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Welcome the new zones feature

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Welcome the new zones feature
Marco.B
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Hello everyone,

In this article you will get an overview of the new zones feature. We will walk through how it works and what settings you have available to control it.

 

 

What are zones?

We will now offer four different methods for speakers to play together:

  • Group
  • Stereo pair 
  • Home theater set
  • Zone (NEW)

A zone is a configuration where multiple speakers play together for easier control in the Sonos app. Zones can be created, edited, and removed easily in the Sonos app. Zones offer a semi-permanent* configuration of a number of speakers, controlled as if it were a single speaker, similar to a stereo pair:

  • Settings configured together for the whole zone:
    • Room name
    • Volume Limit
    • Status Light
    • Touch Controls
    • Loudness
  • Individually configured settings for each speaker in the zone:
    • Volume Trim
    • EQ
    • Line-in
    • Voice Assistant
  • All speakers in the zone receive stereo audio (L+R)
  • A zone can be grouped with other zones, speakers, stereo pairs, or home theater sets

* Zones are a semi-permanent configuration, since speakers stay bonded even when they go offline. Zones can easily be edited to add or remove speakers as the need arises.

 

Single zone with 7 speakers

Supported Products

A zone can be comprised of any combination of the following products:

  • Era 300
  • Era 100
  • Era 100 Pro
  • Sonos One
  • Sonos One SL
  • Sonos Five

The minimum size for a zone is 2 speakers. The maximum is 16 speakers.

 

Unsupported within a zone

The following are not supported within a zone:

  • You can’t add a Sonos Amp or any Sub to a zone - unconfigured or otherwise.
  • You can’t add other zones, but they can be grouped.
  • You can’t add stereo-paired speakers, but they can be grouped.
  • You can’t add Home Theater soundbars or home theater configurations, but they can be grouped.
  • Portable speakers (Roam, Roam 2, Move, Move 2) can’t be added, but they can be grouped.
  • Atmos and Spatial audio can’t be played in a zone. Zones only support stereo audio.
  • Trueplay is not supported for zones. If you add a speaker to a zone that has an active Trueplay configuration, it will lose the configuration.
  • Speakers in a zone can’t have individual room names. The whole zone will appear as a single speaker, similar to a stereo pair which means it can have only one name.

 

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Available audio sources

 

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Playing Bluetooth

At least one speaker in the zone must be capable of Bluetooth.

Bluetooth is handled the same as with a stereo-pair:

  • You may pair your source (Phone, tablet, etc) to any Bluetooth capable speaker in the zone.
  • Disconnecting Bluetooth can be done at the source device or by pressing the Bluetooth button on the speaker.
  • Bluetooth audio will play on all speakers in the zone
  • If the zone is separated while Bluetooth is playing, the audio will continue playing only on the speaker that has the Bluetooth connection.
  • If a zone is created or edited while Bluetooth is playing, you can hear the setup chime and playback will stop and needs to be re-initiated manually.


 

Phone Bluetooth settings screen

 

Playing a line-in source

Line-in is handled the same as with a stereo pair:

  • You have line-in settings for each speaker in the zone that supports 3.5mm line-in. The setting is grayed out by default and will become enabled when a 3.5mm jack is connected.
  • Only one line-in can play to the zone at a time, but additional line-in can play to other speakers and configured sets outside the zone.
  • Autoplay works for each line-in. Line-in on one speaker can autoplay to the zone while line-in on another speaker autoplays to a separate speaker outside of the zone.
  • If multiple line-in streams are played on a speaker, initiated either manually or through autoplay, the most recently initiated stream plays.

Era 100 and 300 require a line-in or combo dongle.

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Playing Spotify Direct Control and AirPlay

Spotify Direct Control is handled the same as with a stereo-pair:

  • The zone, as a whole, is listed as a single entity.
  • The zone name is shown in the list.
  • Audio is played to all speakers in the zone.

AirPlay requires that the source device is available on the local network:

  • Disabling WiFi or disconnecting from the network will stop playback.

 

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Setting up a zone

To set up a new zone, follow the instructions below:

  1. Make sure your system and controller are updated to the latest version.
  2. Open the Sonos app for iOS or Android.
  3. Go to the Settings menu.
  4. Under Your System, select one of your products that supports zones.
  5. Select Set Up Zone.
  6. Follow the steps to choose the products for your zone and give it a name.

 

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You can also select Edit Zone to add or remove Sonos speakers from the zone, or select Separate Zone to remove the zone and separate all speakers within it.


 

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Changing zone settings

You can change the settings for your zones the same way you change settings for individual Sonos speakers. In the Settings menu, select the name of your zone under Your System.

 

To identify individual speakers within the zone, select the speaker and use the chime button to play an audible chime from the selected speaker and flash its LEDs. The chime will be played for 60 seconds or until you hit the chime button again (speakers in a zone are labelled with model names, not room names, so you could, for example, have 4 Era 100s all labelled the same) .

 

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In the zone settings page, you can change the name of your zone, view the status and info for individual speakers, and adjust volume and EQ settings. 

 

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Volume Trim

Use this setting to adjust the relative volume (-15dB to +3dB) for each individual speaker to compensate for speaker locations and audio volume differences between speaker models. You can use the chime button to identify a specific speaker. The volume trim will never allow the speaker to play louder than its maximum volume.

 

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EQ 

With this setting you can adjust bass and treble for each individual speaker. Adjust the Loudness as a single setting for the whole zone. You can use the chime button to identify a specific speaker.

 

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Volume Limit

Use this setting to set a maximum volume for the whole zone.

 

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Line-in

Line-in is only shown if one or more speakers in the zone are capable. Sources will list each individual speaker capable of line-in. If line-in is not connected to a speaker, the options will be grey.

 

For each speaker, settings are the same as a stand-alone speaker:

  • Source Name
  • Source Level
  • Audio Delay
  • AutoPlay

 

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Voice Assistant

Use this setting to add a voice assistant to the primary speaker in the zone. The primary speaker is the speaker that is at the top of the list of speakers in the zone. 

 

To add a voice assistant to any other speaker than the primary speaker, you need to follow these steps: 

  1. Identify the speaker (chime button on individual product settings page).
  2. Separate the speaker from the zone (Separate from zone).
  3. Add the voice assistant to the separated speaker.
  4. Edit the zone to add the speaker again.

 

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For more information regarding voice services on Sonos, please have a look at the Voice services on Sonos support article.

 

Status Light

Use this setting to enable or disable the status LED on all speakers within the zone.

 

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Touch Controls

Use this setting to enable or disable the touch controls on all speakers within the zone.

 

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Did you find what you were looking for?

Forum|alt.badge.img+2

It sucks you are limiting this to a few select speakers. 9 months of app BS and the first new feature is this 🤦


melvimbe

Will a zone appear as a single speaker in third party apps like Alexa?


Corry P
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  • Sonos Staff
  • January 28, 2025

Hi ​@melvimbe 

melvimbe wrote:

Will a zone appear as a single speaker in third party apps like Alexa?

Good question! Yes.


Greg Shamu
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  • Contributor I
  • January 28, 2025

It sounds Ok. It solves my concering. Music from Sonos + sound from tv during sport watching 😬


You can’t add a Sonos Amp or any Sub to a zone 

 

I’ve been waiting on Zones for years; I have Era 300s in one end of my living room and Ones at the other end. And then a Sub for added bass. I’m flabbergasted as to why I can’t add my Sub to a Zone.


Greg Shamu
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  • Contributor I
  • January 29, 2025
Greg Shamu wrote:

It sounds Ok. It solves my concering. Music from Sonos + sound from tv during sport watching 😬

 

Unfortunately, it's a dud. Someone correct me, but it doesn't work the way I want it to. I have a beam2 under the TV in the saloon. Next to it are Sub3s and two Era 300s on the walls at the back.
The zone for Era 300 appeared when I disconnected my set.
So zones are not for me. If I had a long living room with eight Era 100s or 300s, it might make sense, but not in my case. There's probably some subtle difference between grouping and zoning, but I don't notice it. Maybe someone can explain it to me in simple language?

 

Disappointed user 😔


106rallye
Forum|alt.badge.img+18
Greg Shamu wrote:

It sounds Ok. It solves my concering. Music from Sonos + sound from tv during sport watching 😬

Zones are used to have more than one speaker play the same source - it seems you want them not to play the same? 
 

Essentially zones are named groups (that cannot consist of surround or stereo set ups), that share a volume setting. Unlike predefined groups, it is more permanent because they won’t break if there is a power outage or a system update that causes the units to reboot.


melvimbe
  • 9813 replies
  • January 29, 2025
Michael Svanholm Thomsen wrote:

You can’t add a Sonos Amp or any Sub to a zone 

 

I’ve been waiting on Zones for years; I have Era 300s in one end of my living room and Ones at the other end. And then a Sub for added bass. I’m flabbergasted as to why I can’t add my Sub to a Zone.

 

I think the issue is likely more technical than ‘no one would want that’ kind of thing.  The problem is likely that the sub needs to be bonded to a Sonos speaker, which isn’t possible with how zones work currently.  Maybe that’s something that can change in the future, but as first release, it does make sense that this isn’t available.

The other thing to note is that when a sub is bonded to a speaker, it plays the lower frequencies and the speaker no longer plays those frequencies.  So say you could add a sub, and you added it to your zone of 8 speakers spread out over a large space.  Which one of those speakers should stop playing lower frequencies (because the sub is near by) and which ones should still play low frequencies since the sub is much further away?  You would definitely need the ability to manual tune, or a version of trueplay that deals with this issue.  It’s just not something that can be plug and play and sound good.  

Maybe the answer is that they allow a sub to be in a zone, not bonded to any speaker.  It receives the audio directly, just like a speaker, but only plays the bass notes.  Likewise, the speakers in your group play the full spectrum of frequencies as if a sub isn’t present.  Not sure that really is an ok solution for a lot of customers.


melvimbe
106rallye wrote:
Greg Shamu wrote:

It sounds Ok. It solves my concering. Music from Sonos + sound from tv during sport watching 😬

Zones are used to have more than one speaker play the same source - it seems you want them not to play the same? 
 

Essentially zones are named groups (that cannot consist of surround or stereo set ups), that share a volume setting. Unlike predefined groups, it is more permanent because they won’t break if there is a power outage or a system update that causes the units to reboot.

 

To me, it makes more sense to think of zones as a new type of room rather than a named group.  They will show up in the app as a room and be able to group with other rooms.  Like a room, the speakers share the same volume setting, and don’t break during a power outage.  They do replace the need for a named group in many situations, yes, but they don’t really behave like a named group.


  • Contributor II
  • January 29, 2025

So I’ve been asking for and waiting for this feature for 15+ years and this weak implementation is what they finally deliver?  Is there a technical limitation that prevents amps being included?  Why is this more difficult to implement than just having the members of a zone saved and then creating the group on the fly when it’s selected as a destination?  Alexa can do that with my Sonos system but Sonos can’t manage it?

Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.


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ahk wrote:

So I’ve been asking for and waiting for this feature for 15+ years and this weak-ass implementation is what they finally deliver?  Is there a technical limitation that prevents amps being included?  Why is this more difficult to implement than just having the members of a zone saved and then creating the group on the fly when it’s selected as a destination?  Alexa can do that with my Sonos system but Sonos can’t manage it?

From r/sonos regarding amp or other speakers included 

 


Forum|alt.badge.img+4
  • Enthusiast II
  • January 29, 2025

Question: I have an Era100 in my kitchen and two One SLs in the office next door to it (set up as a stereo pair)

I often play music through both rooms as I move between them frequently but would a Zone allow this to be a permanent pairing without messing anything up i.e. would I then be able to choose the Zone as an option rather than having to link them every time in the app?

Maybe clearer to say would that Zone appear as an option in the app AS WELL AS both those rooms - so I can always choose between Kitchen or Office or Zone as my destination for the music? I still want the option to choose either Room individually.


Corry P
Forum|alt.badge.img+18
  • Sonos Staff
  • January 29, 2025

Hi ​@ainsley002 

Thanks for your question!

You can add 3 speakers to a zone, but you cannot add a stereo pair to one. So, you could have all three speakers act together as a zone, but all three speakers will play stereo sound. Maintaining the Left + Right stereo aspect of your Office room will prevent it from being added to a zone.

Any speakers in a zone will lose their individual names and can no longer be addressed independently - they all must play the same content at the same time.

I hope this helps.


Forum|alt.badge.img+4
  • Enthusiast II
  • January 29, 2025
Corry P wrote:

Hi ​@ainsley002 

Thanks for your question!

You can add 3 speakers to a zone, but you cannot add a stereo pair to one. So, you could have all three speakers act together as a zone, but all three speakers will play stereo sound. Maintaining the Left + Right stereo aspect of your Office room will prevent it from being added to a zone.

Any speakers in a zone will lose their individual names and can no longer be addressed independently - they all must play the same content at the same time.

I hope this helps.

It does, thanks. The Zone doesn't work for me then, as I still want to be able to chose just to play in the Kitchen, for instance, without messing round changing things. Would be more useful, for me anyway, if the Zone was an ADDITIONAL “room” I could choose when required 😊

Thanks for the quick reply, though. 


Corry P
Forum|alt.badge.img+18
  • Sonos Staff
  • January 29, 2025

Hi ​@ainsley002 

The zones feature was originally thought up for the Era 100 Pro, designed to work in commercial spaces. We saw no reason not to port the feature over for home users too, but it is still largely geared towards commercial installations. There a few users who will find it handy, but I think probably only those with larger spaces, like a private gym.

The grouping function is better suited for your use case, as it is not semi-permanent. If you have more than 2 rooms, you should be able to save a group of any two (or more, if more than 3 rooms in total) of them (utilising all speakers is a pre-made group labelled “Everywhere”). Please see our Saved groups help page for more details.

I do see what you mean - maintain rooms for each speaker, but then also have an addressable zone that contains some or all of those same speakers. As I understand it. this is unlikely due to the way speakers are gathered into a zone, but I may be proven wrong in time.

I hope this helps.


Ken_Griffiths
melvimbe wrote:
Michael Svanholm Thomsen wrote:

You can’t add a Sonos Amp or any Sub to a zone 

 

I’ve been waiting on Zones for years; I have Era 300s in one end of my living room and Ones at the other end. And then a Sub for added bass. I’m flabbergasted as to why I can’t add my Sub to a Zone.

 

I think the issue is likely more technical than ‘no one would want that’ kind of thing.  The problem is likely that the sub needs to be bonded to a Sonos speaker, which isn’t possible with how zones work currently.  Maybe that’s something that can change in the future, but as first release, it does make sense that this isn’t available.

The other thing to note is that when a sub is bonded to a speaker, it plays the lower frequencies and the speaker no longer plays those frequencies.  So say you could add a sub, and you added it to your zone of 8 speakers spread out over a large space.  Which one of those speakers should stop playing lower frequencies (because the sub is near by) and which ones should still play low frequencies since the sub is much further away?  You would definitely need the ability to manual tune, or a version of trueplay that deals with this issue.  It’s just not something that can be plug and play and sound good.  

Maybe the answer is that they allow a sub to be in a zone, not bonded to any speaker.  It receives the audio directly, just like a speaker, but only plays the bass notes.  Likewise, the speakers in your group play the full spectrum of frequencies as if a sub isn’t present.  Not sure that really is an ok solution for a lot of customers.

I’d personally choose to simply leave one speaker in the physical room outside of the zone and bond a Sub to it. Then ‘group’ that speaker/sub with all other zoned speakers.


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  • Headliner I
  • January 29, 2025

I must be obtuse or not have enough speakers to see why Zone is much different than Group


Forum|alt.badge.img+2
GC3 wrote:

I must be obtuse or not have enough speakers to see why Zone is much different than Group

You aren’t. Probably similar situation to me in that it’s so limited to be useless.  Maybe future updates will make work with more Sonos devices in a few years 

But personally I would rather they fixed the app firmware reliability and missing features first. 



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