Should I Leave My Sonos Move on the Charger?
It’s great to be able to, well, move my Sonos Move all around the house, but when I’m cleaning up at the end of the party, I do always try to bring it back to its designated spot where I plug it in to charge.
I haven’t been getting the chance to listen to music on my Sonos Move as much lately, so it spends most of it’s time plugged into the wall.
I suddenly started to panic when I realized it’d been a week. How long can you leave a Sonos Move plugged into a charger?
Should I Leave My Sonos Move on the Charger?
You can leave your Sonos Move plugged into the wall for a day or two at a time without causing damage. However, it is never recommended that you leave a battery-powered device plugged in indefinitely. This causes the battery to become inactive, and an inactive battery will lose slowly charge capacity over time.
Sonos designed the Move to be able to stay on the charging base for extended periods as a quality of life addition for their consumers.
Proper electronics care and battery care are difficult regimens to stick to.
Sonos decided that it would be best to bake features into the Move that allowed for human-like behavior to occur without ruining the speaker.
In addition to a charging base that prevents overcharging and overheating, they also added other battery conservation features into the speaker.
The Sonos Move will automatically suspend power if the speaker is left powered on and no music is playing for a preset amount of time.
They named this feature ‘Suspend Mode’ and it activates automatically.
Sonos claims that the suspend mode can reserve battery power for up to five days.
In the circumstance that you are charging your Sonos Move with a USB-C cable rather than the charging base, I would not recommend leaving the device plugged in indefinitely for too long.
The connection used by the charging base is designed to be safer and more reliable than the stronger current sent through a USB-C cable.
This is not to say that the USB-C connection is dangerous to the health of the Sonos Move, but rather that the possibility of overcharging or overheating is much greater.
Make sure that the USB-C cable is detached from the Sonos Move once the speaker has reached a full charge.
If you have begun charging your Sonos Move with a USB-C cable because of damage to the charging base, Sonos and other brands do offer replacement charging bases online.
I would recommend acquiring a replacement.
The charging base is safer and makes it easier to properly care for your Bluetooth speaker.
Can I Leave My Sonos Move Plugged In?
You can absolutely leave your Sonos attached to the charging base.
The charging base was designed in a manner that prevents the common concerns of leaving a device connected to an active charger.
The Sonos Move already has an impressive battery life at ten hours of use for the amazing audio quality it offers along with the power drain of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.
Being as the battery is internal, it will eventually need to be replaced as all batteries do.
This is most likely why you might be concerned about leaving the device attached to the charging base for too long.
Older devices could overcharge or overheat and cause the internal components to expand, break, or melt.
Sonos built the Move to be a rugged Bluetooth speaker with home entertainment quality audio.
They put extra thought into the durability and longevity of the device.
This meant providing a charger that was safe to overuse and a system that would preserve the overall lifetime of the battery as best as possible.
This allows you to safely leave your Move on the charging base even after the battery is fully charged.
It won’t overheat or overcharge.
It also won’t unnecessarily drain the battery’s remaining recharge cycles.
The effective charging method combined with software tricks to conserve battery make the Sonos Move a stable portable Bluetooth speaker for heavy travelers and explorers.
While battery conservation techniques may seem unrelated to charging base safety, they are directly related.
The longer your speaker’s battery can stay charged and power your audio experience, the less you’ll need to keep it on the charging base.
Not to mention that the same care taken in designing the battery and battery usage software was employed in the design and production of the charging base.
No manufacturer wants their products to be known for product faultiness.
When Should My Sonos Move Be Unplugged?
Even with Sonos’s fancy quality add-ons to preserve your Move’s lifetime and battery capacity, you will want the Move to run on battery power every now and then.
If the battery is stagnant or inactive for too long, it can deplete charge and lose overall charging capacity.
Once a battery begins to degrade, it will not reverse.
The best method to preserve the battery is to stick to best practices even if the device can handle more abuse than other speakers.
Keep the battery active
You don’t have to run the speaker until the battery runs dry. You just need a little electricity to flow through it regularly.
This helps to keep the battery cells alive and active.
Plug the charging base into a surge protector
If you don’t have a surge protector, get one. It does not matter where you live, the threat of electric power surges to any home is real even if it is a smaller threat than other locations.
Even with a surge protector, it may be wise to keep your Sonos Move off the charging base during electric storms or other natural disasters.
Power down when It’s not in use
Luckily, your Sonos Move has a suspend mode to handle this for you. However, there are times you may start an infinite playlist and forget to hit pause.
Make a habit out of turning your Move off when you finish using it.
Keep water out of the casing and ports
Liquid can cause unwanted discharge and damage.
The Move is a rugged speaker, but water is still a conductive element.
Keep your Sonos Move out of the Sun’s heat
High temperatures can do some real damage to any battery.
If you are using your Sonos Move outside, make sure the sun isn’t applying too much heat to it. If it’s too hot to touch, it’s definitely too hot in general.
That’s all the tips you’ll need to employ to get the most life out of your Sonos Move.
It should be easy to implement these practices into your regular behavior, but even if it proves to be difficult they are not required behaviors to get a great experience from your Sonos Move.
You’ll likely have noticed that only a few instances were recommended for keeping your Move off of the charging base.
This is because there is little to no danger associated with leaving the speaker attached to the base for prolonged periods.
The only concerns are of electrical nature and mildly rare.
This is great news for Sonos Move owners who are worried about damaging their speakers.
Conclusion
Sonos Move owners will not need to spend extra time worrying about accidental damage from overcharging their Bluetooth speakers.
Sonos made sure to do that with a solid and thoughtful design that takes human actions into account.
With such a well-designed device, proper electronic device maintenance and care will keep the Sonos Move kicking for years to come.
Don’t worry about leaving it on the charging base, but I always recommend that you use a surge protector with all of your valuable electronic devices.
Prevent the damage from random acts of nature and your speaker will carry you through the next six to eight years before you need to replace or repair it even if Sonos thinks you’ll want to replace the battery in three years.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the battery in the Sonos Move replaceable?
Good news! The battery is completely replaceable. Sonos says that you will want to get a battery refresh every three years.
The replacement battery only costs $69. You will need a screwdriver and about five minutes to install a new battery.
My Sonos Move charging base isn’t working. Can I get a replacement?
There are replacement charging bases available. Sonos branded replacements will cost around $80-$100 while off-brand charging bases can be as inexpensive as $45.99.
While the off-brand charging bases are lighter on the wallet, it is always recommended to stick with the manufacturer’s brand to avoid complications.
I left the charger at home. Is there another way to charge my Sonos Move?
The Sonos Move doesn’t have to be powered with the charging base. You can also directly charge the internal battery with a USB-C connection.
However, the USB-C connection does not have the same safety features as the Sonos Move charging base.
You will not want to leave the Move attached to the USB-C charging cable after the battery is fully charged.
The risk is still lesser for overcharging or overheating than older devices, but it is still a possibility.
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