Why No Bluetooth Stereo on Move and Roam?

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109 replies

P

Sorry I'm late to the party.  Just wanted to add my voice in favor of the roam's stereo pairing over bluetooth.

My usecase:  I use a pair of roams in my bedroom at home using wifi.  (With two other rooms equiped with play one's and a play bar).  Half my days are spent away from home in a camper with no wifi.  (Hotspot + additional device as control not an option).  Would be nice to listen in stereo in the field as well as home.

My wireless earbuds do it.  Don't see why this is difficult for such an established audio company already pushing the technological boundaries.

P
Userlevel 1

This is an incredible product that lets itself down shockingly on this one point. I bought two speakers to put on our boat and on holiday home garden where there is no wifi. So disappointed to discover no stereo bluetooth pairing. What’s so annoying is that this is a simple software update presumably. It really coloured my relationship with the brand after me being blown away by how good the product was. Get on with it Sonos! Write some code, test it, push it out! 

 

I would be curious to see some information that shows how hardware that was built and designed to work as a mono speaker via bluetooth can easily be converted over to work as a stereo pair via a software update.  I’m not saying it’s not possible, just don’t think I can assume that it’s an easy code fix scenario.  And I certainly don’t know enough about bluetooth transmission/receiving.

I said ‘presumably’ because if Sonos released this product without the possibility of this while simultaneously trying to win the category of mobile speakers where the other top competitors do offer stereo pairing via Bluetooth...well then that’s even worse. Eitherway, the engineers facing the challenge should be more transparent with customers so we know eitherway because clearly a lot of non-technical customers are purchasing it on the assumption this is the case, wouldn’t you agree? 

V
Userlevel 3

Buying new pair of speakers for portable use.

C’mon Sonos, still no stereo pair on bluetooth Roam? Dealbreaker for me :-(

Gonna throw my bucks to Flare 2 most probably..

C

Count me in the camp of disappointed.  I’m a HUGE SONOS user.  I have all KINDS of sonos products around my house and backyard (Ones, playbar, playsub, Play:1s, Play:3s, Connects, connect:amps, etc).  I bought these cause I’m a believer in the SONOS family of products.  I bought them as a speaker pair for my office (not home office) and was so disappointed that they don’t work as a bluetooth stereo pair.  They won’t work on my office wifi either cause “guest networks aren’t supported”.  Which means I have to set up a rogue network on my own to get it to work, and then, of course, they wouldn’t work on my home network.

So, I bought two BOSE Soundlink Revolves… they work effortlessly as a bluetooth stereo pair.  I was ready to give my money and allegience to Sonos here, but they are getting returned, and Bose can take my money.  So bummed.

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.

melvimbe

 

I would be curious to see some information that shows how hardware that was built and designed to work as a mono speaker via bluetooth can easily be converted over to work as a stereo pair via a software update.  I’m not saying it’s not possible, just don’t think I can assume that it’s an easy code fix scenario.  And I certainly don’t know enough about bluetooth transmission/receiving.

I said ‘presumably’ because if Sonos released this product without the possibility of this while simultaneously trying to win the category of mobile speakers where the other top competitors do offer stereo pairing via Bluetooth...well then that’s even worse.

 

 

In a way, yes.  You could make a similar argument for other speakers though.  A bluetooth speaker that can’t be used as a WiFi speaker doesn’t compare to Sonos.    It really comes down to what features are more important to you, being part of the Sonos system or bluetooth stereo pairing...if both isn’t a viable option.  Again though, I don’t want to assume anything either way. I have thought about some of the technical and functional complications that would need to be worked around, that I don’t think exists with normal bluetooth speakers, but it’s really neither here or there.

 

Eitherway, the engineers facing the challenge should be more transparent with customers so we know eitherway because clearly a lot of non-technical customers are purchasing it on the assumption this is the case, wouldn’t you agree? 

 

I’m sure you mean the marketing department, as the engineers don’t decide how to communicate with customers.  But anyway, I see two locations on the Roam product page (currently) where it states it does not do stereo pairing.  One in the FAQ and once in a link labeled “WiFi and Bluetooth Features”.  How hard Sonos needs to try to dispel assumptions is a debatable topic.  It should be mentioned for sure, but it also shouldn’t be part of the main marketing slogan either. Highlighting all that a product  won’t do doesn’t sell products very well, and neither does customers who feel mislead.  .

Danny
Ken_Griffiths

Count me in the camp of disappointed.  I’m a HUGE SONOS user.  I have all KINDS of sonos products around my house and backyard (Ones, playbar, playsub, Play:1s, Play:3s, Connects, connect:amps, etc).  I bought these cause I’m a believer in the SONOS family of products.  I bought them as a speaker pair for my office (not home office) and was so disappointed that they don’t work as a bluetooth stereo pair.  They won’t work on my office wifi either cause “guest networks aren’t supported”.  Which means I have to set up a rogue network on my own to get it to work, and then, of course, they wouldn’t work on my home network.

So, I bought two BOSE Soundlink Revolves… they work effortlessly as a bluetooth stereo pair.  I was ready to give my money and allegience to Sonos here, but they are getting returned, and Bose can take my money.  So bummed.

You could have just plugged in a travel router, or even used a cheap MiFi device instead and got 24/48 streaming audio quality with numerous stereo-paired Moves over WiFi instead, plus access to Airplay, voice assistants etc. It’s really easy to take various mobile WiFi router devices with you these days, with/without internet access.

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

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.

 

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