{"id":615595,"date":"2023-03-08T08:49:15","date_gmt":"2023-03-08T14:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/08\/sonos-had-a-come-to-jesus-moment-over-bluetooth\/"},"modified":"2023-03-08T08:49:15","modified_gmt":"2023-03-08T14:49:15","slug":"sonos-had-a-come-to-jesus-moment-over-bluetooth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/08\/sonos-had-a-come-to-jesus-moment-over-bluetooth\/","title":{"rendered":"Sonos had a come-to-Jesus moment over Bluetooth"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It can be hard for brands to admit when they got something wrong \u2014 especially when they\u2019ve spent time, money, and customer trust on a message. But taking a sober second look at a previous strategy, particularly when customers are telling you it\u2019s not what they want, can be a necessary, if painful step.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where Sonos finds itself today. With the launch of the company\u2019s newest wireless speakers \u2014 the $249 Era 100 and $449 Era 300<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 several previously held beliefs about what makes for a great home audio experience have been revised or tossed out entirely.<\/p>\n

\"Sonos
A Bluetooth button features prominently on the Sonos Era 300.<\/span> Simon Cohen \/ Digital Trends<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Perhaps the biggest change has been a rethink of Bluetooth<\/a>. In the past, Sonos hasn\u2019t just refused to support the wireless technology that\u2019s embedded in every single smartphone on the planet \u2014 it has openly mocked other companies\u2019 Bluetooth speakers, most notably in a 2016 series of ads that featured the tagline \u201cyou\u2019re better than this\u201d \u2014 a reference to the ways in which Bluetooth speakers can undermine a listening experience.<\/p>\n

As of March 7, the company has four Bluetooth-capable speakers, including the newly launched Era 100 and Era 300, plus the existing Roam<\/a> and Move<\/a> portable speakers. Why the change? \u201cBluetooth has gotten better,\u201d Sonos CEO Patrick Spence told me at the Era launch event in New York City. \u201cIt\u2019s gotten more ubiquitous, but it\u2019s also much more reliable than it used to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

That may be true. But Sonos\u2019 reluctance to embrace Bluetooth even long after it had proven itself to be a useful and reliable technology makes one suspect that there also was an ideological flavor to the company\u2019s stance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got a little religious over Wi-Fi versus Bluetooth,\u201d Spence admits. He\u2019s still a fan of Wi-Fi, the wireless tech that propelled the company to its current standing as the king of the whole-home multiroom audio experience, but it appears that he\u2019s ready to set aside some preconceived notions about what it means to deliver that experience. \u201cI think you have to be humble enough to listen to customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sonos
A USB-C port seen on the back of a Sonos Era 100.<\/span> Simon Cohen \/ Digital Trends<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As an example of Sonos\u2019 newfound humility, Spence points to the fact that the Era 100 and Era 300 have a USB-C port that can be used with optional dongles to pipe in external sources of audio, like a turntable.<\/p>\n

The Era series aren\u2019t the first Sonos speakers to do this \u2014 the Sonos Five<\/span> (formerly the Play:5) has an analog input too. But now that these three speakers make up the mainline of the company\u2019s in-home, music-focused products, it\u2019s a big shift from the days when there were almost no external inputs in the Sonos universe.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, now that Bluetooth is very much on the table for Sonos, there may even be an appetite to do more than simply allow Bluetooth connections to these speakers.<\/p>\n

In 2021, the company took its first foray into better-than-CD-quality audio with support for 24-bit\/48kHz lossless music<\/a> from the streaming service Qobuz. Similar support arrived for Amazon Music<\/a> later that year. So when I asked Spence if Sonos was willing to look at high-quality Bluetooth codecs<\/a>, like LDAC or aptX Adaptive, which are capable of much higher audio quality than the currently supported AAC and SBC, I was surprised when he said he was open to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no religion other than, \u2018Can we deliver a great experience?\u2019\u201d he said. Spence did express some doubt as to whether these codecs were reliable enough to maintain a high level of quality, but remains willing to implement them if they can be made to work. \u201cIt\u2019s about the quality of that connection. That\u2019s all that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sonos
Sonos<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This willingness to reconsider the way Sonos products work extends into the company\u2019s current thinking around the new Era 300. The speaker was designed primarily to offer an immersive music listening experience via its Dolby Atmos<\/a>-compatible spatial audio architecture. It also works as a Dolby Atmos-enhancing surround speaker when used in conjunction with an Arc or a Beam Gen 2, but it doesn\u2019t do TV-based Dolby Atmos<\/a> on its own or in a stereo pair.<\/p>\n

I pointed out that both Apple and Amazon\u2019s Atmos-capable smart speakers (the Echo Studio<\/a> and HomePod Gen 2<\/a>) work as TV speakers (when paired with their respective streaming devices) and asked if Sonos might change course. \u201cWe haven\u2019t seen a lot of people actually using [the HomePod] that way,\u201d Spence said. \u201cMost people are still picking up a soundbar instead.\u201d Still, like the move toward ubiquitous Bluetooth, he\u2019s willing to let Sonos users be the judge. \u201cIf customers are showing us that this is the way they want to enjoy home theater, we\u2019ll figure out how to support it.\u201d<\/p>\n

That shift could happen sooner than later. Spence said that he\u2019s been thinking a lot about how to remove the HDMI cable from the company\u2019s soundbars, \u201cI\u2019ve been pushing the team for a long time \u2014 I don\u2019t want a wire to the soundbar at all. Let\u2019s make it even easier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Technical hurdles still remain and, once again, he underlined the importance of reliability, but it\u2019s quite clear that Spence wants Sonos to be even better than it is now.<\/p>\n

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