End of Software Support - Clarifications

I have over $4,000 in Sonos equipment, almost all of which was bought new in 2014-2015, and just announced to be now obsolete after barely 5 years. 

I was an early adopter of Sonos despite their sky-high pricing, and had been a huge supporter and beta tester for them since the beginning.  However, learning that Sonos is leaving their earliest, most devoted customers like me out in the cold is maddening.  Sonos had a rabid cult following which is why it thrived despite so much competition in their market, and they just kicked that rabid following squarely in the nuts.

I guess the bright side is that since my whole system is being obsoleted simultaneously, that will make the decision to switch to a whole different ecosystem like Bose or Amazon much easier.  

Happy to add my fury to this, over £1,500 of kit will be “useless” in May!!

This isn’t why I invested lots of hard earned money with Sonos - did I read the company was sold on last year due to the high level of commitment of customers who carry on buying new product.  How long until the Sub, Play3 or Soundbar are “legacy”? Well this customer won't buy any more Sonos products and I will happily advise any who ask and those who don’t not to touch Sonos with a barge pole.

Hello to Sonos and their community.

I haven’t read every single comment on this thread, but it would seem that a lot of people are unhappy. My comment, for what it’s worth, is that I bear no animosity towards Sonos. It is inevitable that this will happen to every “smart” device at some point. Sonos, are just the first to do it. To name a few, we have had Bose, Yamaha, Denon, and B&O speakers over the last couple of years. We were in search of superior sound and only found it in Sonos. Where Bose is concerned, they do have a relatively good sound, but the software and services that are included in both their SoundTouch, and Smart devices, is incredibly limited. We had many negative experiences, with every device, until we bought Sonos. Yes, their “legacy” announcement was a shock, but it is not going to be the only company to do this. Sonos are just the first to do it. The hardware in their “legacy” devices, has simply reached its limit and can no longer be “confidently” updated. If Sonos are to remain ahead of their competitors, in a saturated market, then they have to make controversial and difficult decisions such as this.

What a disgrace.  I’ve purchased and love a lot of your products.  I didn’t mind the higher price compared to the MANY options available because yours just plain old works every time.  Now however, you’ve decided to take away the one true reason for the premium price for me.  30% off?!  Thanks for the coupon.  Please reconsider and maintain your premium status to us, your loyal customers.

This is insane, how to turn me off a brand. I have 2x subs, 4 x 5’s, 2x 3’s, 4x 1’s, 2x Amps, 2x connects, 1x beam, 1x playbar, 1x playbase and offering me only 30% for a trade up. Sorry Sonos you just lost me.

Shame on you!

I’m here to register my disappointment for the second time since the first thread has been closed.  I had thought about adding a move to my system and it would have been conveniently located close to two legacy play 5 units.  Very reluctant now if they won’t work together.

I notice @Ryan S seems to have gone home, either that or there is a serious brainstorming meeting going on at head office, on how to get out of this mess.

I’ve never posted to a site but am so frustrated by this move that I want to leave my feedback. 

I have a Bose surround system but decided to migrate to Sonos and purchased three play 5’s knowing that down the road I’d replace my entire Bose system with Sonos.  I won’t be doing that.  Instead, I regret the Sonos equipment purchase.  Wish I had stuck with Bose and have now decided to replace Sonos instead.  The fact that Sonos will no longer support my two “older” play 5’s results in my entire system not being able to accept updates is not acceptable and I feel like I wasted my $1,500 buying the three speakers.  Not only will I not be replacing my surround theater with Sonos, I will now instead be replacing my Sonos speakers with Bose.

I like many others have recommended Sonos to others. I can’t do that again. Some of my friends are non-technical and what do I tell them now they have to spend 70% of the cost again for new kit. I have 12 speakers, my kids have Sonos and we are all now wondering “when are we next”. I have an internet radio from 2005 that still works just fine, I have a Linn hi-fi from 1995 that still sounds fantastic, perhaps cheaper devices, regular hi-fi and Bluetooth are the future. I am now in the “maybe that’s enough investment in expensive Sonos” group. 

Someone else suggested Sonos need to think about branching their codebase into those that want updates but have “legacy” products and that code base maintain support for what we have and a separate branch for those that only have new products. 

In the end, the “contract” people made with Sonos was we would pay massively over typical speak pricing, but Sonos would look after us, the equipment and future-proofing our (substantial) investment. Perhaps they should try a 70% trade-up discount, rather than 30%. 

When I walk through my home and notice one of my Sonos devices, I get angry all over again. I have 18 devices. They’re in almost every room. Even my bathroom. Awesome.