As much as you’d want to have all your devices get continuous updates, all good things must eventually come to an end, at least in the world of technology. Sonos announced that some of their legacy products, or rather their “oldest products”, will stop receiving software updates later this year. While you can still use these products as long as they’re working, it will not be receiving any more new features and updates so they might eventually get stale as well.
Sonos identified the following products as the ones that will be sunsetted (or at least their software updates) by May 2020: “original Zone Players, Connect, and Connect:Amp (launched in 2006; includes versions sold until 2015), first-generation Play:5 (launched 2009), CR200 (launched 2009), and Bridge (launched 2007).” You can always go to your Sonos.com account and check in the system tab to see if your device is one of those that will be losing support.
If you do have one of the hardware in the list, you have two options once software support has ended. The first is to continue using it but you will not receive any more support or new features for it. The second option is to upgrade to a newer Sonos product. And to help you out with that, they will be offering a 30% credit for each legacy device that will be part of the trade-in program.
Once you participate in this program, your device will be put in “Recycle Mode”, meaning all of your personally identifiable information will be wiped clean. You can then take it to a nearby “certified e-recycling facility”. But if there’s none near you, Sonos asks you to ship it back to them and they’ll even pay for the shipping fee for it. You get a new device and your old one gets to be properly recycled.
There is no specific date in May 2020 yet as to when the devices will officially be sunsetted, software update wise. So for now, enjoy the last five months when you will still be able to maximize your legacy device.
