End of Software Support - Clarifications

I love Sonos products. They’re expensive but they’re a high quality product so they’re a worthy investment. Personally we now have Sonos devices in almost every room, they’re that good. However there is (quite rightly) an assumption that this kit is built to last. My dad is still using his speakers from the 70s because they were built to last- they technology of the speaker itself hasn’t changed. Of course tech moves quickly, which is why I wanted to get him into the ecosystem by getting him a Sonos amp so he can stream to those ancient speakers.

This announcement tells me that investing in any more Sonos products is a mistake, and I won’t be spending any more money with the brand until we have a cast iron update that they’re rowing back from this idea.

Of course the tech portion is going to date- I’m not expecting my old Sonos amp to support Alexa, or the latest wifi standards. There should be two options in my opinion:

1. Legacy products remain connected to the Sonos net, can be grouped etc but don’t get any of the new features.
2. The physical hardware needs to be either user replaceable in future models, or you need to be able to take your kit in for an upgrade.

Don’t get me started on the environmental impact. Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle. You’ve jumped straight to number 4, I think for now I’ll stop at number 1.

Apologies if this has been asked before, but does anyone know what the position is regarding on-going software updates for the play 3?

It seems it is too old to receive an Airplay 2 upgrade but not old enough to stop receiving software updates after May 2020. Is this correct or did software updates for the play 3 stop prior to this recent announcement?

Given the relatively similar hardware specification of both the play 5 gen 1 and play 3, a decision to stop software updates for the play 5 gen 1, but continue them for the play 3, looks a bit suspect if it is being justified on the grounds of hardware limitations.

Sonos have committed to supporting speakers for a minimum of 5 years after they discontinue sales. So they are kerping a promise, not that anybody on tbis thread is going to believe that. 

Also, the P:3 has twice the RAM of the p:5 gen 1 I believe.

Thanks for the quickly reply. So if Sonos keep their promise we can look forward to play 3 updates until July 2023 (as I believe sales stopped in July 2018). 

Double the ram would make a difference if you are referring to the flash memory which holds the firmware, but not if you are referring to the temporary ram used to buffer the music being streamed. Will try to find the full hardware specs online and report back.

Update:

Found the below chart on reddit which confirms both types of ram doubled between the play 5 gen 1 and play 3. The chart may also help other Sonos users assess which devices have the longest upgrade life based on their memory and storage capabilities. 

Link to full reddit page: (in case the image is stripped from this post):

https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/dip1pb/sonos_hardware_memory_chart/

 

 

This chart is useful - thanks! Except for one important aspect that Sonos is not relieving publicly.  The link in my “End-of-Life” email from Sonos a few days ago shows seemingly identical connect amps and connects (old ZP120 and ZP80/90s) as both Modern and Legacy.  How can this be?  Well Sonos has apparently been slip-streaming more memory and processor power into the newer builds of the Connect, Connect Amp and probably more. That’s why I have both Connect and Connect Amps that are both old and new.  Of course other than a tiny symbol on the front volume rocker switch (vol = old, wedge icon = new) you can’t really tell.  

So a few things come to mind. 

1. Be very careful if you intent to purchase used Sonos gear to enhance your system. 

2. Be very careful if you purchase these from retailers that might have new or old inventory in their mix. 

3. For some of us who want to just purchase a few newer Connect or Connect Amps so we can get past this May shut-out/forced obsolesce/split system issue, There may be some economical options out there instead of the reduced functionality (and stupid expense) of the Amp and Port or the environmental disaster of the “trade-in” program.  Of course Sonos isn’t clear about how much longer their so-called (Modern) units will be supported either. 

1. Why hasn’t Sonos mentioned this issue for what reasons?  Ryan, please chime in if you can.
2. Sonos can put a band-aid on the wound (temporarily) if they offered those of us (and there are many from this forum alone) their cost-of-goods price for their remaining inventory of these (they must have some now that inventory as been dropped/sent back from hundreds of stores/online retailers).  I received one of these Modern units just last year from a warranty trade-out.  Which reminds me - the wonderful California-based support team are just that - wonderful!).     

How do you know if a speakers been bricked on the trade in program? I’m tempted to take a punt on another gen1 play 5 secondhand and create a stereo pair, for the money they’re going for I’m reasoning that If I get 1-2 years out of the pair I’m happy by which point I’d be well on with my replacement program from another brand. Ive just received the look from the wife when she seen me eyeing the B&W formation duo (married men will know that look well lol ) so maybe just the wedge for now 😉 however a stereo pair of 5s in my study 4mx4m room would sound pretty good I think. 

I read the bricking can take a few days, so be careful buying used. EBay does w good job protecting buyers (and occasionally screwing sellers) in my experience.

About this collaboration with IKEA

“The result of this collaboration is a range of speakers that don’t read as speakers at all but as adaptable pieces of furniture for your home”

With this built in planned obsolescence business model, how is that going to work Swedish IKEA?

I’m not sure they will want their branded furniture to be associated with this model.

Thank you very much for the update Ryan.
Obviously I’d prefer full updates, but this is better than nothing.

So are we done getting updates till May?

I still find that it would be a good move to make a list somewhere at your website with all products and their planned retirement date, along with info on what kind of updates and support can be expected before and after that date.

If you want to set a date for the complete shutdown of all support for a device, this should be mentioned there as well.

Such information can help people plan in a reasonable way with necessary maintenance of their systems.

Don’t forget Craig’s List and similar sites. St Vincent’s, Goodwill and yard / estate sales are goldmines too.

Somebody just picked up a play 5 and Play 3 for seven bucks each over on the (not an official Sonos site) Sonos reddit.

Does anyone think that some of the higher-up boneheads in the Sonos chain of command could learn a lot from @Ryan S 's example?

Commitment and loyalty to customer service and showing the customer the utmost respect, whilst simultaneously enhancing the brand's reputation by dealing with queries efficiently, politely and in as much detail as possible despite the scant information he's allowed to discuss.

This is the essence of what Sonos is/was, which some within the company seem to have forgotten in pursuit of the dollar.

I'm sure a lot of Sonos staff are extremely unhappy at the path the company has chosen and I hope an amicable solution can be found, but the ball continues to be firmly within the Sonos court.

I'm sorry Ryan, but this was not what I was told when I brought into the sonos concept. It was sold as a hifi streaming system which could be added to make a truly remarkable system. But now products have an EOL policy, let me put it this way if I were to see a cake that cost £50 and I know that cake has a sell by date of a week. And there was another cake that costs £20 but has no use by date which one would you buy?? But again you have the £50 cake and the £20 cake both have no use by date, you buy the £50 cake as it a better quality but find out later it does have a use by date how would you feel about that.you would think I might as well got the £20 cake, this is exactly what sonos has done and frankly has killed the brand. Sonos may come up with this solution or that explanation of what will happen but non of the statementments returns us to the status que we had when we brought our systems. The sonos board ignore this fact at the company's peril but it's not to late to turn this around but I fear you won't.

Just looking at that memory chart someone posted earlier play 3s and play ones must be next and I own 2 of each of them but even more worryingly the gen2 play 5 cant be far behind and that’s what they’re asking us to trade up to from a gen 1.

I for one need much more clarity on what’s happening and future plans before I even contemplate looking at Sonos again, I think the only way to go in future with any system is as other have posted buying decent conventional systems hard wired and controlling them through something like an amazon input easily and cheaply replaced as needed whilst the meat of your system remains.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/so-long-sonos-meet-the-open-source-audio-system-that-will-never-die/