Sonos launched several notable products in 2024, but it still had a horrible year when an app update went spectacularly awry, leading to the resignation this week of CEO Patrick Spence.
Last year was supposed to be about Sonos’ Ace headphones and its premium Arc Ultra soundbar. Instead, a May app update took center stage. It removed many basic features, such as numbers on the volume slider and the option to “play next” or “play last,” irking customers who rely on the app to control their wireless home speakers.
Patrick Spence (Credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Sonos tried to regain favor through radical transparency and bi-weekly app updates. It even explored scrapping the whole thing and going back to the original app, but Spence said in August that that “would make the problems worse, not better.”
In the end, it was Spence who got scrapped. He’ll remain at Sonos in an advisory capacity until June 30, and board member Tom Conrad will serve as interim CEO for now. The company was clearly done waiting around and hoping things worked themselves out. For current owners and potential customers looking at the situation, however, the biggest question is whether they should buy a Sonos product right now or not.
Current Lineup Proves Sonos Has Still Got It
Sonos Ace (Credit: Tim Gideon)
My experience with Sonos dates back to the early 2010s. I’ve tried nearly all of the company’s speakers, soundbars, and ancillary devices. With that context, the good news is that the current crop of speakers and soundbars is decidedly strong. The Era 100, as an example, rivals Apple’s HomePod in sound quality while having more features and connectivity options at a lower price.
The Arc Ultra soundbar is an incredible feat of engineering, with more low-end bass in a smaller size than its predecessor; it easily earned our Editors’ Choice award.
Era 300 (Credit: Tim Gideon)
The Era 300 can be a bit divisive due to its unique shape and how it handles home theater surround sound, but it’s a remarkable speaker for spatial audio and Dolby Atmos content. The Roam 2, meanwhile, is notable for its dual Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity in a more compact size than most direct competitors.
It’s hard to argue that Sonos doesn’t have its strongest lineup ever. Even the Ace headphones which indirectly kicked off this debacle when they launched around the same time as the new app, sound fantastic and deliver high-quality noise cancellation.
They’re Angry Because They Care
This gets at the heart of the app debacle: Sonos still makes attractive products. (It just earned a spot on our list of The 25 Best Tech Brands for 2025.) If its speakers were middling, the app backlash likely would’ve died down eventually. But because the Sonos faithful know what these speakers can do, a buggy app standing in the way of a premium sonic experience is maddening. They’re angry because they care, which a quick glance at the company’s forums and other online communities will confirm.
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The general consensus among customers is that the app needs to be restored to its prior state. But we know that won’t happen, so Sonos needs to cut its losses and find a new way forward. Interim CEO Conrad has already dismissed Chief Product Officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin since Conrad’s “background makes the chief product officer role redundant,” he said in a memo to staff. Going forward, the product team will report to Conrad.
As a product reviewer and audio enthusiast, I still see lots of people out there who could use another speaker in their house—or in their bag. If the company needs to find more revenue, it should look into building up its Sonos Radio HD streaming service or other additive content sources. It should give people something to buy rather than a tax to pay.
Sonos isn’t doomed, yet. There are plenty of ways it can put 2024 behind in the rearview. It just needs to give customers something to look forward to rather than reasons for them to look back.
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About Tyler Hayes
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