Sonos has quietly scrapped its Recycle Mode, a controversial process that used to permanently brick traded in or ‘traded up’ devices so that they couldn’t continue to be used. It comes after a PR storm when the company announced some of its oldest products were reaching the end of their life and would not continue to get software updates.
The announcement was poorly handled, leading some to believe their old products would be bricked whatever happened. In fact, older products now will not receive updates, and users may have to separate them on home networks from new Sonos kit.
To counteract this, Sonos offers a ‘trade up’ program where people can get 30% new Sonos gear if they still own older, technically out of support equipment. But part of the 30% off deal used to be that you had to place your old kit into Recycle Mode, a process that permanently disabled the products from working, meaning you couldn’t sell them on or continue to use them. Hardly recycling.
This made little ethical or environmental sense and enraged Sonos users worldwide. Sonos CEO Patrick Spence even had to do some crisis management with a blog post that, if anything, made matters worse as it didn’t change anything.
The Verge has now reported that Recycle Mode has been removed as an option within the Sonos app, and confirmed that Sonos will soon update its website to reflect the changes. It means if you take advantage of the 30% trade up offer, you’ll still be able to keep your old, functioning equipment – a great offer, finally.
Sonos has taken a bit of a kicking over the terrible handling of this episode, but it should ride the wave. It’s one of the most successful audio companies of recent times with good quality products at prices below the traditional high-end sums for audio gear.
But the end of life of some of its products has allowed audiophiles to point out that spending more on traditional gears means the products will last for decades, not just years. Sonos’ reversal of its Recylce Mode policy is going some way to iron out the creases of its product strategy, as audio equipment that relies on internet connections to function is likely to encounter such issues compared to locally run alternatives.
Author: Henry Burrell, Phones Editor
Henry is Tech Advisor’s Phones Editor, ensuring he and the team covers and reviews every smartphone worth knowing about for readers and viewers all over the world. He spends a lot of time moving between different handsets and shouting at WhatsApp to support multiple devices at once.