Lifespan - how long do you budget for?

L
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Hi everyone - I’ve just bought a whole load of new Sonos kit for my apartment @ circa $1500 expense. My question : how long are ppl generally budgeting for that their products will last? I have a beam, 3 Ones and a move. 
 

I like to invest in things like this, and while I don’t expect they’ll last forever, I like to get value for money. I’m also not someone that always needs the newest gizmo, so as long as the speakers still work whilst more improved models come on line, I won’t feel the need to upgrade. 
 

Im budgeting for getting around 10 years out of all this stuff. Sonos say they support for 5 years after last sale (hopefully longer). Some of these products have been on sale for a few years but I’m hoping they’ll still sell for a couple of years yet. The bad press Sonos got recently around the issue also makes me think they’ll be a bit better around this next time. Anyone any views on how long you expect to get out of your products?

In 10 years time we’ll probably no longer be steaming music or using phones or the like so that seems like a reasonable return to be having to move to another system anyway. Just look at what the last decade has brought....

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14 replies

J

The bad press was  ill informed. All speakers and music streamers made by Sonos since 2005 are still usable. The very oldest can no longer be used in the same system as the very newest, but are still supported with bug fixes and security updates.

Sonos has an excellent record on this score.

Edit: actually, Sonos did make a poor job of presenting what was happening with older devices, which did encourage some of the misinformation. 

J

A further thought. You are clearly absolutely correct that we cannot imagine what music listening will look like in 10 years' time.

So it is also reassuring that even the oldest Sonos products, the ZP80 and ZP100,  can play music streaming services, even though such services did not exist when the devices were made.

A

Im budgeting for getting around 10 years out of all this stuff.

I’d have thought that you’d be OK, if you’re lucky.

My ZP90 is now ten years old and has been OK, but one of my Play 5s failed after five years. Luckily, I managed to find someone with the expertise to fix it, so I’m listening to it as I write.

Unless you’re one of these people who changes your phone all the time, just make sure that you only buy phones and tablets with the most current operating systems, otherwise you’ll end up retiring controllers that work still work perfectly with everything else.

L
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@amun @John B - Thanks for responses. All sounds good. My main concern is the move. As I mentioned on other threads, I’m concerned that the speaker continues to work perfectly well but they stop selling the replacement batteries at some stage which effectively makes it redundant once the current battery dies.

Have you any thoughts on this? Any experience of Sonos continuing to stock spares for legacy products? 
 

LB 

K

I started with Sonos in 2011 and finished with all I needed in 2014; coming from high end kit, I thought that I would be happy with seven years service life. In 2021 all my dozen or so units are working fine, so now I am greedy, to expect another five years!

The battery may be an issue; but does the Move work when on the charging base even with dying/dead batteries? If yes, this may be less of an issue.

K

Just look at what the last decade has brought....

Very little to be honest, in terms of tech. In 2011, internet radio stations were already aplenty. What has been added are streaming services, so I can't imagine that things will be vastly different in 2031. Unless there are by that time brain implants in listening centres that are connected directly to the cloud.

Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
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Aside from stuff I no longer had a use for and a couple Gen1 Play 5s that I traded up all the Sonos players I got in 2006 are still good. Today the Trade-Up deal is even better as you don’t have to give up the traded devices.

My CR-100 controllers went obsolete and my CR-200 screen died out of warranty.

The very old Bridge (I didn’t have one) went obsolete and was replaced by the Boost.

Sonos has been very generous in dealing with obsolescence, far better than any other company I have gear from.

 

L
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@Kumar - agreed, may not be much more in the listening side except for greater demand for high def. , my thinking is more on the phone / controller side. Operating systems like iOS will continue to evolve a lot  and will get to the points that the phones / apps we have can no longer connect to the legacy products. Apps on legacy iPhones start to stop working 
 

@Stanley_4 - good to know - how does it work when the cr -100 went absolute. Could you still use the speakers?

K

Apps on legacy iPhones start to stop working 

One can get the latest version of the app on the latest phone, and that will still control working Sonos hardware regardless of its age. That is the experience so far - the only issue has been that the latest apps don’t work on older phones with obsoleted operating systems. So one has to dump the phone, not Sonos kit.

K

I never had the Sonos CR products, but those that used them loved them. To the extent that some users that did not care for any Sonos upgrades have stayed on the app versions prior to Sonos obsoleting these devices. From all accounts, these users are perfectly content with their status quo, using the CR products. The only tangible loss is to those that need new zones.

Other than eye candy and some trivial stuff, Sonos has not done much via their upgrades. Hi Res is a gimmick that Sonos wisely stayed away from for many years before finally succumbing. But even here, after a year of that surrender, they do not do a full Hi Res. Not that it matters...

K

 

The very old Bridge (I didn’t have one) went obsolete and was replaced by the Boost.

 

 

To clarify: provided one is happy to stay on S1, the old bridge is still just as functional as it was when released. Boost provides a more robust network, but for many that is an overkill. Speaking as an owner of two bridges and one boost.

That brings to mind a different question: if I want to install a new Boost, can I do that while staying on S1? An academic question to me at this point in time….

106rallye
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

@Kumar The Boost is S1 capable, so that’s a “yes” to your last question.

Another reason for Sonos to advise people to stop using the Bridge is that it’s power supply is prone to intermittent failure, which leads to connection problems.

Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +22

Sonos had a nice rebate on the CR-100s when they were dropped, used that to purchase inexpensive Android tablets to replace the CRs.

The Bridge does still work but it uses much older and slower technology also the power supply is known to have voltage fluctuations. I’d not buy one used to add to my system today though.

K

 

The Bridge does still work but it uses much older and slower technology also the power supply is known to have voltage fluctuations. I’d not buy one used to add to my system today though.

Based on the clarification above that Boost works on S1 as well, no one adding that functionality to any Sonos system needs to look at getting a Bridge, which would be a used product, with an unknown service life left in it.

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