Powering a Sonos Play:1 with a USB-C battery pack

  • 13 May 2019
  • 6 replies
  • 4897 views

For those with lots of patience. USB-C can supply a good bit more power than the older standards.

https://medium.com/@wr/powering-a-sonos-play-1-with-a-usb-c-battery-pack-instructions-photos-de784fed2f38

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6 replies

Great questions. Dunno. I don't have the patience, for sure, lol. I use a BT speaker when I want portability.
Very interesting. I have absolutely no desire to do this kind of project as you clearly need to have some experience with this sort of thing, but the fact that you can do it brings up some points.

Does it make sense for Sonos to come up with a version of the play:1/Sonos one with a USB port for use with an external battery? Does it make sense for Sonos to just put on an onboard battery? Although this is fine for DIY project, would actually customers expect that the Speaker should work off wifi network, since it's portable?
I'm impressed with the thought that went into the original design to suppress vibration noises. Anyone following this procedure should pay attention to these details, else you'll wish that you could have the user name that I've already claimed.

A clever improvement on this design would be to develop a power pack that would attach attach to the base of the speaker.
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
For me it just seems simpler to get a power pack that has an AC output and plug the Sonos into it.

I use a BT speaker or the BT function of my hearing aids and a BT transmitter hooked to one of my ZP-80s for outside sound.
No need to DIY, Sonos is building a battery powered portable with charging base and USB-C power. And the option to use it as a Bluetooth speaker.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/9/20799366/sonos-bluetooth-portable-speaker-model-s17
Userlevel 2
Badge +2
I too have been waiting for a portable Sonos speaker.

i use a non-Sonos product for my portable needs. Will prefer the real thing!😀