number of Move consumers. 

It would be nice to hear from someone within the company versus a bunch of speculation on why it hasn’t been done, and if it ever will be.

I own two Moves and occasionally use them both via WiFi around my house (outdoors and in rooms without permanent speakers installed).   However, I frequently use one of my Moves away from home via Bluetooth and would use the other paired alongside it if I could!  

 

You must have some beefy biceps if you are regularly taking two of them away from home ;)

Haha - well I’m NOT regularly taking two of them away from home because I can’t Bluetooth pair them. ;)  However, if one day I’m able to Bluetooth pair them, the 10 second walk out of my house to my vehicle won’t prevent me from bringing them along to tailgates, beach bonfires, camping or any other outdoor group gathering where I provide the tunes.  Two fit nicely in a small backpack.  If 6 lbs. is too heavy for someone to carry, I suggest subscribing to some lightweight exercise.  Haha    I wonder what those that complain about the weight of the Move do when they have to carry a bag of groceries from their vehicle into their house.   It’s all perspective :) 

R

Hi,

 

Main reason why I am interest in Bluetooth Stereo is because it improves sound quality for video calls in these COVID times and 1 Sonos Roam is great in terms of sound quality but 2 in Stereo would be better + limited (quality) wifi coverage in the garden for my Moves … Using wifi based speaker in Zoom/Teams etc. setting creates echo because of delay (latency) while you do not have that issue with bluetooth. Would be great to have. That being said - both Move and Roam are top of their class speakers.

Grts,

RB

 
L
Badge +1

I posted on this issue a couple months ago:  

 

I continue to see posts related to this issue, so there appears to be a growing number of Move customers that would like to see Bluetooth pairing added to the available features.   

What I haven’t seen is Sonos officially comment on the missing feature; only opinions of posters on this forum.   

Clearly, there must be a good reason why they didn’t include it with the initial release, and continue to ignore the request from a growing number of Move consumers. 

It would be nice to hear from someone within the company versus a bunch of speculation on why it hasn’t been done, and if it ever will be.

I own two Moves and occasionally use them both via WiFi around my house (outdoors and in rooms without permanent speakers installed).   However, I frequently use one of my Moves away from home via Bluetooth and would use the other paired alongside it if I could!  

 

You must have some beefy biceps if you are regularly taking two of them away from home ;)

L
Userlevel 3
Badge

I posted on this issue a couple months ago:  

 

I continue to see posts related to this issue, so there appears to be a growing number of Move customers that would like to see Bluetooth pairing added to the available features.   

What I haven’t seen is Sonos officially comment on the missing feature; only opinions of posters on this forum.   

Clearly, there must be a good reason why they didn’t include it with the initial release, and continue to ignore the request from a growing number of Move consumers. 

It would be nice to hear from someone within the company versus a bunch of speculation on why it hasn’t been done, and if it ever will be.

I own two Moves and occasionally use them both via WiFi around my house (outdoors and in rooms without permanent speakers installed).   However, I frequently use one of my Moves away from home via Bluetooth and would use the other paired alongside it if I could!  

A
Userlevel 3
Badge +2

I am happy with my new Roam Wifi stereo setup in my working from home desk setup.

But I would also like a bluetooth stereo option.  

Wifi stereo demonstrates that two Roams are better than one for sound quality and volume.

Also the competition supports stereo speakers (Bose Revolve comes to mind).

J

Sonos have never yet allowed different speakers to be stereo paired, even on WIFI. There are, apparently third party workarounds.

Stereo pairing a Roam and a Move is likely to sound terrible, IMO. A travel router and a battery pack won't be sufficient to bring that about.

H
Userlevel 1

If Sonos do add this feature they will do so for 2 Roams and/or 2 Moves. 

As you have bought a Roam and a Move, are you hoping that these will one day be stereo pairable? If so, that is very very unlikely, either in WiFi or Bluetooth modes.

Yea. Was hoping it would work just like my Bose micro and Bose revolve. They could pair with Bluetooth. I will have to get a travel router and a battery pack to accomplish this with Sonos I guess. 

melvimbe

There are significant technical differences in the capabilities of a Sonos soundbar and any Sonos speaker that is designed for multiroom music, not TV use.  I am sure Sonos designs its products with the hope of maximising sales and profits.  And if it fails to meet consumer needs it won’t make any money long term.  We’ll have to see.  I suspect the market for two Roams as main TV speakers is not large enough to be on their radar. 

 

I have to agree with this.  While there is logic to the argument that Sonos doesn’t want their customers to use a pair of bluetooth speakers for TV instead of a beam or arc, it is not all the information we have.  As pointed out, many people simply don’t want to go with a bluetooth solution for TV.  Then there is the cost factor. Although you get the benefit of having portable speakers with the pair of Moves/Roam option (if it were available) you aren’t saving money over a Beam or Arc respectively, and you aren’t getting an option to add surrounds or sub in the future.  As well, for the people that do want to use bluetooth, there are other bluetooth options available, and they are likely less interested in Sonos whole home audio in general.  Last and perhaps most importantly, it’s hard to make an argument that the customers gained by allowing bluetooth stereo pairing (for those who want it away from home) is less than those that would not be a Sonos soundbar in favor of bluetooth stereo pairing.

Danny
J

If Sonos do add this feature they will do so for 2 Roams and/or 2 Moves. 

As you have bought a Roam and a Move, are you hoping that these will one day be stereo pairable? If so, that is very very unlikely, either in WiFi or Bluetooth modes.

H
Userlevel 1

Just upgraded my Bose portable speakers which had this feature. Bought a roam and a move assuming they would work the same way… I’m a Sonos fan and this is a bit of a head scratcher.  Please provide an update that will support this. 

J

There are significant technical differences in the capabilities of a Sonos soundbar and any Sonos speaker that is designed for multiroom music, not TV use.  I am sure Sonos designs its products with the hope of maximising sales and profits.  And if it fails to meet consumer needs it won’t make any money long term.  We’ll have to see.  I suspect the market for two Roams as main TV speakers is not large enough to be on their radar. 

M

lol I’m not confused at all you think everyone thinks like you or lives the same lifestyle as you ? Some people would gladly use two Roam or two moves as Stereo speakers to get better sound then their tv speakers have to offer instead of large sound bars but fire stick roku or whatever other streaming device or certain smart tv don’t offer WiFi streaming they only have Bluetooth option and WiF streaming is out of question. I would love to use 2 Roam or move(Move especially) in a Small living place instead of sound bar not everyone wants surround sound or large sound. stereo is sufficient for a lot of people and that would make people skip purchasing sound bars. Then again that’s just probably A reason Sonos didn’t put Stereo pairing feature in sure other business and profit related reasons. Definitely don’t think it has to do with technical issues. Not all the people in the world need soundbars for the most fancy setups. As a company sometimes you have make decisions that one product  doesn’t cannibalize other products in your catalog. 

J

If Sonos wanted to add stereo pairing they mostly likely can make it happen. But I have a feeling that they don’t do it  because it would hurt their other products especially their soundbars. Most likely a business decision ! 

This is plainly nonsensical.  You would only be using a soundbar on home WiFi and the Roam can be stereo paired on WiFi.  I think you must be confusing this issue with the fact that the Roam cannot be used as surround speakers, which is a completely different issue with totally different rationale.

M

If Sonos wanted to add stereo pairing they mostly likely can make it happen. But I have a feeling that they don’t do it  because it would hurt their other products especially their soundbars. Most likely a business decision ! 

J

To be constructive…

If I want stereo sound from my Roams away from any WiFi, I will use my phone as a hotspot and my £50 Amazon Fire tablet as a Sonos controller.

I am not suggesting that this will suit everyone who wants stereo when not connected to their home WiFi (or their holiday home WiFi, or friend’s WiFi, or whatever WiFi).  In fact, I am unlikely to use this myself, as it would be a bit antisocial on the beach, but some others may wish to try this approach if they have a use case for it.

J

Why is it unhelpful to point out from long experience that a general conclusion is false?This is a public forum not a private conversation with Sonos.

 

A
Userlevel 3

@John B You have made 16,000 replies which hopefully helped a lot of people but you are not helping with this discussion, that is why I said you must be trolling. Your last comment from 20 minutes ago on an unrelated thread is also not helpful but merely diminishes the frustrations of another user: “You had a bad experience. Every speaker I have added over the last 10 years has taken a minute or two and been trouble free. That includes a gen 3 Sub. Whatever the reason for your bad experience, a sample of 1 is not a logical justification for your assumption that it is always that way.” Why is this a helpful comment?

J

@AndrewJ . Why is it trolling to express an opinion different from yours? I haven't suggested that you have no right to express an opinion different from mine. I have not made any personally critical comments. 

And you are of course entitled not to buy a product that does not meet your needs.  And of course to explain your reasons. 

Maybe Sonos have made a stupid mistake.  I think it unlikely.  Please explain why expressing that view would be trolling. 

Terms & ConditionsCookie settings