Trending Lyricist I

Answered

What are people using for USB C charger for Sonos Move?

143 replies
56521 views

I asked this question over in the sonos reddit forum and others are having same issues so thought I would bring over here.

What are people using for their usb charger for the Sonos move? I attempted to use my MacBook pros charger but it didn’t work. I have the 60watt brick but from what I read it should be able to still work.

So then I read it might be the cord as they have chips in them and knowing Apple they locked their cord down. So I bought an anker power line 3.1 usb c cable and tried it with the MacBook brick again and it still didn’t work.

So before I keep buying and returning curious if anyone has had success with certain chargers with the move. Thanks!

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

AirgetlamAnswer

OK, I was too lazy to include it in my last post, but then I went and found it in the introduction post, straight from Sonos, here:

https://en.community.sonos.com/announcements-228985/introducing-sonos-move-brilliant-sound-anywhere-6829500

Specifically this:

Power and battery:
Move’s battery will last for up to 10 hours of uninterrupted playback. If left off the charging base and unused, Move will automatically go into suspend mode to reserve battery for up to 5 days. The battery is rechargeable with an included indoor charging base or with any USB-C charger with the following output levels: 12V/3A, 15V/3A, or 20V/2.25A. After about three years, or 900 charges, Move’s battery can easily be replaced so you can keep listening for years to come.

Bruce

Show previous replies

Airgetlam

And, the other possibility is that your particular Move might be faulty. While unlikely, it seems very odd that all of those devices wouldn’t work. I’d love to know the various amperage and voltages for all of them, but I’d think at least one would match.

It might be worth collating that data and then calling Sonos Support directly to discuss it.

I suggest the phone folks, they have more tools available because they're on the phone with you, but they are only available Monday through Friday during business hours. Both the Twitter and Facebook support folks are available 24/7.

I’m in no way suggesting that you’re incorrect, or that you haven’t tried all of those various chargers. Just trying to figure out why one wouldn’t work. Ryan S from Sonos has indicated in other threads (and I’m too lazy to go look) that there’s nothing “special” about the Sonos charger itself.

Bruce

AirgetlamAnswer

OK, I was too lazy to include it in my last post, but then I went and found it in the introduction post, straight from Sonos, here:

https://en.community.sonos.com/announcements-228985/introducing-sonos-move-brilliant-sound-anywhere-6829500

Specifically this:

Power and battery:
Move’s battery will last for up to 10 hours of uninterrupted playback. If left off the charging base and unused, Move will automatically go into suspend mode to reserve battery for up to 5 days. The battery is rechargeable with an included indoor charging base or with any USB-C charger with the following output levels: 12V/3A, 15V/3A, or 20V/2.25A. After about three years, or 900 charges, Move’s battery can easily be replaced so you can keep listening for years to come.

Bruce

Jake_11Author

Trending Lyricist I

I’m sure I read somewhere that USB-C charger for the 'Move' needs to output at any of these three levels: 12V/3A, 15V/3A, or 20V/2.25A.

Presumably the last two will charge a little quicker at 45w.

Thanks for sharing everyone! These specs are correct from Ken.

The power adapter must be USB PD. For 45W operation the PD source must put out either 20V/2.25A (or higher current) or 15V/3A (or higher current). For 36W operation the PD source must put out 12V/3A or 15V/2.4A and charging speed is reduced if listening to audio at the same time. Anything less than 36W will not power or charge Move.

As a data point regarding Macbook chargers, I just tested this out with my Move and a Macbook charging cable and it was charging just fine. We’ve also tested several chargers in the office that worked out well too. The app shows charging within a few seconds of being plugged in, and the LED lights up on the unit indicating the charge is connected (for a few seconds).

This is with the USA power block with 110 connected, but it should still work for 220 with other regions.

One thing that we’ve seen with power ports that have multiple plugs is that the manufacturer may sum up the total of each of the outputs, so you could have a USB-C that supplies 30W and the USB-A that supplies 19.5W, but the box may market it as 49W. In this case, the Move would only be getting 30W, which wouldn’t be enough to charge it.

Thanks for this - I will try my macbook pro charger again when I get home tonight but I assure you it did not work before even though it shows 15v/3A on the power brick. I assume it being 61w doesn’t matter correct? The move would only draw the 45w max right? This all being said I did return my first Move because the battery life on it was not even close to 10 hours. (3.5 hours on 75% volume, I realize the 10 hours is at 50% volume so I expected at least 5 hours at 75%). Anyways maybe my unit had other faults too and so will try with my new one later.

Ryan S

Retired Sonos Staff

Correct, no problem with the 61W on that connection. If you do run into any issues with a Macbook charger, you may have to unplug the whole charger from the wall and from the Move, then wait about a minute, and plug it back in on both sides. We’re looking into a specific issue here that has come up rarely in testing.

Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.

Jake_11Author

Trending Lyricist I

Correct, no problem with the 61W on that connection. If you do run into any issues with a Macbook charger, you may have to unplug the whole charger from the wall and from the Move, then wait about a minute, and plug it back in on both sides. We’re looking into a specific issue here that has come up rarely in testing.

Thanks Ryan - I will also report back. Y’all are welcome to my diagnostic stuff too, if needed, I can send if that would help if it does not work.

AjTrek1

Boo Hoo :disappointed_relieved: ...I feel so unappreciated. I posted the information regarding 3rd party charger requirements in this thread and over a month ago in the announcement post right here. That’s the last time I’ll do the heavy lifting if I’m just going to be ignored. Double Boo Hoo LOL

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.

Ryan S

Retired Sonos Staff

You had some excellent recommendations AjTrek1 :) Don’t feel left out!

Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.

Jake_11Author

Trending Lyricist I

Boo Hoo :disappointed_relieved: ...I feel so unappreciated. I posted the information regarding 3rd party charger requirements in this thread and over a month ago in the announcement post right here. That’s the last time I’ll do the heavy lifting if I’m just going to be ignored. Double Boo Hoo LOL

Sorry! Thank you for posting that - I was going to buy the charger actually but now that they are saying the Macbook charger should work I am going to try that again! Appreciate your help but if I can not carry any extra chargers around I would prefer that haha!

H

hampers

Contributor I

And, the other possibility is that your particular Move might be faulty. While unlikely, it seems very odd that all of those devices wouldn’t work. I’d love to know the various amperage and voltages for all of them, but I’d think at least one would match.

It might be worth collating that data and then calling Sonos Support directly to discuss it.

I suggest the phone folks, they have more tools available because they're on the phone with you, but they are only available Monday through Friday during business hours. Both the Twitter and Facebook support folks are available 24/7.

I’m in no way suggesting that you’re incorrect, or that you haven’t tried all of those various chargers. Just trying to figure out why one wouldn’t work. Ryan S from Sonos has indicated in other threads (and I’m too lazy to go look) that there’s nothing “special” about the Sonos charger itself.

Thanks guys. I will check out the specs but the majority of the wall chargers (forget the battery packs for now) are only giving out 30w on the USB-C - which I’d assume is NOT sufficient? I only had USB-C to USB-c on my travels (I only have either Macs or iPhones with me - so only need lightning/USB-C devices).

However the Mac 61w should work - so that’s odd.

I’ll re-check in the morning and see what comes out. Sadly the move went dead after a couple of days - so I couldn’t then use the app to see what else worked - as a dead Move won’t show in the bluetooth setup screen of course. The key point is though - none of them would re-charge it :-(

Thanks for the replies and pointers.

Jake_11Author

Trending Lyricist I

Correct, no problem with the 61W on that connection. If you do run into any issues with a Macbook charger, you may have to unplug the whole charger from the wall and from the Move, then wait about a minute, and plug it back in on both sides. We’re looking into a specific issue here that has come up rarely in testing.

@Ryan S I tried my MacBook charger again and no luck. Also tried an anker cable with it that also didn’t work. Are you saying that you saw this during testing and looking at it? Just trying to decide what to do. Thanks

Show more replies

Sign up

Login to the community