Product Analysis: Controller

While ZonePlayers are all well and good, the real magic is associated with the remote control that makes working with Sonos digital music system a breeze. Sonos has learned a number of great lessons from Apple, one of which is the understanding of psychology in designing products. The remote is equipped with a variety of buttons and controls, but they are all self-explanatory and don’t require complicated manuals to understand.

The controller comprises of mute and volume buttons towards the top left, navigational buttons on the top right, a scroll wheel to the center right and play/pause, skip forward/backward buttons to the bottom right. There are three additional buttons that are located underneath the crisp display for more settings.

Thanks to the wireless controller, you can manage all ZonePlayers with a single device. You can browse through playlists based on Artist, Album, Genre, Track Name, Composer or even self-created playlists. In addition, you can even make playlists on the fly, while controlling music playback across ZonePlayers.

The controller displays album art and information that you have stored in your ID3 tags. If you want to make life simpler and take advantage of a robust search feature, make sure the ID3 tags are elaborative and rich in detail. This will help when you are looking for specific artists or songs.

The display is amazingly crisp, bright and active. The controller comes with a movement sensor that automatically powers up the remote when you pick it up, backlit buttons and screen that makes sure you can operate the remote in a number of lighting conditions and a light sensor that preserves battery life by sensing the minimum amount of light required to operate the controller.

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