Move: Battery Drain Test

There's a simple explanation for the battery drain and I doubt Sonos will ever admit to it.

When you purchase a Sonos Move, you’re ultimately purchasing a premium speaker riddled with spyware not by one, but two of the largest data-whoring companies in the United States.

There’s a reason Amazon’s Alexa, and Google’s Home products require a 120v receptacle. That reason simply being that the devices would die within mere hours had they been wireless. Regardless of what “buzz words” Amazon or Google tell you their devices strictly listen for, you must understand that these devices are always recording/listening. There are plenty of horror stories available online to read through if you don’t believe me. And in the case of the Sonos Move, an always-on microphone = massive battery consumption. 
 

I don’t forsee Sonos fixing this problem as they have minimal control over Amazon and Google’s horrid software.

If Sonos were smart, they’d release a microphone-free Move. I assure you all battery issues would be completely resolved.

Smarten up people and get these listening-devices out of your homes. You’re sacrificing privacy to save yourself 3 clicks from your smart phone.

I'm pretty sure that's not true to be honest.  There are certainly issues with the Move but they're not related to the Mic.

I’m experiencing the Sonos Move battery drain problem too on a new Sonos Move. I charge it up to 100%, turn it off completely with a 5 second press, and 6 days later it is completely dead and will not power up with a long press. I can charge it back up by placing it on the cradle.  I’ve gone through this cycle 3 times now so it’s clearly not holding a charge when powered completely off. 

I have been having the exact same issues.

I always turn my Move all the way off by holding in for 5-6 seconds until I get the power off tone. After 6+ days, the battery is practically dead. Not only that, but a quick press on the power button turns on the power light right away, as if it were in standby mode.

When I leave the Move on the charger, the battery obviously doesn’t drain, but even if I turn it off completely, I find that the power indicator is on some hours (<1 day) later.

This is unacceptable. The reasons we turn it off are to make sure it’s not listening and to make sure that the battery doesn’t drain (for instance, if we know we need to take it somewhere soon).

Please issue a firmware update that addresses this issue. It has been identified for quite some time now.

SONOS seems quiet on the subject. An update would be appreciated if any work is being done on the issue. 

Hi everyone, I mentioned before in this thread that the team is investigating an issue where the Move turns itself on when it should be off. Here’s the previous message:

They’re working on the issue and as soon as it’s resolved we’ll let you know. 

I would like to add me to the list of troubled and disappointed customers. I've been experiencing this exact same issue. Hope it will be fixed very soon.

I bought my Move a couple of months ago but only just been able to use it for long sessions in the garden as the weather improves. I was slightly disappointed that I only got 8 hours before the battery run out. I saw your post and switched off Alexa - result last 2 days - 10 and half hours on consecutive days. Thumbs up Go Sonos

I’ve just received my Move… and thought I’d do a final search online before I opened the box, and I found this thread! This is a definite dealbreaker, something which is intended to be portable needs to respect battery life wherever possible. Some bug or design decision here isn’t.

@Ryan S three months passed between your first and second message, can you at least give a hint as to whether or not any clues have been found as to whether this will be fixed, and when?

I’ll leave mine sealed until there is a clearer answer and timeline, I don’t want to commit to keeping it if this rolls on!

Hi @jamrolu, the team did a thorough investigation, and has some more under way. The biggest thing identified is that a bug sometimes causes the Move to turn itself on when it’s off, this of course affects battery life tests because the unit will go from “off” to “standby” which will cause it to drain much faster. It doesn’t happen all the time, or to all units, and it’s software, not hardware. The team is investigating a resolution now.