Life after Sonos
Discussion
Ten weeks ago we ended our seven year relationship with Sonos.
Why did a relationship that started with such promise and excitement come to an end? After all we’d made a pretty significant commitment to one another and had expanded to some thirteen zones around the house. Nearly every room had Sonos in. Sonos was ever present in our lives.
But over the past couple of years we had started to hit problems. The drops outs, the all too frequent and disruptive updates. A wife and children who just didn’t like the Sonos app and unit interfaces. We just got to a stage where the attraction had waned. Those little annoying habits of zones (or even half a zone) disappearing at random, the repeated updates from which some units wouldn’t return, the raised volume that buttons couldn’t control, the phone deceit where one iPhone would be hiding devices that another could see - even when the phones were side by side!
And then it got worse. Latterly my wife wouldn’t have anything to do with Sonos. My children wouldn’t use it except for parties and have now owned up to the fact that they and their friends didn’t like Sonos as much as I thought they did.
Bit by bit we started to spend time with other systems, even starting to seek reliability in standalone Bluetooth speakers rather than extending Sonos into another room. We found that we were increasingly going back to our first love of Beolink between our B&O audio and TV systems. Then younger, stylish B&O Multiroom devices moved into the house happily bringing old and new B&O units together. After a while Sonos just seemed plain, tired, unreliable, unexciting and increasingly unloved.
Then I decided it was over. One failed update too far pushed me to say “it’s you, not me” and was done. In early May Sonos was packed into three large boxes and moved out.
What do I miss?
Well first I should take the opportunity to thank Sonos for introducing me a wealth of music and artists that I would not have otherwise discovered. Spotify then Deezer and Qoboz all took me to musical places I would not have otherwise explored.
But, what do I actually miss?
I’ve thought long and hard about this. There really is very little. About the only thing that I can come up with is the Sonos OS X app. But the sexy Danish seductresses have other techniques that compensate for that.
What could Sonos learn from this experience?
This is far more than a seven year itch. Yes, following some counselling (help desk) we did try to patch up the connectivity problems by going hard wired for a number of zones but continuing with this seemed like a compromise and too much of a disruption. Device, iOS and OS X app updates were just too frequent and problematic. We never knew just what kind of state Sonos would come back from an update in. The product has to be reliable and usable and not require constant updates, fiddling or technical competence to keep it going. All we want to do is play music not play sysadmin.
Sonos does needs to work on its appearance and improve the interfaces. The Sonos iOS app just has too many hops to get to where you want to be. One of the reasons for this is that it lacks Bluetooth, AirPlay and Google cast; sorry Sonos, you’re getting on a bit now and to remain appealing you need to get back in shape and keep up with these latest fashions. Bridging into other systems would be good as well (has the promised Alexa interaction arrived yet?) With our Scandinavian around the house we now go to a TV, use the remote control to open Deezer, pick a flow or an album/playlist and we’re cutting a rug all around the place.
Sonos, you definitely need to become more tactile. Your physical interaction has gone stale. The ease of walking into a room, touching a device and it joining in with what’s playing in another room is wonderful. No app reqiuired. The ability to stroke (it’s either that or caress to describe the action) a Beosound 1 and change track, radio station, even the music source is quite sensual. App based interfaces aren’t always sufficient; sometime a little more physical intimacy is required. And a remote you can fondle is useful as well.
The strangest surprise of all has been visual. Play 5s, 3s and 1s aren’t exactly large and we put some thought into where they were placed, but some rooms seem more spacious now they have gone. You couldn’t but notice the Play 5s in the kitchen and although a BeoSound 1 is far more visually striking, funnily enough you don’t see it as much. It just has the knack of blending in to any room it’s in.
When Sonos moved out I did feel a slight tinge of regret that after so long it had come to an end. But the separation settlement was very amicable and even after seven years I recouped all the money I had spent and so we parted on good terms. Best of all, my wife and I now enjoy listening to music together again.
Why did a relationship that started with such promise and excitement come to an end? After all we’d made a pretty significant commitment to one another and had expanded to some thirteen zones around the house. Nearly every room had Sonos in. Sonos was ever present in our lives.
But over the past couple of years we had started to hit problems. The drops outs, the all too frequent and disruptive updates. A wife and children who just didn’t like the Sonos app and unit interfaces. We just got to a stage where the attraction had waned. Those little annoying habits of zones (or even half a zone) disappearing at random, the repeated updates from which some units wouldn’t return, the raised volume that buttons couldn’t control, the phone deceit where one iPhone would be hiding devices that another could see - even when the phones were side by side!
And then it got worse. Latterly my wife wouldn’t have anything to do with Sonos. My children wouldn’t use it except for parties and have now owned up to the fact that they and their friends didn’t like Sonos as much as I thought they did.
Bit by bit we started to spend time with other systems, even starting to seek reliability in standalone Bluetooth speakers rather than extending Sonos into another room. We found that we were increasingly going back to our first love of Beolink between our B&O audio and TV systems. Then younger, stylish B&O Multiroom devices moved into the house happily bringing old and new B&O units together. After a while Sonos just seemed plain, tired, unreliable, unexciting and increasingly unloved.
Then I decided it was over. One failed update too far pushed me to say “it’s you, not me” and was done. In early May Sonos was packed into three large boxes and moved out.
What do I miss?
Well first I should take the opportunity to thank Sonos for introducing me a wealth of music and artists that I would not have otherwise discovered. Spotify then Deezer and Qoboz all took me to musical places I would not have otherwise explored.
But, what do I actually miss?
I’ve thought long and hard about this. There really is very little. About the only thing that I can come up with is the Sonos OS X app. But the sexy Danish seductresses have other techniques that compensate for that.
What could Sonos learn from this experience?
This is far more than a seven year itch. Yes, following some counselling (help desk) we did try to patch up the connectivity problems by going hard wired for a number of zones but continuing with this seemed like a compromise and too much of a disruption. Device, iOS and OS X app updates were just too frequent and problematic. We never knew just what kind of state Sonos would come back from an update in. The product has to be reliable and usable and not require constant updates, fiddling or technical competence to keep it going. All we want to do is play music not play sysadmin.
Sonos does needs to work on its appearance and improve the interfaces. The Sonos iOS app just has too many hops to get to where you want to be. One of the reasons for this is that it lacks Bluetooth, AirPlay and Google cast; sorry Sonos, you’re getting on a bit now and to remain appealing you need to get back in shape and keep up with these latest fashions. Bridging into other systems would be good as well (has the promised Alexa interaction arrived yet?) With our Scandinavian around the house we now go to a TV, use the remote control to open Deezer, pick a flow or an album/playlist and we’re cutting a rug all around the place.
Sonos, you definitely need to become more tactile. Your physical interaction has gone stale. The ease of walking into a room, touching a device and it joining in with what’s playing in another room is wonderful. No app reqiuired. The ability to stroke (it’s either that or caress to describe the action) a Beosound 1 and change track, radio station, even the music source is quite sensual. App based interfaces aren’t always sufficient; sometime a little more physical intimacy is required. And a remote you can fondle is useful as well.
The strangest surprise of all has been visual. Play 5s, 3s and 1s aren’t exactly large and we put some thought into where they were placed, but some rooms seem more spacious now they have gone. You couldn’t but notice the Play 5s in the kitchen and although a BeoSound 1 is far more visually striking, funnily enough you don’t see it as much. It just has the knack of blending in to any room it’s in.
When Sonos moved out I did feel a slight tinge of regret that after so long it had come to an end. But the separation settlement was very amicable and even after seven years I recouped all the money I had spent and so we parted on good terms. Best of all, my wife and I now enjoy listening to music together again.
scovette said:
but I can't see a bright future for them?
Although it didn't work for us I do hope that Sonos does have a bright future. They certainly developed the market for wireless music players and deserve to thrive. I wrote the post for a bit of therapy, hopefully a bit of light hearted entertainment but also to flag up some of the shortcomings that I hope they can overcome. Edited by scovette on Wednesday 26th July 18:47
But - it's a fast moving game now and they need to up theirs.
Phooey said:
Thanks talkssense.
I was thinking of the M5, A6, or Beosound 1 or 2 for our small kitchen. Really like the look of the B2 but not sure if it'll be overkill for a small room? Need to pop to B&O Lincoln for a demo!
Beosound 1 looks good in a kitchen and has the advantage of battery power portability as well. . Personally I think the BS2 looks better on the floor. I was thinking of the M5, A6, or Beosound 1 or 2 for our small kitchen. Really like the look of the B2 but not sure if it'll be overkill for a small room? Need to pop to B&O Lincoln for a demo!
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