Skip to main content

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 The information contained in this thread is outdated and may no longer be accurate.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.

This is unbelievable. I just spent a fortune on a Connect for Christmas and now I find out it will no longer work. This is unbelievable. I own 3 One speakers, the Subwoofer and the Playbar and just got the Connect to hook up to my outdoor hardwired system. I have spent a small fortune on your system. There was no mention anywhere that the Connect was going to stop getting updates when it was purchased. Giving me a lousy 30% off a $650 amp is an additional $400 to basically get what I already have. 

 

I am very disappointed with your company.

 

If you purchased the Connect recently, it will not be affected.  Only those manufactured before 2016 are obsolete. 


Ugh, this is a little painful. I have 21 Connect Amps and 2 Connects across 2 locations. Interestingly, Sonos is telling me only 16 of them are on the Legacy schedule. I’m quite sure the remainder of them can’t be far behind. I’m looking at the prospect of about $10,000 to replace my equipment that is going to be deprecated. I have to agree that the 30% discount on equipment that recently just had a price hike isn’t feeling very generous or just.


My first and probably last post. Only posting to add my 2p and don’t need to write much as I can see it has all been said before. I don’t claim to be an audiophile but paid premium for Sonos because it “just worked”, looked good and was impressive enough. What is the point in buying new premium Sonos kit if you are going to make it legacy again in possibly less than 5 years!! Have already had to scrap 3 CR100 devices which I could kind of live with… but this takes the biscuit.. I will be moving to cheaper alternatives. 

Sayonara


I was horrified to just receive the “legacy products will need to be replaced or will slowly die email.”

I’d thought Sonos was a forward thinking company but apparently they couldn’t even think far enough ahead to plan against rapid obsolescence or to enable simple memory or processor upgrades.

To date I’ve strongly commended Sonos systems to friends and colleagues. That process stopped today when I shall feel morally obliged to tell them to think very hard before purchasing from a company who think it’s fine announce your system will stop working unless you purchase it all over again at their convenience!

The 30% off offer is little comfort when one has no idea how long it will be before the next “legacy kit” announcement makes such new kit equally redundant.

Bitterly dissapointed!

 


You can add me to the list of furious and extremely disappointed customers. I tried calling support to add my tuppence but the lines are jammed with other disgruntled and soon to be ex-customers!

I too have suggested your system to friends and family. I’m sure they will be ever so impressed with my advice now!

Hopefully Sonos will see sense and realise that this will irreparably damage their reputation and customer base.


Goodbye SONOS, with a single announcement you've effectively put yourselves and all us users on the scrap heap.

Not since Nokia have I seen such managerial poor judgement.

If you're lucky top heads will part company and this stupidity will be reversed before your rivals eat first your lunch, then any entrails of you that remain.


Deliberately bricking paid for systems by a software update is going to make SONOS immensely popular. 

 

In my case there is no suitable product as a replacement for my Connect as there is no optical out (a spectacularly stupid decision in it's own right).

 

Sonos better make sure they get the "Frozen System" malarky right or they are going to experience the wrath of their unusually faithful customer base.

I expect to see every service and function that was available to me on the date of "Freezing" still available to me on the day after. I'm not interested in new features. I just want it working.

 

But they threaten that even the new devices will eventually quit working w/o updates!


I’m a long term customer and was an early adopter. I bought my kit in the U.K. (I’m British). But I moved to Singapore for my job a couple of years ago. What do I do about my legacy kit? Can I trade up from here? Or am I now stumped?  

Why would you buy more sonos equipment that can be out of date and unsupported, why waste your money?

That’s my choice, I guess. But my question is what do I do in Singapore. It seems I may not even have the upgrade option. So I’m bricked without even the paltry offer. I’d like an answer to this. 


Sonos simply had to take this action.  Developing the system and taking some of the earlier products along for the ride is simply not feasible, so limited is their memory and processing power.  The real flaw is the 30% discount, leaving many with the unpalatable choice between:

  1. Foregoing future updates (and still probably seeing a gradual deterioration in experience), and
  2. A hefty bill

In past threads I have said that when the ZP80 eventually had to go, Sonos would be able to offer a generous discount on a Connect to smooth the transition.  (For Connect, now read Port.)  30% does not feel generous to me.  It might be just about OK for an ancient Bridge, ZP80 or ZP100.  But not, in my view, for a more recent Connect, Connect:Amp or gen 1 Play:5.


I’ll certainly not purchase any new Sonos hardware now that we know the support window can be less than five years, and I consider myself something of a Sonos evangelist.

I won't be buying any more Sonos simply because I can't afford to replace all my Sonos legacy products as will also then have to be done.

Fortunately, there are good cheaper options out there now, where I don’t care that the support window may even be three years; they are that cheap.


How do Sonos expect users to manage, now they have declared that users may find that parts, or all, of their system will no longer be updated. This implies that items will become obsolete, even though they may appear to function perfectly. Are we supposed to run out and spend huge amounts on already expensive components to replace our current systems? Not me. How about you?


Hi Ryan

Why are re-sellers still selling the Connect: and Connect:Amp?  These will become obsolete in less than 6 months.  To be continuing to sell these after the announcement you have just made, is (in my opinion) close to fraudulent activity, and certainly would not pass the “fit for purpose” test.

Thanks

 

No they won’t.  Only those sold before 2016 are obsolete. 


What about the Sub? It came out in 2012 so it seems like it’s right on the line. I am considering using my 30% off from my soon-to-be-bricked Connect:Amp to get a sub but I am concerned with its age.


Looks like SONOS are happy for you to hand your cash over to them for older stuff https://www.sonos.com/en-gb/shop/certified-refurbished


Hah! I was just researching extending my system further around the house, so it’s a relief I didn’t pull the trigger yet on any more Sonos. My Play:5 is 5 years old and I never even contemplated at the time I might be paying $500 for something that I’d be told this soon was obsolete. It’s also pretty worthless now for resale, right? So that’s $100 a year to rent a speaker? I realize I may get another 2 years out of it till maybe Spotify & Pandora won’t work on it; but what you’ve really just told me is I’d be wise to check out other options; I don’t see myself spending the ~$400 I was thinking about for a couple of Sonos Ones if that commits me to having to replace my 5. And my “modern” 3 (4 years old) -- how long till it gets s***-canned? I’m glad this happened now, extending my Sonos at this point feels like a bad bet.

 

Shame though -- awesome system! But I bet with a little research I could be as happy with another option. And this is educational, I’ll have to be sure to understand next time how much of the “smarts” sits with the speaker and is subject to these kind of end of life decisions.


I am happy to see SONOS starting to take a beating on social media: WELL DESERVED.


I honestly cant see how you are justifying this. Being part of the beta for the new version for 3 months now and today i get a e-mail saying 3 of my 6 devices are now EOL. The justification that the units have been pushed to their limits and can’t receive your new update is just bs. If they had been pushed so hard how is it that i’m running your next version perfectly fine with no issues?? This to me just seems like a money grab to get early supporters to spend more money.

I’ve recommended you to so many people over the years and now hate the fact that i have. I for one know that i’ll not be purchasing any more sonos devices (and i was just looking at expanding my line up 30 minutes before the e-mail) and when i am forced to update because the integration with Alexa or Spotify stop working that I will spend my hard earned money somewhere else. So disappointed 


This is unbelievable. I just spent a fortune on a Connect for Christmas and now I find out it will no longer work. This is unbelievable. I own 3 One speakers, the Subwoofer and the Playbar and just got the Connect to hook up to my outdoor hardwired system. I have spent a small fortune on your system. There was no mention anywhere that the Connect was going to stop getting updates when it was purchased. Giving me a lousy 30% off a $650 amp is an additional $400 to basically get what I already have. 

 

I am very disappointed with your company.

 

If you purchased the Connect recently, it will not be affected.  Only those manufactured before 2016 are obsolete. 

It was purchased from Amazon. It was literally hooked up less than a month ago. It shows up n my account as a Legacy product.


I recently received the end of software update email that essentially told me my entire system will be obsolete come May. It is this email that has informed my decision to not buy any more Sonos products.

It seems to me that Sonos is pushing the voice controlled software on everyone, if i wanted voice control I would buy google or Amazon product. 

I could even see if your new products supported 24bit high resolution files or dsd or even legacy DTS, at last that would be a reason to upgrade.

But forcing people to upgrade as a business model is not good business, i see no valid upgrades in the new product line. If anything the new products due to the voice assistants area liability in my book.

I will use the products I have until they no longer work, after that I will find a better system probably blu-sound or HEOS. 

 

I fear that this new direction that Sonos has taken will be its downfall, if you are going to charge premium prices for your products you need to blow the google and amazons out of the water I wish Sonos a lot of luck on its new path but I will not be following. 


I have a very large Sonos system - grown over time as we have really enjoyed the relative simplicity, even though it lacks terribly in queue / playlist management.

I’ m looking at $1800 after the “discount” to get current. 

I get that these products are getting long in the tooth and I knew eventually something would have to change to get modern tech and features.

What really irks me is that this new “follows” the price increases instead of giving up a heads up that, BTW, if you don’t upgrade, your old stuff is dead (or at least comatose).  That’s some jerk behavior.  If you’d have waited a year, maybe OK, but wow.  Sonos should roll back the price increases for some period of time now after this announcement.

So now, after years of use (we still use the original Sonos LCD controller! - when your products were built to last and did), Sonos have given us a good reason to re-shop the competition and perhaps unwind ourselves from Sonos altogether as our legacy system becomes frozen.  Or maybe I do nothing, and enjoy the system as we have been until a component dies - then deal with it.


I was just talking to a friend who also saw the email just now and he’s gone ballistic like me! 
Once all the stuff ceases to work as Sonos has shat on us, let’s hope they go under, lot of job losses and the company folds and we’ll just get a different cheaper system that has less drama who look after their ‘not so poor’ customers! 
I curse the people who decided to shit on us and are trying to cash in on us! 


Hi Ryan

Why are re-sellers still selling the Connect: and Connect:Amp?  These will become obsolete in less than 6 months.  To be continuing to sell these after the announcement you have just made, is (in my opinion) close to fraudulent activity, and certainly would not pass the “fit for purpose” test.

Thanks

 

No they won’t.  Only those sold before 2016 are obsolete. 

Only??? That is a disgusting support perspective!


I could understand not updating old products with NEW features but the subtle threat of bricking ‘legacy’ components ‘over time’ is insane (oh I’m sorry, services will be IMPACTED). SONOS is clearly struggling against Amazon and Google. It’s hard to imagine there’s any real technical reason for this - rather some suit high up saw it as a money pinata.

 

Surely they could find a way to keep Spotify working on my old components?

They will surely lose long-time customers over this. They will lose me as a customer over this and at least right now only one of my devices has been made ‘obsolete’. I suggest all of you boycott this company unless they reverse course on this. Money talks.


Well gutted about the announcement my sonos equipment will eventually be useless. 

I purchased a play 5 4 years and now it's apparently obsolete. Gutted and I feel robbed. 

Also the connect is now obsolete which is replaced with something way overpriced. 

I cant justify spending so much money and fear this is the start of the end of my relationship with Sonos. 

I feel let down and forced to upgrade. 

I want to be able to disable updates and be assured forced updates wont render my investment bricked. 

 

 

 

 


I just received the email from Sonos notifying me about the end of support for my 3 legacy Connect Amps and (stereo) Connect. I’m somewhat old school and don’t use streaming services, nor do I use any voice controlled devices. I only listen to music files either stored on my iPods or from my Apple computer using either the Sonos App or Occasionally (when it works!) iTunes Airplay. I live in the country and don’t have access to reliable high speed internet.

After reading mixed reviews on the new upgraded Amps that Sonos is selling, I decided against upgrading.

What do you all think: should I upgrade my Connect Amps or stick with the Legacy Connect Amps?

To clarify: I don’t want to use streaming services, nor do I want to have anything to do with voice controlled devices… And I’m sticking with Apple computers.