Rumours suggest that Sonos is preparing three new pieces of hardware for launch in 2020, with a new Dolby Atmos Playbar among them.
Despite not launching any new products so far in 2020, it’s been a busy year for Sonos. There was the issue with older products not receiving new updates, followed by the announcement of its S2 operating system and the recent launch of Sonos Radio.
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Speculation has implied that we’ll be seeing not just one piece of hardware from Sonos, but three. Lined up are a new Playbar, Sub and Play:5, all due for release later this year.
The Playbar launched all the way back in 2013, before Dolby Atmos became a trend in the home cinema market. The Sonos Sub was released ahead of the Playbar in 2012, while the 2nd gen Play:5 went on sale in late 2015. That’s plenty long enough time to wait for a hardware refresh of those products.
The original Playbar shipped with no HDMI connections or upfiring Atmos speakers, both of which would necessitate a new design if Sonos was to join the growing list of Dolby Atmos soundbars available.
According to the tip 9to5mac received about the hardware refresh, improvements to the Playbar, Sub and Play:5 may include tweaks to audio, “connectivity upgrades and potential design changes”. It’s likely they’ll follow a similar design approach as the Sonos Beam, One wireless speaker and Sonos Move Bluetooth speaker.
Sonos filed two applications with the FCC last month, and if that timeline proves to be the same as the company’s FCC filing for 2019’s Move speaker, we could be seeing these products launch in June. That would tally up with what the company has said previously about the launch of its S2 operating system, which is also due to happen in, you guessed it, June.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
