Deals: Sonos Discounts First Gen Move Speaker to $299 ($100 Off)

[MacRumors]

Sonos has discounted the first generation Move speaker to $299 today on its website, down from $399. This is a rare price cut on the Sonos Move and an all-time low price for the Bluetooth speaker.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Sonos. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

This version of the Sonos Move supports AirPlay 2, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, an 11 hour battery life, voice and touch controls, and has IP56 water resistance. It's available in Lunar White and Shadow Black at this 25 percent discount.

Sonos Move (Gen 1) for $299 ($100 OFF)​

Sonos appears to be clearing out inventory of the first generation Move speaker now that the Move 2 launched in September. The second generation speaker has a bigger $449 price tag and comes with more battery life at 24 hours and various external and internal upgrades.

Keep up with all of this week's best discounts on Apple products and related accessories in our dedicated Apple Deals roundup.

Article Link: Deals: Sonos Discounts First Gen Move Speaker to $299 ($100 Off)

 

[e-coli]

I have two of these and they’re INCREDIBLE. Can’t say enough good things.

 

[klasma]

Good move.

 

[JitteryJimmy]

Isn't the first gen Sonos obsolete and no longer functional? Or am I confused in terms of which product this is?

 

[aidler]

For Sonos, that usually means they want to sell a few more devices before they drop support for them and make them unusable for everyone with a final update.

 

[Godspeed8230]

Isn't the first gen Sonos obsolete and no longer functional? Or am I confused in terms of which product this is?

Yes, you are confused in terms of which product this is.
You are referring to rather old hardware that is no longer compatible with the S2 app. However, you can still use it with the S1 app and with products within that ecosystem.

 

[sw1tcher]

Isn't the first gen Sonos obsolete and no longer functional? Or am I confused in terms of which product this is?

There are some 1st gen products that are classified as legacy devices and no longer receive feature updates. But this 1st gen Move speaker is an S2 product and is still being supported.

 

[Godspeed8230]

For Sonos, that usually means they want to sell a few more devices before they drop support for them and make them unusable for everyone with a final update.

Please refer to post #6+#7 in this thread.

 

[ACHD]

Please refer to post #6+#7 in this thread.

They dont want to admit that the sonos systems are FCKN INCREDIBLE and still work fine.

 

[maxxodd]

While I'm sure there must be some cool new features that are only available on S2, I use my system to listen to music and that's about it. I was very apprehensive when they initially split their systems into S1 and S2 as I had about 30 of the legacy products (mostly connect amps and connects). I have added about 10 of the S2 devices now (between home and office) and I can say that Sonos has really done an admirable job keeping things working just fine. I have not had any issues with my music services or integrations (Alexa, Savant, etc). They actually added the ability to "downgrade" S2 products to S1 allowing me to control all my components with just the S1 app (this happened about a year ago or so).

Regarding the Move speaker, I have a couple of these. I like them, but I wouldn't say the sound is great. I find it to be muddy through the high and midranges. I like that it's portable and I don't think I've ever turned the volume up more than to about the 60% mark, even outside. But for anyone thinking that they are going to get a portable version of the Sonos Five, you'll be disappointed in the sound.

 

[MauiPa]

Still $100 overpriced. Only mediocre speakers

 

[Venom0101]

Still $100 overpriced. Only mediocre speakers

There isn't really a good comparable product out there for a bluetooth speaker that also has wifi that accepts codecs that provide good quality music.

The Devialet's are too expensive and don't have a reliable app.

 

[WesFL]

I'm going to move on from this offer.

 

[magbarn]

While I'm sure there must be some cool new features that are only available on S2, I use my system to listen to music and that's about it. I was very apprehensive when they initially split their systems into S1 and S2 as I had about 30 of the legacy products (mostly connect amps and connects). I have added about 10 of the S2 devices now (between home and office) and I can say that Sonos has really done an admirable job keeping things working just fine. I have not had any issues with my music services or integrations (Alexa, Savant, etc). They actually added the ability to "downgrade" S2 products to S1 allowing me to control all my components with just the S1 app (this happened about a year ago or so).

Regarding the Move speaker, I have a couple of these. I like them, but I wouldn't say the sound is great. I find it to be muddy through the high and midranges. I like that it's portable and I don't think I've ever turned the volume up more than to about the 60% mark, even outside. But for anyone thinking that they are going to get a portable version of the Sonos Five, you'll be disappointed in the sound.

They sound much better in paired Stereo mode. Wish they could pair up with the Sub though like my Fives.

 

[Born Again]

Would you guys get a move 2 or a play 5?

 

[G5isAlive]

Sonos has a habit of the first version being a beta device. It's getting old. Like someone else said, a mediocre sounding speaker at best, but it does have the volume to fill a space and the battery life was okay. It is bulky. You wont be carrying this to the beach. I doubt I will upgrade to the v2 though unless they have improved the sound a lot. As for this being a value at $100 off ($299) it does sound better than the ERA 100, so if loud and bulky is what you want, its likely worth it at $299.

 

[G5isAlive]

Would you guys get a move 2 or a play 5?

Totally different beasts and totally different markets. Would you get a Car or a Boat? If you need a portable, the play 5 isn't it. If you need great sound, the move 2 isn't it. The question doesn't compute.

 

[maxxodd]

They sound much better in paired Stereo mode. Wish they could pair up with the Sub though like my Fives.

I've used mine paired in stereo mode and personally, I don't think they sound much better if at all. I initially bought 2 of them just for this purpose, but was fairly disappointed. I like the immersion you get, but it doesn't help even a little (again, IMO) with the muddy highs and midrange. Vocals really suffer. I ended up splitting them and placing them in different locations.

 

[maxxodd]

Would you guys get a move 2 or a play 5?

Sonos Five will sound a LOT better (clearer), but obviously not portable. A couple Moves will rock your outdoor party.

 

[bodonnell202]

For Sonos, that usually means they want to sell a few more devices before they drop support for them and make them unusable for everyone with a final update.

I still have a Pair of Sonos Play:1s which are working nicely as rear channel speakers in a surround sound system and are supported with the latest Sonos software. The Play:1 was released in 2013 and replaced with the Sonos One in 2017 (and the Sonos One was updated to "Gen 2" in 2019). They are now a decade old and still perfectly usable. We'll see if the first gen Apple HomePod enjoys the same long life - I seriously doubt it.

Edit: fixed typo

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

For Sonos, that usually means they want to sell a few more devices before they drop support for them and make them unusable for everyone with a final update.

Unlike say Apple rolling out a Gen 2 which won't stereo sync to a Gen 1 discontinued just a year or two ago???

Move Gen 2 is an improved Gen 1. I have Gen 1 and it sounds fantastic. Unlike Apple, Gen 1 still pairs with any of the newer speakers.

I don't recall EVER reading something about a Sonos speaker being made unusable by software support. Perhaps you can point me to any one example of that from a reputable source?

There is a split of relatively old Sonos speakers grouped for the S1 app, but those still fully function with that S1 app. For the last few years, their line is grouped for the S2 app and work well. If anyone had both, they would simply use 2 apps to manage respective speakers... which seems much better than say proclaiming a long, LONG life product like a speaker "vintage" because someone doesn't want to keep supporting the iOS-based tech "smarts."

In one scenario, consumer has options to keep using pretty old speakers. In the other, it's basically audio iMac screen, "throw baby out with the bathwater." Thus, THIS Apple-everything guy has Sonos speakers where I want "smart" speakers. They work just as well as HPs- including with Apple Music and Airplay- but are not walled garden locked down so they work with ALL music services too. When I want Siri or HP-like smarts, I use the Mac or iDevice or AppleTV which has those same smarts built in too. HomeKit is just as functional so "play AM playlist in whole house" works the same, as does "Play <whatever> in Living Room."

The "dumb" part of speakers we actually hear should be good for 10-30 or more years in a good speaker. "Smarts" put that in jeopardy unless the seller wants to keep maintaining those smarts to keep them playable. Sonos has illustrated a willingness to keep very old speakers playing. We can only hope that Apple is as willing to keep the iOS-based "smarts" for this ONE kind of product functional for 10-30+ years. Else, we'll be throwing out the dumb parts too- like perfectly good iMac screens- when the smarts are made obsolete... over and over again.

 

[Misterioso]

Still $100 overpriced. Only mediocre speakers

something must be wrong with yours. Mine are outstanding. And much better bass performance than Apple HomePods.

 

[Jamo12]

I won one of these in a raffle at work. It’s a hefty boy with amazing volume. Bass is not where I would want it, but it sounds great for a portable Bluetooth/wifi speaker and I got it for free, so who am I to complain? I just wish it had an AUX in.😢

I currently have it in its dock my living room. We use it as an Alexa.

 

[MattG]

I was looking at Sonos for our new living room but based on this thread I've been following on Sonos Community I don't think I'm going to be doing that. Two years without a fix for a major problem like this and a 45-page long thread with people complaining sure doesn't look good.

Additional Reference: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/202...-arc-soundbars-pop-of-death-for-over-2-years/

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I've actually contributed to that thread myself and I own the product being referenced with no issues at all for about 4 years of ownership. A friend recently bought the same product and had the effect described. I did a little deduction to potentially pin it down to some on-board software called Trueplay. Reset to factory and set up again but skipped that step (did not run Trueplay) and the friend has been enjoying flawless audio since. My gut says that they have a software bug(s) in the Trueplay run but I didn't run it again to see if it would yield the same effect and basically do their deductive work for them.

Like Apple stuff, software bugs do exist in all "smart" things. If it was an all-products problem, they would be getting killed in sales volume and returns. So also like Apple, it appears to be something that affects only some number of users... and as it is when Apple does happen to acknowledge something, Sonos has acknowledged it and are working on it for those users.

If I wanted to buy that product now from Sonos, I'd buy and if the problem shows itself, I'd try "reset to factory" and setup anew again. If that failed me, I'd return or swap for another, try again and be ready to return again if the problem repeated... the same as if I bought any Apple product and had a problem I couldn't resolve.

Coincidentally, minutes ago, I swapped an apparently dead iPad Air for a new one. So either take that as "do not buy iPad Air everyone" or as described above.

Apple and Sonos are great companies who stand behind their products. If you have a problem with either's products, they are more likely to resolve the problem than "tough luck"ing you.

Also, I've had a loaded Mac Studio Ultra since launch and it cannot maintain a connection to a reliable RAID enclosure, resulting in "unexpected ejections" within about 3 hours at most. Hook the same enclosure to older Macs running macOS before Big Sur or any PC and it is perfectly reliable again. So take that as "Don't buy Apple's ultimate Mac" or perhaps there is a bug(s) to be fixed... hopefully sooner than later. For now, I just work around that problem and hope that Apple will get around to debugging macOS soon.