Sonos scraps its controversial ‘recycle’ program that purposefully BRICKED older models of speakers
- Sonos will scrap its controversial ‘recycle’ program that bricked older speakers
- The company is letting customers decide what happens to their old devices
- It will continue to run its trade-in program that gives discounts on new speakers
- Legacy devices are still slated to be phased out in May
Sonos is backtracking on a program that rendered older speakers being exchanged in its trade-up program useless.
Instead of automatically ‘bricking’ – a term for making the devices unusable – speakers being traded in, customers can now choose the fate of the device, including holding onto it and continuing to use it for however long they wish.
They can also choose to send the hardware back to Sonos so that the company can responsibly recycle it if they no longer wish to keep them.
Sonos is choosing not to move forward with its ‘recycle’ program that would brick old speaker models and force customers to
While the company’s controversial ‘recycle’ mode will be nixed, it will still continue to offer a trade-up program that allows users to cash-in on old devices for a discount on newer ones.
Sonos offers customers who want to trade their products in a 30 percent credit, for trading their devices in.
Though ‘recycle mode’ dead, Sonos still plans to move ahead with its plans to phase out legacy speakers in May.
According to the company, it will stop updating older speakers including all of its Sonos Zone Players, the Connect and Connect:Amp, first-generation Play:5, the CR200, and the Bridge.
‘Today the Sonos experience relies on an interconnected ecosystem, giving you access to more than 100 streaming services, voice assistants, and control options like Apple AirPlay 2,’ wrote the company in a blog post in January.
‘Without new software updates, access to services and overall functionality of your sound system will eventually be disrupted, particularly as partners evolve their technology.’
Though Sonos says the speakers that are ceasing to receive support will continue to work in the interim, The Verge reports that problems, especially related to streaming music, could arise in the future.
Sonos tells The Verge that if Spotify were to change something in its platform requiring a readjustment from Sonos’ software, the speakers could eventually go dark.
Some of those products, the oldest of which was released in 2006, are no longer capable of receiving the companies newer and more advanced software updates according to Sonos.
As a result, customers will have two options going forward, says the company.
They can either ‘quarantine’ by removing it from receiving software updates through Sonos or they can trade the speaker in to get a discount on new a new one.