Sonos is letting customers in Europe rent its pricey speaker systems for just $16 per month in a service that could roll out worldwide
- Sonos will let customers rent out its high-end smart speakers in tiered packages
- The service, called Flex, will be rolled out in the Netherlands and may expand
- There’s no current intention to roll out a rent-to-buy option yet
Sonos will will begin renting out its coveted speakers for customers not willing to pay the company’s premium prices.
According to The Verge, the company has launched its rental service, which is called Flex, for select customers in the Netherlands. The company will consider expanding Flex based on demand there.
The service offers three distinct tiers of Sonos rentals that start at €15 ($16) per month and ascend in price with a middle-tier package that costs €25 ($27) per month and finally a premium package for €50 ($55) per month.
Sonos is offering several rental packages where customers are able to lease various versions of the company’s speakers
Each serves a separate function with the more expensive options being geared toward TV’s and the cheapest being a versatile ‘Evert Room’ setup.
Respectively, the speakers included in those packages would cost €229 ($251), €449 ($493), and €799 ($877) if bought outright through the company.
Subscriptions can be cancelled at any time and take about four days to process.
Sonos is offering speakers in either black or white and will replace the rented models with newer ones when released.
This marks the second major push from Sonos this year to help get its speakers into the homes of more consumers.
Previously the company partnered with Ikea to make the Synfonisk series of speaker which comes at the company’s lowest price of $99.
While Flex may appeal to those looking for a short-term solution, the service becomes increasingly less appealing customers that want to hold onto their Sonos speakers.
For 30 months of payments using the customers lowest-priced tier of speakers one could purchase them outright, while 40 months of payments would be enough to pay for the high end package.
Sono’s decision to gravitate toward a subscription model comes amid increasing pressure from rivals in the smart speaker market like Amazon who recently announced its first-ever high-end Echo speaker called the Echo Studio.
At $199 the Stdio will be more expensive than any of the company’s predecessors, but will offer substantially upgraded hardware that includes 3D audio support, Dolby Atmos speakers, and is being promoted as a companion device for the company’s recently announced ‘HD’ music-streaming service.
Notably, the Studio also comes at a price point that directly undercuts many of Sonos’ products.
According to The Verge, while Sonos hasn’t yet considered a rent-to-own option where customers would submit installments until paying for the device in-full, the company has yet to rule out the possibility entirely.
‘We’re listening to customers throughout the program, and if that is an area of feedback, we’ll certainly look at it,’ a company spokesperson told The Verge.
