Skip to main content
I want to make two irrefutable statements of fact:



1) Sonos is the best wireless speaker system in the world with a very intuitive app that makes wireless audio amazingly simple.

2) Sonos management cares little about customer feedback and is leaving millions on the table.



While that might sound kind of harsh, consider that the Sonos Community has viewed a thread over 46,000 times and I've seen online blogs begging for an outdoor speaker FOR YEARS! How many millions of dollars could Sonos have made by simply delivering on this request? I've personally looked for weatherproof enclosures for both the Connect Amp and Play speakers and nobody has an elegant solution.



It's completely aggravating when I come to the Sonos website after over a year of owning my system and still there is no answer to the community by management letting us know: A) when a weatherproof speaker is coming, or 😎 why it will never come. And I'm late to the party, which means others were ignored for over five years before me!
Tens of thousands? Hardly...
Tens of thousands? Hardly...



There weren't even 10,000 posts for the Windows app, and that thread was all one and dones sent here by Windows Mobile evangelists.
I would think "views" would be an indication of interest, right? Over 40,000 for this topic.
Notice the replies is just 13. How many of those by Sonos management?
Notice the replies is just 13. How many of those by Sonos management?



Sonos "management" have never posted on this forum, it's unrealistic to expect them to. I doubt the management of any company the size of Sonos interacts directly with users in that manner.


1) Sonos is the best wireless speaker system in the world with a very intuitive app that makes wireless audio amazingly simple.

2) Sonos management cares little about customer feedback and is leaving millions on the table.



Isn't 1 a consequence of 2?! It can't just be an outcome like the cliched million monkeys typing stuff for a million years and by chance then producing Hamlet.



As soon as I realised I needed music outside, I installed wired external passive speakers long before I bought into Sonos. Bringing them into the Sonos fold was a simple addition of a Connect.



Anyone that has temporary good weather needs for music outside, and has safe to use mains power, is better served using a play 1 unit.



Sonos could have made the required but would have decided to forego the "millions" in preference to more money to be made by using the same resources elsewhere. That's how every profit objective driven company must operate, it cannot afford to satisfy all the needs of all possible customers.
1) I'd like to see weatherproof speakers if only to serve as an expansion of the Sonos ecosystem. I personally would not buy at least in the short term (I have fixed outdoor speakers wired to a Connect:Amp safely tucked away inside my house).



2) I am not sure that the OP's statement's qualify as "irrefutable statements of fact".
These sorts of discussions remind me of the three year old, "shaming" its parents in a public space. It's just a negotiating tactic toward the lollypop. We see older citizens reliving this tactic on social media.
I don't get the demand for an outdoor Sonos. (And I am no Sonos fanboi that defends them left and right -- I have plenty of grievances of mine own; outdoor speakers just aren't in that list.)



Sonos already delivers the optimal solution in the form of the CONNECT:AMP (or CONNECT if you want to feed a distribution amplifier because you live in a mansion and have lots of outdoor speakers to cover your outdoor area). There is no good reason to put the brains of a Sonos unit in an outdoor enclosure; in fact its probably detrimental to do so because the outdoor Sonos will very likely be out of range of your network to receive the audio at all. And outdoor form factors vary wildly (e.g., hiding speakers inside fake rocks, etc.) so no one set of outdoor speakers will suit all people. You're much better off just getting the outdoor speakers that best fit your home and power them from a CONNECT:AMP/CONNECT.
I would think "views" would be an indication of interest, right? Over 40,000 for this topic.



I view every thread whether I agree or not. Views mean nothing.
Thanks for all the feedback and comments everyone.



As a rule, Sonos doesn't share a roadmap or development plans outside of the company. Because of this we generally don't talk about what's coming in the future. There isn't any official news right now on an outdoor or weatherproof speaker.



@digirati, I know it can be frustrating when there's a feature or product that you're rooting for us to produce and we don’t confirm or deny if it’s even on our roadmap. Everyone has features or suggestions that are close to their hearts and we all can get disappointed when these ideas don’t show up or aren’t addressed.



I can assure you that our development teams and management does care what the community is saying. There’s a full team here dedicated to reading every thread and getting involved with you all, answer questions when possible and facilitating discussion. We also share popular feedback within the company. High thread views, amount and regularity of requests are all great pieces of information which we watch closely and make sure to share. However not all requests, even popular ones get added to the roadmap.



Keep up the discussion and suggestions everyone, and let’s all remember to stay friendly.
I completely understand and I appreciate the response. Even a response is a major plus, because then we at least know we are being heard (and not just me, anybody). I rarely go to forums and typically try Google instead, but just saw blog posts asking the same thing. Love your products and will continue to buy them (and I've told others about Sonos as well). Thanks!
I completely understand and I appreciate the response. Even a response is a major plus, because then we at least know we are being heard (and not just me, anybody). I rarely go to forums and typically try Google instead, but just saw blog posts asking the same thing. Love your products and will continue to buy them (and I've told others about Sonos as well). Thanks!



Thanks! We love your support too. Feel free to stick around here, lots of great suggestions and some fun tricks and tips too. Let me know if I can help with anything else.
10 year customer, have Sonos at 3 properties, #1 issue is 2 of the 3 is the need for outdoor sonos. Wifi connection is not an issue. Please please hare when we might get this overdue product!
As has been noted in many of these threads, Sonos doesn't "hare" (sic) their product roadmap, for the most part. In my memory, the only time they have done so is the integration with Amazon's Echo system. If they do end up making something like an outdoor/weatherproof speaker, we'll all find out when they release it.
Seems like the only option for outdoor speakers is to buy the sonos amp and connect weatherproof wired speakers to the amp. Not really ideal for speakers far from the house as i would have to run a few hundread feet of speaker wire. I wish there were true Sonos outdoor speakers that plug and play like the existing line of speakers. Ive read that Altec is coming out with weatherproof wifi speakers that were displayed at CES.
If you have to run a few hundred feet of speaker wire, more than likely any wireless speaker would be out of range. Personally, I doubt Sonos is going to build a truly weatherproof outdoor speaker. The logistics of outdoors, AC power, and WiFi range make for an engineering and support nightmare and is probably not worth the ROI.
If you have to run a few hundred feet of speaker wire, more than likely any wireless speaker would be out of range. Personally, I doubt Sonos is going to build a truly weatherproof outdoor speaker. The logistics of outdoors, AC power, and WiFi range make for an engineering and support nightmare and is probably not worth the ROI.



I was thinking the exact same thing.



Anyhow, I used outdoor landscape wiring, and it was very inexpensive. Grab a few hundred feet of that, a shovel, and a beer. Hide the wire and get some outdoor speakers that are designed for exactly the purpose. And keep the amp safe-and-sound in the house (and, in range of strong wireless signals).



You will not regret it.
I dont have a problem with wifi range as i have several extenders around my property. Maybe it is far fetched but i sort of am looking to create surround sound in my rear yard, roughly 75 feet on each side from the house and about 100 feet of width. So maybe a 150 feet of wire and not a few hundred feet, but still just a pipe dream at this point as i do not have the appetite to run two 75 foot trenches. Hence why wifi speakers or so appealing. Bluetooth is too limited and you can only maybe get 2 speakers with that set up.
The logistics of outdoors, AC power, and WiFi range make for an engineering and support nightmare and is probably not worth the ROI.

Logistics out of doors includes speaker design such that it works well without room reinforcement that all existing Sonos speakers are designed to work with and therefore need to perform well.



With Connect/Connect Amp in the line up, the wide range of excellent outdoor passive speakers in the market that can be used with these is what must be leading to the poor expected ROI outcomes.



Finally, I suspect that the stated priorities of streaming services and voice control leave no bandwidth for this pursuit inside Sonos.
For me, it's the power issue. I would expect there's some potential liability should someone get electrocuted with improper wiring, something that normal speakers don't have to worry about. While I would hope most people would have an electrician do an appropriate install, I could easily see someone hooking up 3 or 4 inside the home style extension cords, burying them in the garden to string it out to a speaker, and then get electrocuted when it rains (or some such. Yes, I'm bordering on the absurd, but I'm trying to think like a liability lawyer).



I hadn't given much consideration to the speaker design itself, but it makes perfect sense. Would it be cool if they were to blow all of our minds and release something? You bet. But I'm not holding my breath.
I could easily see someone hooking up 3 or 4 inside the home style extension cords, burying them in the garden to string it out to a speaker, and then get electrocuted when it rains

Would people really do that?!!!



But even with a professionally installed mains power socket out of doors, there needs to be the kind of care in taking power from it that is prescribed for bathrooms if the play 1 unit is to be used there.



The only workable solution out of doors is passive speakers or those that have a built in rechargeable battery. I doubt Sonos will venture into the latter domain in the near future.
Where I live any outdoor Sonos speaker would be gone by morning!
Kumar, thanks for the grin. And I agree, even professionally installed sockets can be misused/abused.



I just can't see at this point an acceptably sized battery to be used to get the volume and depth of sound for any significant length of time that you can get from a Play:1 anytime soon. Perhaps if there's a quantum leap in battery technology, which I'm hoping for.



Linders, I feel you pain. I've lived in such situations before, and would prefer not to do it again 🙂
Even with a next generation battery, it will not work too well for a permanently installed speaker, to be bringing it in for recharge even occasionally. It will support only taking the speaker out temporarily, within WIFi range; and to a large extent this can be done with play units in sheltered spaces even today provided a mains socket is not too far away.



Probably why Sonos is leaving this on a back burner.
Terms & ConditionsCookie settings