End of Software Updates for Legacy Products

I too am very disappointed, but not suprised, in the recent announcement, over the years controllers have been going obsolete, my original Sonos hardware controller went ‘obsolete’ years ago, at least two Android devices have gone ‘obsolete’ in the last year or two, on one the Sonos app stopped working altogether and the second tells me the OS is no longer supported everytime I open the Sonos app.

I bought a sound system and expect such to last as long as the hardware, to be made obsolete by software is infuriating and scandalously wasteful of resources and the creation of waste products that the non-tech world is trying to avoid, Sonos’ ‘Sustainability Report’ is a pitiful joke.

Much as I loved the Sonos system when it all functioned I lost faith in it when it started telling me I need to replace controllers and now they tell me I need to replace most of the speakers too. I will keep it as is until something breaks it or the hardware fails then I shall look elsewhere, I will not be buying any further Sonos products.

A company that has so little regard for its customers and the environment does not deserve to succeed.

HI … My speakers were purchased 4.5 years ago!!! for £700.00. 4.5 years of use to be told they will be practically obsolete!!! Am i missing something here? If the assistant had informed us before we handed over our well earned cash that our purchase would be practically outdated and redundant within 5 years we would have never purchased them. I thought we were purchasing a pair of music speakers that would last a very long time. A Pair of speakers for goodness sake! I do not want a 30% discount, I want to purchase my so called upgrade for 30% of its value!! Removing the IT jargon and spelling it out plain and simple does anyone else feel dumbfounded and gobsmacked that this can happen? 

This is a disgrace. It’s bad enough that Sonos are forcing loyal customers to “Tradeup” products that were only purchased a couple of years ago, but when there aren’t even products to “Tradeup” to, then what are we supposed to do?!

I rely on the “Bridge” to fill the gaps in their woeful built-in wifi, and the “Connect” to be able to integrate Sonos with my living room Surround Sound setup. Neither of these two products has a replacement which I can see, and even if they did it would cost me hundreds of pounds to simply carry on as I am.

The patronising email I received from support which didn’t answer any of the questions, was the icing on the cake.

I’m afraid to say that I think this is the final alarm-bell to signify that we have made a massive mistake investing in what was supposed to be a more future-proof approach to home audio systems. Sadly I’m not even going to be able to sell any of it on, because it will now all either be redundant landfill or the secondhand market will be now flooded with unwanted Sonos gear which everybody is trying to offload before it too gets written off as obsolete. This is all obviously assuming that the share price doesn’t tank so much that they go under completely!

Gutted to hear about this this morning. It encompasses a good portion of my Sonos system; 2xPlay5Gen1, 1xZP120, 2xBridge (1 is a spare). Worse than that is now I’m conscious the rest of my system (4xPlay1, 1xPlaybase, 1xSub) now has a definite service life. I only wish I could back 6 months and stop myself purchasing the 5.1 system for the living room.

Disgraceful approach Sonos. Great hardware but your software and business sense has gone out the window. Embracing the throw away generation with both arms it seems. I work in software so can appreciate the challenges of running modern code with limited processing resources. However, I also know with software there are always options and that you as a company have obviously decided that it’s not worth investing in those options. Let’s get the plebs to ditch their old speakers and come running back to buy new. 

Will see how this plays out over the next several months but unless the situation improves that will be end of my Sonos purchases. Maybe I can donate my kit to a museum... 

I’m absolutely disgusted to find that overnight Sonos can scrap most of my music system.  I have been an ardent supporter of this technology since it first came out and have invested significantly in installing the system around my home.  It may be a few years old now, but all works perfectly and simply declaring it dead appears not only a cyncial attempt to generate more revenues, but also significantly out of line with general world-wide thinking at present on unnecessary waste.  I absolutely agree with comments above that this is a disgrace and suggest urgent reconsideration to retain customer loyalty.

Yes, it does need more work; I updated my comment after reading that webpage properly. However it’s potentially one of a number of alternative options that might be a more sustainable and affordable way of moving forward. When you consider that Sonos has never, really, been “wireless” - there’s always been a need for power cables - and, given powerline technology has come a long way since Sonos hit the market, this is quite like to be a kick in the bum to people who’ve been dithering about going down a different route (i.e. cheap, easily upgradeable processing hardware, open-source software, open protocols, powerline+wi-fi, replaceable audio devices).

My disenchantment with Sonos came a couple of years ago when it cost me £125 to replace (through their ‘exchange’ scheme) one of my Play 3s whose power supply had failed. 

Read with interest (and disgust).  Registered just to post.

Short message as I not only refuse to give Sonos anymore of my money, but also my time.

For me it’s simple. Sorry Sonos, I’m Out!!

So you think i should be spending my money to upgrade my 3 play 5 Gen 1 and my bridge!! and you will give me 30% off, What a rip off, I wish i had known all those years ago that you would be making half of my system useless! Hang on a minute i will just see if i can find over a £1000!! Absolute disgrace to say the least. When they no longer work i will be going elsewhere.

I’m fuming and I only have a Play 5 that is affected. I feel sorry and extremely angry for the other people who have multiple bits of expensive equipment that Sonos just want us to re-cycle and shell out more hard earned cash on replacements. 

I agree that the brand is damaged now, I certainly won’t be adding any more of there products in future and I will make sure any friends know how the company works if they ask me about the sonos brand.

I say give us reasonable refunds on our soon to be useless bits of kit then we can decide if we upgrade to new or not. They can poke their 30% discount.

This announcement is shocking and disgraceful. Like many people here, I have invested a small fortune in Sonos products over the past few years and recommended Sonos to many, many people. I feel depressed and let down by Sonos and I deeply regret having made recommendations which now reflect badly on me.

First the withdrawal of SonosNet access for wi-fi which resulted in me being forced to buy several network extenders and now the glib expectation that I will just give Sonos more cash to buy their new kit just because they decide not to meaningfully support the products they were marketing until very recently.

Before I would even consider “upgrading” at substantial cost to achieve the same level of functionality as I currently enjoy, I require a long term comittment from Sonos to Android, Spotify and other streaming services. What comittment will Sonos provide?

Can anyone please recommend a good replacement for Sonos kit - my speakers are all in-wall or in-ceiling but it would be good to drive them with products in which I could have long term confidence.

Thank you.