Sonos Reviews

On 11/15/20 I placed an order for a portable speaker my brother had raved about for some time. I had been loyal to Bose for several years and figured I’d try something new. It was a gift for my daughters birthday today (11/24/20). The company website stated that orders would be delivered within 1-5 business days giving me enough time to gift. On 11/19/20 I noticed that it still hadn’t shipped so I called Sonos to inquire on the status. After a 24min hold, the rep told me they had an overwhelming response to the sale and that my order would ship the following week (“possibly”...he said). WTF!? The next day I received an email with tracking info for delivery on 11/23/20...problem solved right?? Nope!!

I recently upgraded my home entertainment center, and was excited to install and use the Sonos brand for my new sound system. After much reading watching videos I purchased the system I wanted including the new Arc, this is where it went sideways. After my new tv was mounted I found out I would be unable to use the Sonos mount to attach to my Tv and decided to place it on my tv display cabinet instead.

Like many "tech" companies, Sonos forces through updates to your app and system that will cause connectivity issues. We have been dealing with them for 4.5 years. EVERY time they do an update, a speaker drops out. They imagine you have your speakers sitting in your lap easily unconnected and connected to all your hardware, when in reality you're picking this system to have your speakers mounted high and far. You will have to monkey around them every time they update trying to go through every configuration of reset imaginable, the whole time they will blame your hardware on the phone until you magically do some version of factory reset and everything connects...until they update and you go through this all over again. It is like this, every time. Of all the things we did in opening here, Sonos will rate as one of the largest mistakes.

Since 2014 we have owned three Play 1 and one Play 5 speakers. Overall, we have had few issues with them with the exception of the Play 5, which lost wifi and was replaced. No big deal and quite happy until recently. Sonos has "upgraded" its system so that I can no longer stream my music library from my iPhone to my speakers. To do so now I would have to either pay for a streaming service or pay for a NAS. I'm not interested in paying for a streaming service to listen to music I already own. I'm sick and tired of these amoral tech companies that dictate the manner in which you can use a product you own. Will sell all my Sonos and find a replacement.

I'm not sure what is worse, the speakers or "customer service". You can't get a hold of anyone! This product is useless and works MAYBE. My system won't connect because I simply have a new router. The Sonos One won't stop buzzing. Can't get a voice to explain exactly my problem. DON'T BUY!

I purchased a Sonos system with 6 speakers about 5 years ago. My IT person recommended it. Immediately it began to disconnect itself from any control device. We have now spent over $2000, on various suggested devices in an attempt to keep it working. We installed a Powerful router, no better. We then had to begin one by one to hard wire the speakers. Eventually we ended up with 3 that are wireless, and 3 hard wired. One speaker, Sonos 5, the most expensive one burned up. It works for a few days, then cannot connect from mobile, or desktop. Sonos is trying to force all control to mobile devices, and now won't allow setup procedures from a desktop. Run from Sonos Products.

Two years ago I bought a pair of Sonos speakers. Took about an hour to get them working. About every couple of months something would go wrong. I spend another two hours trying to get them work. Now I cannot get them to work at all. Of course, you can't get anyone at Sonos to help. They are always overwhelmed with calls. Maybe that's because their systems are so hard to set up and operate. Use at your own risk. When it takes more time trying to get your speakers to work than you spend listening to them, time to go back to analog. That's all I listen to now, my old stereo. One click of the button and it always works.

If you expect your speakers to last more than 5 years....Don't buy this product. I have been a loyal customer, and early adopter of Sonos sound gear. I have purchased 8 different products from the company and first time I called customer service about a playbar that COMPLETELY failed, Sonos response was to offer me a discount on a new device. WHAT!?!? They didn't offer to fix it, look at it, they said the best they could do was to have me buy a new product. WOW!!! After buying 8 different products from sonos I would have thought they would have had a different response. AGAIN, if you are ok with your product lasting 5 years, they this product is for you.

I was an early adopter of Sonos and I own more than a 1/2 dozen Play 5s, and a surround system with a Playbar, sub, and two Play 1s. For the first five years or so, Sonos was AWESOME!!!! Really good sound quality out of a small speaker. The only downside was that they are very expensive. Fast forward to 2020 and it's a very different story.

Consistently failing to work. Often on hold to their customer service department for hours on end to no avail. Their internal system keeps changing which means that it becomes very non-user friendly, time consuming and laborious.

I spent a fortune on speakers for my entire home! It has been fine for many years but now they aren't working with my music and they soon will no longer support order speakers! They gave the option of trading in old speakers for new ones but who's to say it won't happen again!!?? I would think twice before investing in this system!

Warning to potential customers – do NOT buy ANY Sonos products without first doing your homework on the company. Do not be misled by the many earlier, positive reviews and ignore this warning, or you will be very sorry at some point. Simply search for “Sonos Legacy Products” and you will have no difficulty finding the information.

What a dirty business model is that! One thing is clear to me: NEVER AGAIN SONOS!!!

I am a legacy owner of Sonos equipment since 2006. I have continued to make purchases for my home and as gifts. Sonos did not have a more devoted customer. I own >22 legacy devices. As all other owners were abruptly informed yesterday via email, the company will no longer support my (very expensive) system as of May 2020. These items were never sold as “limited life”. I will not make any further purchases. I feel used.

Sonos itself has become obsolete. It's about the "legacy" issue of home speakers bought a few years ago. The biggest joke is the 30% discount when you decide to trade up. The old hardware will be shut down by Sonos. Instead of trading up I would advise to abort mission and seek for alternatives. Almost all audio brands have wireless and easy to use plug and play setups. Hopefully more futureproof.

I received an email today regarding the fact that several of the products that I purchased will no longer receive updates. I am extremely disappointed and will no longer be a customer. Yes they offered a 30 % discount but I do not want to shell out grand or more for a new product that will be obsolete in 5 years again. I also own quite a bit of stock which I will be dumping asap.

Sonos is a sound system that allows you to play different music in different rooms. However, their speakers become obsolete every few years because they cannot be updated. I just received a notice that the thousands of dollars I invested is down the hole because the speaker software can't be updated anymore. I've already had to replace the bridge for ~$400, now they want me to replace my speakers, which will total over $1000. The speakers are expensive to begin with, then the company requires you to replace the obsolete speakers, and is supposedly nice enough to offer a 30% discount to buy more expensive speakers. They should be exchanged for free or pay a rental fee if they need that regular of updating.

It is rare that product upgrades remove rather than add new features. I have been a loyal Sonos Evangelist since the first products came out, and I am now looking to find replacements for my 14 zones between 2 houses. Sonos has taken away the ability to play music locally stored on an IOS device, blaming it on Apple, and offering completely inadequate workarounds.

I have been meaning to write a scathing review about Sonos' promised but undelivered results for the last 3 or so years that I've owned the speakers. After all this time trying to get my system to stabilize and respond, two things seemed to happen: There was a recent software update from Sonos, and I renamed one of my internal wifi extenders. Not sure if one or both of these changes resolved my long-term frustrations with Sonos' connectivity, but let's say that my wifi network has gone from simple to more complex and I had difficulties with the stability of the Sonos ecosystem from the very beginning.

I've had over 16 Sonos devices over the last 10+ years and it seems since the management shuffle and IPO, Sonos' support, product quality, and worst of all - SonosNet networking mesh has gone downhill. It can take weeks (3+ now and still waiting) for tech support to address common connection issues. I've had enough years as a loyal customer with this company to see this trend real-time and I can no longer recommend their products. Good Luck.

Very unreliable as it requires frequent reboots. The app frequently cannot find the system on my computer, problems playing songs, etc. They seriously need to find programmers who know what they are doing. Their support is not good as one of their pieces of advice resulted in the loss of hundreds of files.

I was informed by Sonos to return my Sonos 5 and my replacement would be shipped in 5 days upon receipt. Four weeks later no Sonos 5, calling their customer service is a disappointment, they promise and promise and promise... Secondly, I'm having issues with software upgrades as I have 3 Sonos 1's. I go through the steps and it's unable to upload. Yes, Sonos no longer my wireless speaker of choice.

They continually almost Every 2 weeks force updates to the system even if your system is functioning perfectly. If you update your phone that triggers an update via the app on your phone which will make your system non-functional until you update all your speakers. No they Require you to provide location and allow them to collect data on your system room names, how you use it etc. If you don’t agree your system is not functional that means you cannot use it. It does not say it in the user agreement when you purchase it. It only happens after you come home and try to update it. For those of us who have had the system for several years now if we don’t agree with that I previously purchased system will not work!!!

I have been a Sonos user from the days when it was a bridge.... as the products have evolved, i have upgraded. I have a soundbar, sub woofer, 6 sonos 5’s, just to give an indication of my loyalty to the brand. I have even convinced friends and family to purchase the products!! I have always bought the product from high street retailers. I recently received an offer direct from sonos, offering me a part exchange for one of my old sonos bridge. The offer was actually very good. I placed an order for another sonos sub woofer. The product arrived within 3 days.... !!! Opened it as if it was the very first sonos product I ever purchased.... only to find the beautiful lacquer surface chipped.

Bought two speakers and the amp to play my iTunes music. This was the ONLY reason I purchased Sonos in the first place. They should be sued for false advertising because I and all other Apple users can no longer play curated music, forcing customers to sign up and pay for music service. I hope someone initiates a class action suit against Sonos. I want my money back! I am a pissed off customer and will never again purchase a Sonos Combo product.

Owned Sonos for a few years now and the experience has gone down hill. The connection problems are awful with your wifi. All songs will stop playing or skip to another track mid way thru. I've contacted customer support several times but they are useless to fix the problem and will always blame it on your wifi strength and not their product. If you google anything about Sonos connectivity issues you will see hundreds of complaints about the same problem! The sound of the speakers is good, but what's the use if it skips through all of your music. I've since purchased another wireless speaker from a competitor and have no connection issues. Avoid Sonos! Now I'm stuck with one of their speakers collecting dust in the closet!

I bought a Sonos Play 1 a few months ago, not for price but because I didn't want a speaker that might be listening to me. The instructions for set up were dreadful but after a few hours it was working perfectly. Last week I decided to buy a second one to pair it with the one I already had to give me a stereo system. It was easier to set up since I knew what I was doing. I was listening to music on my existing Play 1 while setting up and pairing the second one. Once this was completed there was no sound from either. After much on-line research and several exchanges with Sonos Customer Service, I finally learned that I now have two expensive, useless speakers.

My soundbar stopped working 3 years after purchase. Sonos' solution was for me to send them my Sonos Soundbar and then they would give me a discount on buying a new one which was still over $500 dollars. I asked them why they needed the old one back because I think they are going to fix the old one and sell as refurbished rather than just charge me to fix it. They had no comment. I think that is a poor business model and I'm done using Sonos.

Updated on 08/24/2022: While the product is not that bad, there are products as good if not better out there. However, I have SONOS product so it’s "easier" to keep with the same brand (one would think). SONOS ended support for the Gen 1 product and offered clients a discount for the aggravation they had as a result, but trying to take SONOS up on their offer has been hell. Calling in and sitting on hold at least six times to be told they cannot find my discount code (after 30 to 60 minutes) and being told they will call me back when it is found but not calling back, or emailing me with no direct email to reply to and no DIRECT phone number to call that person back. This has wasted many hours of my work day (because they are not open after my work hours - of course).

I have owned an extensive Sonos Audio system for years and I think someone should put the executives at Sonos on suicide watch as they are killing their own image and reputation by alienating their customers by making their system incompatible with Apple devices. I bought their products because it was an easy way to play back my playlists from my iPhone and iPad but now I can no longer do this. I am in the real estate business and it is like I sold you a house and gave you keys to the doors but, after you bought it, I announce that you can no longer use the doors to enter your house. Many consumers now have useless Sonos products. Why are the execs at Sonos sabotaging their own customer base? Maybe we shouldn't save them if they aren't smart enough to fix this on their own?

There once was a time when you could invest in high-quality audio equipment and be assured of reliable performance for years, if not decades. Sonos does not follow that model. If you own Sonos equipment, you have to worry not only about the performance of the equipment -- which is unpredictable -- but you must also take into account that the people at Sonos might change their mind about how they prefer their equipment to work. I have spent thousands of dollars on my Sonos system, and many more thousands on a music library that I own. However, Sonos notified me that with the next update these two investments of mine will no longer be compatible. In other words, I will not be able to play back any music stored locally on my devices.

The company FORCES an update onto me. Despite my many complaints to them. It fails to give me the option of having no update. I have no idea what the updates are for, no guarantee they will work. No way to simply keep a system that works for me. This is intrusive behaviour on their part. Wholly unacceptable. The updates do NOT fix the drop-outs I often experience using Sonos, both with radio and my own music library.

Anytime there is an updates, (updates I am forced to do just before I have company over for a party), the software either hangs up, gives a stupid message such as I need to add another speaker. I have enough speakers! No other option given, and I don't know what to do. I am changing away from Sonos. Sonos software has been doing this to me for years and I am more than familiar with technology. It was fine in the beginning, for about a year before all this started. The most frustrating thing is the lack of any benefit to the updates. All I want to do is play my music. Very, very frustrating and now money being thrown away.

After months of back and forth it was finally discovered that my Sonos 5 speaker had a broken wireless bit and the speaker needed to be replaced. They said they would send me a new one and I was to send back my broken speaker. My speaker never came. After calling back they said it was out of warranty! That speaker is over $500!!! NEVER BUY SONOS!!! I think they are a scam and I am going to tell everyone!!!

Used to be great but I imagine the business has new owners as it is now colossally awful! Constant updates of the App that prevent you from using your speakers until it is updated. Often takes 20 minutes and you only know when you try and use your speakers. Awful App. Unintuitive and cannot find most of my music as has no keyword search function. No Bluetooth so cannot play Youtube. Need to create an account with a complicated password 8 digits with special characters and uppercase etc. Exactly 8 digits means 99% of people have to create and remember a special password for using their speakers. They also have stopped old equipment from working forcing people to replace their equipment. Buy Bluetooth. Much easier and less complicated.

I would appreciate the instructions to be more step by step with pictures. I am not stupid but my technology is a little dated so make it easy for me. I don't want to have to ask kids to give up their time. I should be able to do.

It has a loud sound not muffled and this little speaker is outstanding for my back yard and also inside my home. I love, love, love our Sonos speaker and I tell anyone looking for a speaker.

My daughter "convinced" me that we "needed" an in home assistance, yet I am still trying to figure out why I bought this product. It's not necessary and it's not useful to simplify life. It’s very complicated and disruptive and I feel watched. What if the device gets hacked, no privacy.

We had to hire Geek Squad to correctly get it to interact with Charter/Spectrum. It's not easy to navigate with the Logitech remote, the cable company and all the wifi interference. The last update with Sonos made our audio not work but once I complained Sonos sent me another update which worked.

I have a Sonos system consisting of two Sonos 5 speakers. They were easy to hook up, and the sound is of above average! These are the best speakers I've ever had!

I would recommend Sonos to anyone. I have indoor and outdoor speakers even around my pool. The sound and clarity is great. I am thinking about adding to my shop also. If you like music as much as I do. I know you will enjoy it also. While my neighbors are not close your neighbor will enjoy the sound also.

Excellent Speakers which allow a great amount of installation flexibility. They are costly, but well worth the money. They also allow the flexibility to effectively interface with other speaker brands (e.g., Outside speaker systems).

My Sonos system was set up and installed by the people from the technology group that installed my cable and other electronics. The system was easy to use once I finally figured out how the system worked and how to play the music outside on my pool deck.

I think that it's best for your living room, to hear the best quality of sound good system for your dollar, and your time. Music sounds like you're at a live concert or at the theater.

Sonos is a great system. I can hear one song in my bedroom and another in another room. Sound is clear without any distortion at all. However, connection to the internet and my phone was a bit difficult... Too complicated.

It's OK for providing background music. You use your own music or use one of many radio connections. I own a high quality hifi sound system so it's not used for enjoyable listening.