Play:1s are unaffected.  The Play:5s will be obsolete, you can choose to remain at the old firmware (which will eventually deteriorate in functionality if you use music services), take them offline, or replace them.  

I simple cannot believe this.  It’s completely rubbish, simply don’t understand why it’s necessary and it feels like a two fingers to loyal and heavily invested customers.

There is no way in the world I am going to replace the whole of my system with new products from Sonos when as far as I can tell in the next 5 to 6 years I will have to do it again!  

I bought my entire system just 5 to 6 years ago.  A total of six Connects and Connect:Amps

I can accept that the older players have more limited space for playlists etc. And don’t have Alexa support, or the other features of the latest products. 

But to stop support altogether and demand the whole lot is upgraded … I mean, WTF?!?  

It seems very lazy, greedy, and wasteful. They have all the power you need to play music and that demand or the size of song files isn’t going to change.

I add my voice to the voices above, there is no way whatsoever I am buying Sonos again, or at the very least I will be looking seriously at competitors, I believe there are some half decent ones these days.

I bought Sonos because of personal recommendation, but be assured I will be recommending AGAINST buying these things when the company has so little regard for its customers, what we have invested, and the environment.

Literally, aghast.

And the option to keep the products but disconnected from updates…. it simply doesn’t work.  We are expecting to move to a slightly bigger house later this year, we would want another zone or two…. then what?  And when the streaming services we use stop working?

Honestly, in any sane world this would be a sick joke.

Sorry for the somewhat inflammatory language. But I can’t put into words what I really feel about this.

Good bye, Sonos.
 

Public company gotta make it rain for shareholders

Wow.. way to announce this a week after the price hikes go into effect.  With five zones impacted by this I’ll have to re-evaluate my future commitment to Sonos.  I’ve built up my system over 15 years and can’t afford to replace all of these components in short order.  This news is very disappointing.  

Anybody want to buy some Sonos? This is a deal killer for me. I wanted to add to my system in the future but this news just changed my mind. Your stuff ain’t cheap and is hard to justify buying to begin with. If you’re now going to brick my expensive Play 5’s then I can’t justify spending money on something that down the road you’ll probably do the same to. I’ll be looking to dump the Sonos stuff I have and look into something else. I haven’t had the Play 5 (Gen 1)’s all that long. I certainly don’t feel I got my $800 out of them. This is an extremely bad decision on Sonos part.

This morning, 1/21/2020, I received an email from Sonos regarding 2 products for which I have spent money: Bridge and 2 Play 5 speakers.

Email: 
In May the following products in your system will be classified as legacy and no longer receive software updates and new features. This will affect your listening experience.

Legacy products were introduced between 2005 and 2011 and, given the age of the technology, do not have enough memory or processing power to sustain future innovation.

Please note that because Sonos is a system, all products operate on the same software. If modern products remain connected to legacy products after May, they also will not receive software updates and new features.

End

I actually do not care about new features. What I have does the things I need it to do - play music from my iTunes library. 
At this point, I will no longer purchase Sonos products. I will use the devices I have purchased (2 Play 5, 3 Play 1, Bridge), but will not add other components. I will no longer recommend Sonos devices. 

Wow. 4 Connect:Amps, 1 Connect ZP90, and a Play:5 are all being obsoleted. Is this your strategy for staying afloat? Forcing customers to replace fully functioning hardware? Even with the discount I’m looking at $2500 so updates will work. And why on earth is the upgrade path from a Play:5 to the freaking Move?? Why not to another Play:5? Oh, that’s right, don’t want to discount that. This is beyond disappointing, if I’m spending $2500 to replace the system it won’t be with Sonos. 

Having championed the Sonos system to friends and family for years, I’m now in the embarrassing situation of having to admit that I’m being , effectively, blackmailed into spending about £1200 or maybe more on new kit in order that the rest of my system can continue to update

Very disappointed with this latest development

I can’t see what features that can be added to make it worth replacing $2000+ of equipment (which i’m sure is not an uncommon amount to have spent) that works perfectly fine right now…I really like the products and never would have considered going with another manufacturer until now.  I don’t understand the reason to open that door to its customers, many of whom are very loyal.

I have to say this is extremely disappointing especially the complete lack of clarity with regard to what the actual impact will be. Stating “However, some functionality will be impacted over time.” isn’t very helpful, especially considering that event with the trade in discount it will cost me £770 to replace these “Legacy Products”.

Having just bought a move that’s a cost that I can’t really justify at the moment, and the concerns is that this will happen again in another few years time so does make me wonder if I need to look at alternatives.

@morgan4x4 : no worries at this time, just get off the upgrade train and continue using the system as you are using it now. When any hardware dies, you have a problem though…for all that remains, if you want to replace with Sonos.

@morgan4x4, if all of those devices are legacy devices, your system will continue to function as it does today once the update happens in May. The only change is that your Sonos system will no longer receive software updates. Your experience will initially remain the same.  However, the functionality of features and services will be impacted as technology, particularly music service and voice partners, evolves over time. If

^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This so much. They screwed some of you so much on the timing of the price hike this announcement ^^^^^^^^^^^^

Or until Apple Music (e.g.) changes anything about its streaming protocol.

Was quite cheesed off when I read this.

I do not have £1000+ to replace units that work perfectly fine now.

I've still managed to keep old faithful (the hand held controller) going for many years since it wouldn't get updated so it may all not be doom and gloom but if we start to lose being able to use the system as is around the house, I'm really not sure what I'd do. Throw more money at it. Not sure I can and not sure I would if this may then affect future components.

I’ve just had the same email warning 3 x Bridge (already replaced by a boost) and then 2 x Sonos 5 are in effect end of life. More concerning beyond the fact that the 5s will not be updated is the statement further down the email “ You can continue using legacy products after May, but your system will no longer receive software updates and new features. Over time, this is likely to disrupt access to services and overall functionality. “ Are they saying my whole system will be stuck on old software! Rather concerned if I am reading this correctly. That’s a lot of kit that is going to be ignored by Sonos! (including the Move I received at Christmas)

This is very distressing for me.  I just received the email and it says I have 11 devices going out of support.  There is no way I am going to spend all that money to upgrade all this.

I have been a loyal SONOS customer for almost as long as they have been around. (Probably evident by the number of devices I have.) and have recommended the system over and over.  Many of my friends now have a SONOS system because of that.

Several of the devices that are going out are AMPS that I use on my patio, garage and office.  They are expecting that I am going to fork over $450 ish for each one of these just so I can keep up?  There is no way.  Maybe if they turned it around and offered a 70% discounts on replacements.  But 30% is not much incentive with the price the replacements are these days.

Not sure what I am going to do at this point.  But one of my options is to just scrap SONOS completely and go with some other ALEXA controlled system that costs much less.  I would hate to do that as I love my current system.  But the choice of “Freeze where you are” or fork over thousands of dollars is not going to work.

I get that they want to move onto newer and better things.  But when people have invested so much money in their products I feel there needs to be a better solution.

Michael

I understand products need to expire eventually, and your site mentions 2005-2011 for my Sonos 5 product, but i bought this in Mexico new in 2015 (only 4 years ago) and it is already an expired product, and on top of that there is no (pathetic 30%) upgrade program for Mexico.

Now my Sonos 1s will eventually stop working too if I leave that Sonos 5 lemon connected.

It was bought at the most high end retail chain in Mexico. I can provide invoice. It looks like Sonos was dumping old products to Mexico..

This is not a good experience. If you're going to retire products, you need to pull them off the shelf earlier than that, and you need to provide a better upgrade path.

I’ve lost confidence in your company. Shame on you. 

@Ryan S Can you say who decided on this disrespectful plan?  I assume it’s either a new marketing/product manager or the new(ish) CEO?  I’m looking to see who we should vent our anger at.  Most of the people on this thread seem to be thoroughly pissed off with this change. 

I see you have a Gen:1 device; will you be replacing this (with the 30% discount)?

Sonos seemed to be developing an Apple-like customer loyalty but that was built up over many years.  if they’d tried this kind of arrogance so soon after their success, they’d not be where they are now.

Ryan, 

If the system is frozen with legacy, which I am fine with.  When new updates are release for controller on android or iOS or mac or pc.  Will the controller updates still work with the legacy system.  If not is there a plan to freeze the controller so it won't update?

I’ve been a Sonos owner for 11 years and a huge supporter of your product. In fact, I’ve probably single handedly sold 10 times the amount of equipment that I have purchased via word of mouth. NO MORE! I’ve received your subtle hints with your 30% upgrade beta testing and offers. To replace my expensive system and recycle my very usable “LEGACY” components with newer shinny stuff will cost me over $1,700. When I invested in your early company it wasn’t with the notion that you would pull the carpet out from under your “LEGACY” supporters once you became public. The BS excuses about memory or processing power to be able to just stream music is ridiculous. This is a bold face upsell tactic and one of your biggest supporters and past Beta testers has now become public enemy number ONE! Shame on you SONOS!

This is such BS! I have been buying and building my Sonos system over years and roughly spent $3K so far. this news only impacts one of my speakers (Play 5) but reading this news makes me worried about the other speakers i own. I dont think I can invest further into the Sonos system and would start looking to sell them on ebay or something. My Play 5 is working perfectly fine which i expect after spending $400 on a speaker. its not cheap and pulling out support is such a nasty move. I even recently bought the new Sonos Move. Makes me angry now since it’s outside the return policy. 

I currently use a Vinyl player with my Sonos equipment, which consists of a Sonos Connect, Sonos Bridge, Playbar with two Play 1s as surround sound a Play 5 (1st gen) along with another Play 1 in another room. I have had an email saying my Play 5, Connect and Bridge (the bridge was the original hardware I received to connect everything years ago) will no longer support updated software from May 2020 and apparently if any of my other speakers are connected with the older hardware none of those speakers i.e. my Playbar and Play 1s will be able to update software also. If I want to be able to have access to all the updated software and continue using my vinyl which is plugged in via the Sonos Connect what hardware do I need to update this, I cannot use a new Play 5 as my current Play 5 is in another room and I do not need another speaker in the room the vinyl is setup with, so how do I connect my Vinyl player without another speaker? Also if the bridge is no longer used, how do I update this hardware, how does everything connect if I take this out? 

Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks

Not a good way to treat customers that have a large investment in your products. And paid significantly for that. 30% is way too low. Unclear communication.  I have 6 Play 5’s.  Wow.  This was once a trusted company.  And suppose I upgrade. Next year, Sonos deprecates something else.

Thanks Ryan.

I am in agreement with others on here, I have a lot of Sonos products built up over time and the fact it has some older products in the chain will stop the current ones from getting updates is just plain bad.

I understand that new updates/features may not be available on legacy products, but that should not stop them working they should be made backward compatible in that there current functions continues but new features only available on current line.  Just like play5gen2 supporting airplay but gen1 does not.

I love my Sonos and have for years, but this one needs a serious rethink, to be fair you’ve never put a foot wrong and support as been top notch, the products excellent thus far.

Hoping you rethink this and come up with a better solution.