Sonos removes re-cycle mode from their new trade-up program after backlash

Photo by Michał Borowczyk on Unsplash

Last Year Sonos decided to stop sending feature updates to old Sonos Speakers which Sonos mentioned as legacy products, as the speakers' old hardware can't function with the new advanced features, but Sonos promised to continue to send security updates as long as possible. Sonos also offered a trade-up program to its customers who own these legacy products.

By participating in the trade-up program customers will have to enable recycle mode which will erase all the data of the user from their old speaker and it can't function as before which means it can't be useful anymore after this process users can trade their old speaker with Sonos for a new product with 30% discount.

The re-cycle mode offered by Sonos was not received quite well by some customers, they questioned Sonos's sustainability practices, The Verge reports.

Sonos states on their website that "sustainability is non-negotiable," and that they design products to minimize impact, but I work at an e-waste recycler and have demonstrable proof this is false.

Sonos's "recycle mode" intentionally bricks good devices so they can't be reused. pic.twitter.com/VJDNhYOxRy

— ralph waldo cybersyn (@atomicthumbs) December 27, 2019

Sonos included the re-cycle mode to ensure that customer data was erased before the old product was re-cycled, but now after removing the re-cycle mode, customers can choose to give their old Sonos product to their friends or family or re-cycle the product wherever they wish.

A Sonos spokesperson said: "We are working on a way to split your system so that modern products work together and get the latest features, while legacy products work together and remain in their current state."

Sonos legacy products will stop receiving feature updates starting from May of this year, in the company's blog, Sonos CEO Patrick Spence said "we heard you on the issue of legacy products and modern products not being able to coexist in your home. We are working on a way to split your system so that modern products work together and get the latest features, while legacy products work together and remain in their current state."