Move: Battery Drain Test

I purchased two Sonos Moves about three weeks ago and they discharge approximately 50-100% in approximately one day. They constantly power themselves on for no reason. What’s the deal? This is a terrible design, and I basically can’t “move” them off the cradle and leave them anywhere and expect to play tunes the next day.  

I think it’s safe to assume that the Sonos Move will lose about 4% power while it is in the Powered Off state (5 second press of the power button). This is NOT the standby state, but fully powered off.

As with most electronics, “powered off” really isn’t powered off. Unless you have a physical switch cutting power from the battery to the board, it’s still going to draw something.

Clearly this is a bit of a design flaw in which there is nothing they can do with it at this time until they come up with an actual design change (hardware). This is not an issue that “some” people have. This is an issue with every single MOVE sold. I have one, my brother has one, they all lose 4% power every day in the OFF state. I tested it, my brother has, lots of people have. That’s the way it is.

So I would say if you are not happy with that, take it back. Or alternatively, void your warranty, open it up and pull the wire off the battery once fully charged. Or install a physical switch!

From what I’ve read, Lithium batteries will hold a charge quite well if there is NO LOAD on them. So if you have a MOVE and want the battery to last as long as possible (for storage reasons say), that might be the best solution. Pull the wire on the battery. I’m not sure how to get into the MOVE. I suspect that under that little piece of rubber strip on the bottom their may be some screws, but not sure.

BTW. I have Lithium batteries that are used for RC cars and they last for months disconnected. BUT. If they do get FULLY drained, it’s a BIG problem. Sometimes they can NOT be brought back to life. Other times you have to blast them with a surge of power from a 12V dumb car charger to bring them back to life (done that). So I would suggest whatever you do, do NOT let the battery ever get 100% fully discharged or you might be buying a new battery. I suspect that the MOVE probably has the ability to completely shut down (or even the battery) when it gets REALLY LOW - just to save itself.

That’s my 2 cents.

Update on my testing of TWO new sonos Moves (purchased Dec 2020). Both are in the shutdown state (5 second press of the On/Off button). They are both averaging a battery drain of about 4.2% each day (I boot them up every few days to check the battery percentage then shut them back down). So there you have it. They are definitely not in a true OFF state. So you can expect a MOVE to kill a fully charged battery in about 24 days in the OFF state.

So I think if you are NOT using them for a long period of time (say 3-4 months - storage at cottage), I have no idea what the best storage plan is. Maybe just leave them on the base. Alternatively, charge once every 3 weeks. Or if you are brave, open up and pull the wire on the battery.

I bought three Moves for my outdoor space. Wow do I regret that because of this battery drain issue. No other battery powered device in my experience (high end or low end and everything in between) drains this quickly. This is a fail Sonos. Let's be clear, this is a major design defect that if everyone knew about it before purchasing many would not purchase! 

The one thing that bugs me is that when I first got my Moves, they all had 80% plus battery when I FIRST turned them on. But even in the powered OFF state, they are only good for about 24 days. So that leads me to believe that when they first ship from China, they are in some other OFF state which allows the batteries to last MUCH longer powered OFF. So there must be something more they can do.

The reason the Move had 80% when delivered is L-Ion battery charger chips have a setting that disconnects the battery from the circuit until the charger is plugged in the first time after factory assembly and test. So the 20% discharge is only due to the battery’s self-discharge and not any additional stand-by or off current drain.  

I believe the issue with the Move’s poor battery life in both the off state and stand-by state (on not playing music) is there is some unwanted current drain (leakage current) on the battery that should not be there in the modes when most of the circuitry should be off and not powered.  

I hate to say this but the Move may need a minor design change to eliminate the unnecessary/unwanted leakage current.

Interesting. Too bad they can’t invoke the disconnect “setting” on the power off (the 5 second hold power off) to do the same thing. How is it done at the factory? Some sort of “test” setup?

Has anyone opened one of these up yet? Would be nice if we are talking 2 screws and pull the wire. I know it sounds crazy, but some of us just don’t use them in the winter.

The issue was originally raised 12 months ago, and no real resolution? I love my Move except for this battery life issue, which completely defeats the purpose of a portable, battery powered speaker.

If the design is flawed such that so many people are experiencing issues, why has it not been addressed or at least modified the marketing materials to be correct?

And while we’re at it, if the Move is being reworked, can the updated/next version support a larger variety of charging profiles? Specifically lower wattage chargers? Even if a lower wattage charger (think the 20w Apple USB C chargers) won’t charge the battery during playback, it would be great to use for overnight standby charging. Consider this a feature request :)

Add my name to the list.  Set my Move up last week and have been shocked at the battery life, or rather the lack thereof.  I’m having to charge every 2-3 days with about 60-90 minutes of total use and the rest of the time on standby.  I’ve read all of the suggested ways of improving battery life - completely powering down, removing voice services, disabling status lights - but why?  I paid a premium to use those types of features under the premise of a promised battery life that included ~10 hours of playback.  I am in deep with Sonos, but I am failing to see the benefit of the Move when it’s essentially going to need to be tethered to a charge brick more often than not.

@Krishma M & Sonos Support - the consistent suggestion to call the support number to get help with this is insulting.  Following the chain, this issue had been escalated and was being investigated almost a year ago, with some potential causes being considered and a commitment to communicate them with this group.  Why can’t you provide an update on that research and/or simply tell us all that this is expected behavior and it’s time to move on?  I’d love to see an honest, public response to this issue as opposed to a phone call to a support line that will take at least 30 minutes and inevitably involve rebooting, reseting, an ask to monitor the battery life, and a final explanation that should have just been provided to everyone here from the start.

Just a reminder to all who purchased their Move from amazon.com at any time since October 1, 2020: Sunday (January 31, 2021) is the last day to return your product under amazon’s “extended return window” for Christmas.  If you really can’t live with its shortcomings (or with no answers on how to avoid them), send it back.  Caveat venditor, at least a teeny bit...