Fuck you, Sonos
I’ve reached a breaking point. How is this even possible? How can a company I would have rated 10/10 stars ten years ago now be considered a 0/10 stars? Sonos was never a cheap brand, but in November 2012, when I started with a Sonos Bridge, a Play:5 (Gen 1), and a Play:3, it was worth the investment. It was one of the first products to offer perfectly synchronized wireless sound across multiple speakers and rooms, allowing streaming from all providers. It was a dream. Not only that, but it worked reliably, just as I expect a sound system to function: don’t bother me with updates and configuration; I just want to listen to music. I had the Play:5 in my living room and the Play:3 in my bedroom.
In October 2013, I bought a Play:1 for my bathroom. The small speaker looked cute and stylish.
In June 2014, I bought a Sonos Playbar to connect to my TV, and I was amazed by the sound quality. While watching an episode of Friends, I could hear conversations in the background of the scene. It was the first time I experienced such excellent sound from a TV, as I had always relied on the built-in speakers.
In 2019, my first device, the Sonos Bridge, broke down and stopped working. I felt disappointed but thought, “Okay, it’s 7 years old; it was a great product.” I replaced it with a Sonos Boost and received an upgrade offer. However, in 2020, my Play:5 also failed, leaving me puzzled. Again, after just 7 years? The speakers from my childhood sound system still worked after 20 years, and that was a cheap €80 system with two cassette decks, a 3-CD player, and two speakers—not a device that cost over €500. I was skeptical and frustrated but received an upgrade offer for a Sonos Five for just €400. So, I accepted the upgrade. The box was fantastic and looked beautiful, so I ordered a second one that same month to use as a stereo pair. Later, I connected it to the Playbar to create a surround sound system. I was thrilled with the sound quality and the overall experience.
In May 2024, the company released a completely redesigned app that faced widespread criticism. The update, which Sonos claimed would provide “a new look and feel,” was plagued by bugs, missing features, and performance issues.
Sonos CEO Patrick Spence initially defended the redesign, controversially claiming it took “courage,” but the backlash continued to grow. By October 2024, the company announced steps to increase transparency and extend product warranties to regain customer trust. The controversy ultimately led to Spence’s resignation in January 2025.
The app performed poorly, so I primarily used Spotify’s device connection feature to play music on my speakers. However, I had started listening to podcasts, which reduced my music consumption, so I didn’t notice the pain too often. I continued using the Sonos system, but I was no longer satisfied with it. The app was slow and buggy, and the music didn’t start or stop immediately when I pressed the button.
In March 2025, the system suddenly stopped working and became unreachable. I followed all the advice in the documentation, watched YouTube videos, and tried everything I could: shut down the WLAN, disconnected all the speakers, restarted the router, and reconnected everything. I used Grok AI in voice mode to guide me through the troubleshooting steps. It helped me to factory reset each device and connect the boxes directly to my router with LAN cables to upgrade the firmware. It was a nightmare. I nearly had a nervous breakdown, and the process took over five hours. Finally, the system was working again.
This morning, I wanted to start my music for my sports session, but I received the error message again. I was so frustrated that I decided I would never buy or replace a Sonos product again. I’m done with it. I’ve had enough. I’m tired of the company, the app, and the products. I’m fed up with not being able to listen to music without worrying about how to make it work. I’m also tired of having to factory reset my devices every few months just to get them to function properly.
This time, I managed to get it running again by turning off my WLAN, restarting both my mobile devices, and reconnecting one of my speakers to the WLAN. I then waited 10 minutes for an update to install, which took only 1.5 hours total time to resolve the issue. However, Sonos has disappointed me one too many times. I’m done. I will now search for replacement products for music and a TV sound system. The next time a product breaks down, I’ll throw it in the garbage, where it belongs.