There is some potentially exciting news for Sonos fans, as the company would seem to be one step closer to releasing its first streaming player.
It is with some anticipation that we wait to see Sonos’s first venture into the video world. The Sonos app has had a truly rocky journey of late, with a botched update in 2024 that removed key functionality and introduced a fair few problems. Even by the end of last year it wasn't completely fixed, and there is still ongoing work to get it properly running. The whole torrid affair was so serious, indeed, that it led to the resignation of CEO Patrick Spence.
Sources have told Chris Welch from The Verge that the streaming player, codenamed Pinewood, could cost between £200 / $200 and £400 / $400. That’s an enormous amount considering other products at this price.
The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K sells for just £60 / $50 / AU$79. And if you opt for a non-4K model, they are even cheaper. The Google Chromecast with Google TV, for example, costs just £35 / $30 / AU$59 for the HD version.
Even our favourite video streamer, the Apple TV 4K, comes in at £149 / $129 / AU$219; so this new mooted price range for the Sonos player looks very expensive indeed.
We don’t have an exact sale date, but Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman released a report last year suggesting it will come out in early 2025.
But what will Pinewood actually offer? Sonos is yet to offer any official specification, but The Verge reports that it plans to combine content from numerous platforms including Netflix, (HBO) Max and Disney Plus under a “single, unified software experience”. To us, that sounds very much like what the Apple TV 4K already does.
Welch also said that Sonos Voice Control will be integrated, and Pinewood will also ship with a physical remote control that includes shortcuts for popular streaming apps. The Verge reporter got a chance to see unreleased images of the device, and said that “viewed from the top, the device is a flattened black square and slightly thicker than a deck of trading cards.”
The Verge reports that Pinewood is supposed to serve “as an HDMI switch and has several HDMI ports with passthrough functionality.” You will be able to plug external devices such as gaming consoles or 4K Blu-ray players into it, apparently – and that would be something that no other video streaming device offers.
Pinewood is rumoured to be able to transmit lag-free TV audio wirelessly to Sonos’s own soundbars and more of its own products. It could also include gigabit ethernet and Wi-Fi 7, which would be a first for the company.
Of course, this all comes from rumours and leaks, and we wait with bated breath for something official from Sonos. As soon as we get that, you will be able to read all about it on whathifi.com.
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