When it number to wireless audio , there ’s one brand that dominates the landscape : Sonos . It feels like it ’s been around forever , and in a room , it has . The company practically make the wireless audio family when it launched its first mathematical product in 2002 , and many still consider it to be the gilded standard .
And yet , in May 2024 the company experienced a massive catastrophe . Arushed update to the Sonos softwarerendered many of its products unusable , while also removing some of its customer ’ favorite features . A company - wideeffort to fix the problemsensued . Eight months later , thing still were n’t back to normal , and the caller ’s boardfired farsighted - prison term CEO Patrick Spencein January 2025 .
Where does that leave Sonos and its customers , and would you be crazy to buy Sonos product yield what has happen ?
We ’ll address these questions , but first , allow ’s go back to the beginning and cover all things Sonos . The speakers , the software , and everything in between . lease ’s dig into it .
What is Sonos?
Sonos is an audio ship’s company that specialise in wireless , multi - room systems . It started in 2002 with software program and hardware that rent people fiddle their personal digital music collections wirelessly using their existing speakers and amplifiers , and then apace expanded into designing and sell all - in - onewireless speakers .
Those talker now admit portable models that cost as picayune as $ 120 to fullDolby Atmos - able home theatersoundbarsthat cost almost $ 1,000 . Sonos designed and power Ikea’sSymfoniskrange of affordable home - décor speaker ; it sell anarchitectural seriesof indoor and outdoor speakers built by Sonance , and it lately created a wired - only version of its popularEra 100 loudspeaker system for the professional installer market .
All of Sonos ’ ironware product , as well as those Ikea Symfonisk speaker unit , are controlled by the Sonos software system , which typically go as a mobile app on your phone or tablet . Sonos ’ software system is its unavowed sauce and it ’s responsible for three independent activity : setting up new Sonos factor in your home , adjusting the configurations on those components ( including grouping them when you want to do so ) , and helping you rule and toy any euphony that you own or have access to viamusic cyclosis services , on any ( or all ) of your Sonos intersection .
If someone were to ask us what makes Sonos dissimilar from other company that make nifty wireless speakers , the answer is easy : It ’s the software . That ’s why the May 2024 software system update was such a debacle . By cave so many core features , Sonos took its with child asset and turn it into a monolithic indebtedness . It was so problematic , it all overshadow two of the company ’s most interesting mathematical product launches in years : its first earpiece ( the Sonos Ace)and its better Dolby Atmos soundbar so far ( the Arc Ultra ) .
We ’ll lecture more about the app in a moment .
The Sonos product lineup
Here ’s everything that Sonos currently sells :
Wireless music speakers
Soundbars and subwoofers
Battery-powered, Bluetooth-enabled portable speakers
Components that work with non-Sonos audio gear
Headphones
Professional audio
Finally , Sonos cook a series of accessories like wall climb , floor resist , and overseas telegram , plus it has partnered with Sonance to sell three sort of “ architectural ” non - amplified speakers for use with the Sonos Amp : A ceiling utterer , an in - rampart verbaliser , and a weather condition - proof out-of-door speaker .
- Voice - enable sassy talker
Sonos smart speakers
Some of Sonos ’ speakers can double as voice supporter - powered impertinent speakers .
As you could see in the tilt above ( denoted with an * ) , the Sonos Roam 2 , Era 100 , Era 300 , Move 2 , Beam Gen 2 , and Arc Ultra are all vocalization - enable . However they do n’t all offer the same vocalization assistant choices .
Initially , Sonos offered a pick of Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa on its vocalism - enable speakers . It then added its ownSonos Voice Control(SVC ) as a third alternative . This is still true on the now - discontinued Sonos Arc , Move , One , and Roam . However , most of its current card — with the exception of the Beam Gen 2 — are only compatible with Amazon Alexa and SVC .
Sonos says this is due to a change that Google made to its third - party talker technical requirements prior to the debut of the Era 100 and 300 in March 2023 , however we mistrust it has more to do with nipping copulation between the two technical school party : Sonos come through a central patent dispute against Googlein 2022 .
For each of your vocalisation - capable Sonos product , you select either Google Assistant ( where keep going ) or Alexa in the Sonos app . Each voice speaker can run its own AI — so you could have Google Assistant in the kitchen and Alexa in the living way — but you ca n’t run both AI simultaneously on one verbalizer . The elision to this is Alexa and Sonos Voice Control , which can both be active on one equipment , or you may use SVC on its own .
Once enabled , you may do moderately much anything with these AIs that you may do on other smart speakers that pop the question these supporter , like need for the atmospheric condition , controlling impudent home devices , and more . But one of the good features is being able-bodied to use these Bradypus tridactylus to wreak medicine on any Sonos product in your rest home , whether or not that intersection is itself a voice - able verbaliser .
Sonos speaker unit can also be controlled by third - political party smart loudspeaker system and voice assistant . The setup depart count on the wise speaker . For instance , you’re able to use Siri to control Sonos speakers , but they must first be added to the Apple Home app .
What is “Works with Sonos?”
Some third - company product likeAV receiversor wireless turntables are designed to sour seamlessly with Sonos organisation . constituent . Some , like home mechanisation solutions from Crestron and Ikea , can take control of Sonos speakers and ingredient , while other products , likeVictrola ’s Stream turntable , embed Sonos functionality so that you do n’t have to buy additional constituent . The Stream act as its own line - in alternative within the Sonos app .
Normally if you want toconnect a turntable to your Sonos system , it would demand a middleman part like a Sonos Port with its own line - in . To help mass name these product , Sonos created the Works with Sonos label , which you ’ll find on product boxes and product websites .
How much does Sonos cost?
The first whole step into the Sonos ecosystem can be as low as $ 120 — the cost of its most low-cost talker , the Ikea - brandedSymfonisk Bookshelf Speaker . From there , the sky ’s the limit .
You ’ll come up speakers and constituent for a mixed bag of way sizes and hearing activities , includingportable speakers , ceiling - mounted architectural speakers , out-of-door speaker , and soundbars , include the $ 999 Dolby Atmos - capableSonos Arc Ultrawhich can be used on its own or with additional Sonos speakers for a full home theater of operations parcel . The Sonos app is innocent to download .
The Sonos app and what went wrong
Sonos has always made great - sounding speakers . However , if you call for its biggest fans , it ’s the ship’s company ’s software package that has traditionally set it apart from the competition . The Sonos app for roving platforms ( Android , iOS ) and desktop motorcar ( Windows , MacOS ) is a one - stop shop for all your Sonos penury . It helps you go down up your young component in seconds , it let you see and manage every Sonos product in your sign of the zodiac , and it can play together your streaming Robert William Service and your personal music collection so you do n’t have to bounce around from one app to another .
It also give you chondritic ascendancy over every loudspeaker system in your abode . you could prefer a unlike strain or playlist for each speaker , group several speakers together to trifle the same content , or synchronize all of the speakers so that the euphony you ’re hear to follows you from room to room .
Digital Trends and many other issue heaped congratulations on the Sonos app for its simplicity and power . For years , it turn up nautical mile better thanthe alternatives from company like Denon or Bluesound .
Then May 2024 rolled around and the company set in motion a massive redesign . In an drive to lose weight the identification number of steps it take for people to find and play medicine , it removed the tabbed construction family had become habitual to , and effectively made the habitation varlet an “ everything ” show .
Far from making things easy , it made them more perplexing . But what infuriated customers — and in the end led to the departure of Sonos ’ CEO — was the identification number of features that had run low pretermit , and the huge bead in overall system reactivity and reliability .
Even the app ’s universal search , once the estimable in its class , seemed to have taken a step back in quality .
If there ’s one silver lining , it ’s that along with the redesign , Sonos launched its first entanglement - based software package . Now , anyone with a Sonos score can login tohttps://play.sonos.com/and get at any of their Sonos system ( ready to hand if you have more than one place ) from anywhere in the world .
Two systems, two apps
talk of owning more than one Sonos organisation , in 2020 Sonos announce that some of its older products would stop receive updates .
If owner of these “ legacy ” products continue to use them alongside newer Sonos production , they were warned , none of the products would receive plotted updates . The initial Leslie Townes Hope was that these customer would accepta 30 % discounton new product for every bequest production they agreed to “ trade in . ” Except it was n’t a true trade in program . Instead of take in customers send back their bequest power train , Sonos remotely forced them into a recycle mode that picture them completely unusable , in effect relegating them to the landfill .
This touched off afirestorm of controversyand finally caused Sonos CEO Patrick Spence tobacktrack on the terminal figure of the barter - in program .
Today , any bequest Sonos product will still lick , and Sonos has committed to keeping them operational for as long as possible , but with the following caveats :
To make this work , Sonos split its single control app into two translation : The S1 app is now stringently for legacy products and/or any component that you are fine with not receiving updates . Its functionality will never meliorate , and in fact , many of its current features may vanish over prison term . The S2 app is the current Sonos app and it will get all raw update as they are release . Most of Sonos ’ newer products only work on the S2 app .
Sonos legacy products include the first - generation Play:5 speaker , the first - generation Connect and Connect : Amp , five interpretation of the original Zone Player , the Bridge , and the CR200 .
How do I get Sonos to work with my existing audio gear?
From wakeless source like vinyl - spinningturntablesto standard candle players , and speech sound organization like your classic Marantz receiving system with vintage Klipsch speakers , Sonos is able-bodied to mix all of these existing component into its wireless , whole - nursing home ecosystem .
To act as records , atomic number 48 , cassette tapes , or even the auditory sensation from a TV through a Sonos system of rules ’s verbalizer , you ’ll require a Sonos product that can accept an analogue or digital “ dividing line - in . ” The Port , the Amp , the Five , and both the Era 100 and 300 verbaliser accept analog sources like turntable , cassette decks , or certificate of deposit player . For digital sources , the Sonos Amp , Beam Gen 2 , and Arc Ultra can accept HDMI or optical connectedness , while the Ray works with just optical .
Once connected , these germ can be access in two slipway :
you could also use the Sonos system of rules as a source for any of your amplified or non - amplified speakers .
If you have anAV receiveror a stereointegrated amplifier , you already have a source of elaboration for your talker . In this case , connecting a Sonos Port via its parallel or digital end product will effectively work your amplified speakers into a Sonos speaker unit . If you have a set of non - amplified loudspeaker , you’re able to hard - wire them to a Sonos Amp , which has a built - in amplifier that ’s powerful enough for up to two pairs of small or large speakers .
Music sources on Sonos
Sonos proffer the ability to trifle music from a all-inclusive range of source , including :
Your personal music collection
If you have a appeal of digital music located on a PC , web - tie warehousing ( NAS ) drive , or an Android mobile twist ( for iOS users , see our incision on AirPlay 2 , below ) , Sonos can play it , along with any playlists you may have created . The computer software can also run down and index your iTunes subroutine library if that ’s how you ’ve chosen to organize your music . support sound formats include MP3 , MP4 , M4A , WMA , AAC and HE - AAC , OGG , FLAC , ALAC , AIFF , and WAV .
Connected sound sources
Sonos also work out with external analogue and digital audio equipment . This can admit a turntable , CD remunerator , or tape deck , but also your TV , through an opthalmic orHDMI ARC / eARCconnection . You ’ll require specific Sonos components to make this piece of work ( see theHow do I get Sonos to bring with my exist audio gear?section , above ) .
Apple Music, Spotify, and other streaming music services
Sonos also flirt nicely with tons ofstreaming music services . Here ’s just a modest choice of compatible options :
In fact , Sonos indorse more streaming services than any other multi - elbow room euphony organization . It also tender its own streaming euphony service calledSonos Radio — in both free and pay tier up — as a homegrown alternative .
Is Sonos compatible with hi-res and lossless audio?
To a point , yes . Sonos can handlelosslessmusic file up to 24 - bit/48 kHz , which is better than CD quality , and generally consideredhi - resaudio . To get this level of quality , your system of rules will require to be running on the S2 version of the Sonos app and your medicine source will need to defend it too .
For medicine files in your personal library , this imply eitherFLACorALACformats . Uncompressed AIFF and WAV files are also stand , but only up to 16 - bit .
Lossy format , like MP3 , MP4 , and M4A will all stream at bitrates of up to 320kbps .
When it comes to streaming medicine service , Sonos is currently compatible with 24 - bit/48kHz hi - res audio frequency from Apple Music , Amazon Music and Qobuz , but with one important caveat : If you attempt to rain buckets a Hawaii - res caterpillar tread from these service with a sampling frequency that ’s higher than 48kHz ( which is quite usual — many hi - rhenium tracks are 96 or 192kHz ) , the entire track will be delivered at lossless 16 - bit/44.1kHz CD - calibre instead .
Wi-Fi, AirPlay, and Bluetooth
Depending on your Sonos merchandise , there are three different ways to stream music .
Despite its on-going problems , for the best possible audio quality , you should utilize the Sonos app . Doing so preserves the most amount of item from your music source , whether it ’s idle words from Apple Music or your favorite grease tracks from your personal subroutine library .
The Sonos app do a kind of removed control , telling each speaker in your system what to wreak , and where to find it . Because of that , you’re able to begin a music session and then leave the house and the music will toy on ; it does n’t necessitate your phone to deposit around . Anyone else in your family with the Sonos app can takeover curb the euphony at any meter . They can also tally to your play list or replace it with their own .
The second means , is usingApple AirPlay 2 . This only applies to Sonos owners who also own Apple devices , and you ’ll need an AirPlay 2 - compatible Sonos product . Since every Sonos and Ikea Symfonisk gimmick made since 2017 has AirPlay 2 , this in all probability is n’t a big restriction .
AirPlay 2 is very convenient . You come to fun in any audio app on your iPhone or iPad , look for the AirPlay ikon , then choose your Sonos speaker(s ) from the tilt of useable gadget . And even if you have other Sonos speakers that ca n’t do AirPlay 2 , they can nevertheless share that AirPlay 2 stream if you aggroup them with the AirPlay 2 speaker in the Sonos app . But AirPlay 2 also has two key limitations .
First , it streams all audio using the lossy AAC format at a 256kbps bitrate . For most folks , this is fine , but audiophiles wo n’t be felicitous with the lack of fidelity . secondly , it needs your equipment for playback . If you quit your audio app , move around off your phone , or leave the house , the music will intercept .
The third selection isBluetooth . All phones have a Bluetooth connexion , but only a fistful of current Sonos speakers support it : The Arc Ultra , Era 100 , epoch 300 , Roam 2 , and Move 2 . Bluetooth is just as convenient as AirPlay 2 , and more various : you may utilize Bluetooth anywhere , whereas AirPlay 2 requires a home connection .
Just like AirPlay , Bluetooth uses a lossy contour of compressed sound . Again , you might not be bothered by it — for perfunctory listening , it should be just okay . As with AirPlay 2 , Bluetooth requires a constant connectedness between the speaker and the phone .
Sonos’ future
Not that we want to downplay the severity of Sonos ’ software package mishap , after all , it ’s now been 8 months since the botched update and many mass ’s Sonos systems are still experiencing buggy cognitive operation . That said , it ’s a software package problem , not a hardware problem . finally , the company will once again have an app that makes using Sonos products as much of a joy as it is to listen to them .
Still , that day is n’t here yet and citizenry are rightly askingwhether they should purchase Sonos speakers , or even consider selling the ace they own .
Especially now that Sonos ’ board has instal a new interim CEO who has a recondite history in the streaming music world , we think survive Sonos owners should stay the form . Now ’s not a enceinte time to betray used Sonos equipment , and the cost of switching to a contender could be considerable . Sonos has a prove rail book of making consistently heavy ironware . If it can get back to its etymon on the software side , there ’s no cause it ca n’t rectify its crown .
On the other hand , if you do n’t own any Sonos products and you ’re looking into whole - rest home music systems , we encourage you toexplore the alternative . Even before the software update gaffe , many of these companies likeBluesound , Denon , andWiimhad made big stride in narrowing the disruption with Sonos and you could carry them to work even harder now to win over Sonos customers .
