Is Roam S1 Compatible?

Last year Sonos have stated unambiguously that all new products introduced as of June 2020 would only be compatible with S2.

It isn’t that the device cannot support the S1 software, it’s that the S1 software cannot support the device.  If you haven’t understood that then you really haven’t understood why the S1/S2 split was essential.  There would be no Roam if it were constrained to work on S1.

The bolded part is incorrect.  The Move was released before the S1/S2 split, and Sonos did not do anything at all to make the Move S1 compatible.   What’s the harm of making the Roam S1 compatible?  First the S1 customer base is surely much smaller than the S2 customer base.  Second, making it S1 compatible would add cost to development and testing, since it would be two systems, 2 sets of features to test.  Having 2 sets of features also would confusing, as you’d likely end up with customers who believed they could do speaker swaps, or share bluetooth audio with other speakers….only to find out it’s an S2 only feature.  And then you would have all the angry customers who upgraded to S2 because they were told there were no new S1 products.  And of course, Sonos obviously would more people switch over to S2, both to lower support costs and experience the better S2 features….and that doesn’t happen as fast if they keep making S1 products.

As above, what does the Roam do that the Move doesn't?.

Seems it has an equally poor standby time to boot?.

Do you mean in addition to the things already mentioned by @melvimbe ?

Here’s one:

With an all-new feature called Sound Swap, you can hold the play/pause button on the speaker to switch the music to the nearest speaker on your system, making it easy to move music from room-to-room.

But that’s beside the point.  No company is going to continue to co-develop for two apps for devices that didn’t even exist when the old app was retired.  New devices require the new app.  Period. 

Related to  what I already mention, the Roam can be on WiFi and bluetooth at the same time, while the Move cannot.  The Roam also got the ability to do trueplay tuning in bluetooth mode….which the Move also gained the ability to do….but only on S2, not S1.  See how confusing this could get when you different features for the same products on two different OSs? 

Thanks, I thought the Move was announced subsequent to the launch of S2.

Look, I get it. If I’m being honest, I simply have heartburn about the cost associated with enabling the move to the S2 controller. However at the same time, I’ve yet to see a very compelling reason to make that $1,200 investment at this time and I know I’m not alone. Would replacing my original Play 5’s with Five’s be an upgrade, sure, but for me personally, I’ve yet to see any real value prop outside of obsolesce that makes me excited to give them my money. S2 isn’t going to make my existing speakers sound any better and I don’t own an ARC, so again I’m left scratching my head. For me personally, it’s just money better spent elsewhere at this time. 

If I was in your situation, I would stay on S1 as well.  I’m not sure I follow where the heartburn is coming from, since you’re happy with where you are.  Is it more of a feeling that you want to be on the latest and greatest, or having some of the current products (to a lesser extent), but can’t justify the added cost of upgrading your whole system?  I get that.

For most of it’s life Sonos has been a system that you can just add on as you wish without replacing anything.  Now there’s a gap where you have to do more to get a little more.  It’s almost like buying a new car.  Nothing wrong with the car you have now, but you do like all the little improvement a new car has….it’s not enough to justify buying the new car.

Yeah, I’d say you’re pretty spot on. It’s the financial piece of it coupled with the inability to add/upgrade when and where I want without having to operate two separate systems until I meet S2 requirements throughout the house. It’s also the current feature set and perceived value of S2 in my environment.

I’d love to upgrade my kitchen and bathroom Play 5’s. If I could do that a piece at a time as budget permits, it would be more palatable. But, I can’t and I’m coming to terms with it. It just seems like there could have been a better way.

I’m sure I’ll eventually upgrade, as staying on S1 ultimately leads to obsolescence, but for now I just have to get over it and realize I’m not missing much. In the meantime, Sonos is going to have to do a better job selling me the value of S2. The Roam isn’t enough or going to do it. 

Thanks for listening and for the feedback. Really not trying to troll or stir the pot, simply expressing my perspective.