Retired Sonos Staff

End of Software Updates for Legacy Products

Related content:Software

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Please note that we’ve created a new thread with some clarifications to questions that have come up several times in this thread. Please see here to continue the discussion if you still have any questions. The information contained in this thread is outdated and may no longer be accurate.

We have some important news regarding our oldest Sonos devices shared on the Sonos Blog today. The text of that blog post is being included here for your convenience:

Starting in May 2020, some of our oldest products will no longer receive software updates or new features. We want to explain why and your options.

When we first set out almost 20 years ago to invent the technology to easily listen to any song in any room, most of the ways we listen to music today did not exist. In fact, the first Sonos products were introduced before the first iPhone was announced and when Myspace still ruled social media.

In order to invent multi-room music and smart speakers, we combined the worlds of high-fidelity audio and computing. Every Sonos product has a microprocessor, flash memory, and other hardware components typically found in computers and smartphones.

Since launching our first products, technology has advanced at an exponential rate; from streaming services and voice assistants to wireless networking and Bluetooth capabilities. Through all of this transformation, we have continued delivering new features via software updates. We’re extremely proud of the fact that we build products that last a long time, and that listeners continue to enjoy them. In fact, 92% of the products we’ve ever shipped are still in use today. That is unheard of in the world of consumer electronics. However, we’ve now come to a point where some of the oldest products have been stretched to their technical limits in terms of memory and processing power.

This coming May, these legacy products—our original Zone Players, Connect, and Connect:Amp (launched in 2006; includes versions sold until 2015), first-generation Play:5 (launched 2009), CR200 (launched 2009), and Bridge (launched 2007)—will no longer receive software updates or new features.

Today the Sonos experience relies on an interconnected ecosystem, giving you access to more than 100 streaming services, voice assistants, and control options like Apple AirPlay 2. Without new software updates, access to services and overall functionality of your sound system will eventually be disrupted, particularly as partners evolve their technology.

To help you through this transition, we’re providing two options:

Option 1: Continue using these legacy products, recognizing that your system will no longer receive software updates and new features.

Option 2: Trade up to a new Sonos product with a 30% credit for each legacy product you replace.

If you’re not sure if your products are affected, you can check in the System tab in your sonos.com-account

If you choose to participate in the trade up program, your legacy products will be put in Recycle Mode, a state that deletes personally identifiable information and prepares these products for e-recycling. Recycle Mode also protects unsuspecting people from buying legacy products that are approaching the end of their useful life and won’t provide the Sonos experience customers expect today. Recycle Mode will only apply to the legacy products listed above.

We ask that you take your legacy products to a nearby certified e-recycling facility. This is the most environmentally friendly way to recycle. That said, if there isn’t a facility in your area, we are happy to pay for you to ship your products back to Sonos for responsible recycling.

Ideally all our products would last forever, but for now we’re limited by the existing technology. Our responsibility here is threefold: build products that last a long time; continually look for ways to make our products more environmentally friendly through materials, packaging, and our supply chain and take responsibility for helping you through the transition once products near the end of their useful life.

We’ve always believed in freedom of choice, whether that means choosing a certain streaming service or way to control your listening experience. We hope the choices provided here—continuing to use these products without new software updates or trading up to our modern products—enable you to make the choice that’s right for you.

We are honored to have a place in your home and want to make sure that we help continue to bring the best experience we can, even when products reach the end of their useful life.

More information.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

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Show previous replies

S

smallstool

Enthusiast I

Shocked and Horrified - Shame on you SONOS!

You have stabbed all your customers in the back you charlatans, deceit, lies, theft - you should be ashamed of yourselves.

My perfectly working system has cost me five or six thousand pounds and just been told I have 5 legacy products that are going to cost me £2,000 to replace - even though my current components work perfectly well!

I gave my daughter two of my fives before Christmas, she has just phoned me up “Daddy will our HiFi stop working?”

Shame on you, I like thousands will go elsewhere from today!

Connect Amp x 3, Connect x 1, Sub x 2, Playbar x 2, Beam x 1, Play 1 x 4, Play 3 x 2, Play 5 x 2, Boost x 1, Amp, Arc, 2 x Era 100, 2 x Era 300, Symfonisk x 2, Roam

S

shag

Contributor I

Guess its time to move away from Sonos. Thanks for the push Sonos!

C

ChrisBo

Lyricist I

Outrageous.

8 Sonos units in the house - 3 of which will have to go.

To think I was going to buy a couple of outdoor speakers for the summer… They’ll be no additions to the Sonos family if they have such a limited shelf life.

L

lawhhh

Lyricist III

Very poor customer service. I like many others I have a significant investment in Sonos speakers and to only be offered a 30% discount on upgrading and affected speakers really SUCKS! Should be a 75% discount.

To add insult to injury if you use this 30% discount offer they brick your legacy speakers so they can’t be used again and are only good for the recycling depot.

Unless something changes looks like I and many other people will be looking at other speaker systems other than Sonos. Don’t want to get burnt by Sonos again as they obviously don’t care about their customers.

The new Amazon speakers are affordable and starting to look pretty good right now!

I bought a Onkyo G3 for my blind father at christmas so he can play music easily, it has surprising brilliant sound and is voice controlled which works well. He loves it, it cost £50 at the time although prices are creeping up.

Why does sonos stuff cost so much... and then cost so much again… and then cost so much again… and then cost much again…. and then cost so much again?

I

ianwallace

Lyricist I

Agree, shame on Sonos. I have 8 zones now on a possible brick list.

I have recommended this system to friends for over 12 years!!

M

mjmcg

Lyricist III

What a customer hostile way to approach this. The only significant features the new speakers offer are voice control via Amazon or Google (no way I want open mics to those two in my house), and AirPlay 2. Sonos main strength was it brought all music services into one interface and allowed us to play music from a shared console rather than exclusively from one device (key for families). Without that, there’s no benefit over AirPlay 2 or Chromecast. Their speakers sound great too, but that’s not a differentiator.

There’s no reason Sonos can’t release an optional dedicated device to offload the compute from the legacy devices and eliminate this problem. It’s honestly surprising that they haven’t done this already. Decouple the compute required for modern services from the speakers themselves. This dedicated device would store your account info, wifi connection, music services, music library, etc, and provide the processing power for modern services. It’d only be required if you have legacy devices in your Sonos system.

S

StuartM

Enthusiast I

How long before Bose and other competitors get a stiff of this and start offering cheap trade in deals? I certainly would be looking at it if I was their marketing manager.

T

thor1980

Lyricist II

This is my first post & last post - I never even realised there was a forum until I became so irate today at today’s disregard for customers that I found this thread!!

I was about to buy a new Beam for the TV but now won’t as clearly SONOS are putting in place a system which requires regular & costly renewal.

I bought a Play 5 five years ago and now SONOS want me to upgrade it - total joke.

I pity those who have invested so heavily into SONOS and who are simply having support withdrawn.

I will attempt to seek a refund from the shop I purchased my Play 5 from (Richer Sounds) under Sale of Goods Act - I imagine the response but this will at least make them aware. I assume they are already. As so many others I was informed this was a system that did not require renewal.

Off to look at Bluetooth systems - BOSE first on the list.

Very sad.

M

Matt - MKE

Lyricist I

OK, here is my prediction. One of two things will happen here -

either Sonos will see the potential liability and get smart on the software side

or

there is going to be a class action lawsuit here. There have to be over a million users with an average of $500 invested? Some law firm will take that one forward and once it gets traction they will see that software development is not nearly as expensive as legal fees.

J

jms001

Contributor I

This really SUCKS. Let’s hope a new thread starts with a class action lawsuit against SONOS.

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