Sonos thinks a streaming box is exactly what we need to forget its disastrous 2024

The last year has been rough for Sonos, thanks to a failed app redesign last May, followed by the CEO resigning last month. It would seem the original app carried a lot of technical debt, and so creating something new on that backend resulted in failure and plenty of displeased customers holding a lot of expensive hardware. Clearly, Sonos needs to find a path forward as it fixes its app, and it would seem part of this plan has to do with a new Android-based set-top box for your TV. Yep, Sonos plans to enter the highly competitive streaming box market (as reported by The Verge) with a device nicknamed “Pinewood” that’s possibly launching as early as April from $200 to $400, per sources close to the matter.

Does Android need an expensive set-top box from Sonos?

Clearly, Sonos thinks so

Android may offer a handful of set-top streaming boxes, like the Amazon Fire TV Cube and Google TV Streamer (4K), but to this day, the best and most powerful box is still the Nvidia Shield TV Pro, and its latest iteration is already 6 years old, which is why the Apple TV 4K is gaining ground, its powerful and offers an ad-free experience, unlike Google’s ad-filled TV UIs. Still, plenty of Android users are hankering for a new box to blow the Shield TV away, and the Google TV Streamer (4K) didn’t hit that mark, which means there is still a hole in the market that needs filling.

So, at the outset, Sonos’ plans to create a pricey streaming box for Android could be a good thing, that is, if we ignore the company’s recent track record, which few are likely to do, especially customers already burned by the app redesign. But there is still an opportunity here, especially if Sonos chooses powerful hardware to go with the lofty pricing already suggested, though it is worrying that the UI is being developed in tandem with a known ad firm The Trade Desk. So here’s hoping Sonos knows full well nobody wants ads in their expensive set-top boxes, which is already a long-running issue plenty of Android users are very much sick of.

Of course, being a Sonos product, the box is expected to offer the ability to dedicate Sonos speakers for surround sound duties, like using an Era 300 as your center channel, with two more as your left and right channels. It’s the kind of customization Sonos users have been asking for, which sounds like the streaming box will be able to function as your Sonos speakers’ command center instead of using a sound bar for your surround sound duties.

Ultimately, expanding into a highly competitive market hot off the heals of ruining its app doesn’t sound like the best way to diversify the Sonos brand, but these wheels have been in motion since at least 2023 (according to Bloomberg), so it’s looking likely the Pinewood streaming box will come to fruition, which could be the Shield TV replacement we have all been dreaming of, or another colossal failure for Sonos. Either way, the launch should be interesting, so keep an eye out for further news as the story develops.