Sonos Move 2
The Sonos Move 2 is an upgrade from its predecessor in just about every way, boasting 24-hour battery life, a spacious stereo soundstage, improved touch controls, and a more refined design. Sadly, it doesn’t shed any weight, but it still features IP56 dust and water resistance and a rugged enough design that you won’t have to worry about using it by the pool. Plus, it can now power up your smartphone from its USB-C port and even take in 3.5mm audio with an optional adapter.
Sonos Move
With an 11-hour battery life and an easy-to-use charging dock, the Sonos Move combines the premium smart speaker experience with the flexibility to take it anywhere inside your home or even out onto your back deck. While it’s pretty large for a portable speaker, it comes equipped with a handy indent for easy carrying, and at only six pounds, you shouldn’t have too much trouble lugging it out to the backyard. Plus, it’s water-resistant, so you won’t have to worry about a splash ruining your expensive smart speaker.
Sonos recently dropped theSonos Move 2, a new second-generation version of its household-portableSonos Movethat upgrades just about everything that was arguably lacking in that earlier model. The Sonos Move 2 packs in better sound quality, substantially improved battery life, and a refined design with nicer touch controls.
It’s a long-awaited update for Sonos' portable smart speaker, and will certainly be a welcome one for those who are looking to expand theirSonossystemwith something that can travel around the house — or even outside to an al fresco dinner or away to tailgate party. After all, Sonos already makes some of thebest smart speakerswith its more homebound Era models, and the Sonos Move 2 adds some versatility to the mix.
Still, with the older Sonos Move still on the market at lower prices — and already part of many homes — you’re probably wondering what the newer Move 2 brings to the table, and if it’s worth the upgrade. Let’s take a look.
Price, availability, and specs
The Sonos Move 2 is available for pre-order now from Sonos and is expected to hit stores on Wednesday, September 20, in the U.S., Canada, Australia, the U.K., and 28 other countries, including most of Europe. It’s priced at $449 and available in the traditional black and white colorways along with a new olive finish.
The Sonos Move debuted in 2019, and while it still carries an MSRP of $399, it’s not hard to find it discounted to $300 or less now that the Sonos Move 2 has arrived. It can be purchased from most major retailers where Sonos products are sold and comes in Shadow Black and Lunar White colors.
Design: Similar with some refining touches
At a glance, the Sonos Move 2 doesn’t look much different from its predecessor, the Sonos Move. Both feature the same oval cylindrical design with a metallic speaker grille that wraps around the front, plastic on the top and back, and a rubberized bottom to give them some grip on a table or other surface. They also weigh in at the same 6.61 pounds and differ only imperceptibly in height.
However, Sonos has made some nice design tweaks to the Move 2 that give it a more high-end, elegant feel. For one, the odd-looking vertical Sonos branding is much more subtle, matching the color of the speaker. On the black finish, it’s almost invisible, but it still blends in well with the other colors, too.
Sonos has also gone with much stronger colors this time around. While the Shadow Black and Lunar White of the Move both leaned more toward both ends of gray, the black Move 2 has a deep obsidian look, while the white is about as close to a driven-snow finish as you could expect while still factoring in the metallic grille. Sonos has also spiced things up a bit with a new olive finish for those who prefer something a bit more colorful. While it’s far from what we’d call a “fun” color, it feels like it will fit in better with those who prefer browns and other earthy tones in their home decor.
The Sonos Move 2 and Sonos Move use the same style of charging ring, and the older version is fully compatible with the Sonos Move 2, so if you’re looking at upgrading or adding a Move 2 to your home, you’ll be able to use them interchangeably. The one that comes with the Move 2 now offers a detachable power adapter for easier placement, and of course, it’s color-matched to your speaker.
Since both speakers share the same physical dimensions and weight, you won’t find the Sonos Move 2 any more portable than the older model. While Sonos promotes these speakers as appropriate for the beach or a tailgate party, the Move always felt like something that was more appropriate just to move around the house than throw into a backpack, and the Move 2 is no different in this respect. Nevertheless, the portability makes either speaker great for taking out onto your back deck or even poolside, thanks to their solid construction and IP56 ratings for dust and water resistance. You won’t want to risk letting them fall into the water, but they won’t have any problems handling splashes or even rain, and they’re built to handle UV rays and extreme temperatures.
However, where the Move 2 really edges out its predecessor in design is on top, where the touch controls have been elevated and expanded with the addition of the dedicated capacitive volume slider fromSonos' new Era lineup. There’s also a physical switch on the back to disconnect power to the microphones for times you want to make absolutely certain Alexa or Google Assistant aren’t listening in.
Sound quality
The Sonos Move 2 may look a lot like its predecessor, but those similarities end once you get below the surface. Sonos has significantly boosted the sound capabilities of the Sonos Move 2, thanks to three Class-D amplifiers and two angled tweeters. That’s one more of each, plus a midwoofer that’s common to both models.
However, there’s more to the new package than just the extra amp and driver. Sonos has overhauled the acoustic design to the point where it’s able to deliver the kind of spacious stereo soundstage rarely found on a single portable speaker — and a first from Sonos. The woofer has also been precision-tuned to provide deep bass that shouldn’t be too overwhelming. If the original Sonos Move is any indication, expect balanced bass that’s faithful to the original recording rather than an overzealous tubthumping sound.
We’ll have to wait for a full review with some comparative listening tests to quantify all this, but it’s a safe bet from the specs alone that the Sonos Move 2 is going to provide noticeably better sound than the older monaural Sonos Move, perhaps even to the point where you may be able to get away with buying only a single unit for a smaller room, avoiding the need to shell out for two just to get decent stereo sound. Nevertheless, Sonos says you may still stereo pair two Move 2 speakers over Wi-Fi for “more immersive stereo sound and more detailed channel separation.”
The Sonos Move and Move 2 also both support Sonos' Automatic Trueplay to automatically adjust the EQ to provide the best sound wherever you place it. While the Move 2 doesn’t appear to support anything more advanced than the original in this regard, the overall sound quality improvements should make Trueplay even more valuable on the newer model.
Features, connectivity, and compatibility
Like the Sonos Move, the Move 2 offers connectivity via both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. However, this time around you can use both at the same time. The original Move required you to choose between the two, which meant you had to switch off Wi-Fi — and control via the Sonos app — whenever you wanted to stream to the speaker directly over Bluetooth.
It was a bit of a clunky process on the Sonos Move, but thankfully it’s no longer required. The Sonos Move 2 will happily accept Bluetooth connections at any time, making it a great way to let your friends and extended family stream from their smartphones without needing to join your Wi-Fi network.
While the Sonos Move 2 still lacks a 3.5mm aux-in port, the newer speaker at least offers a way to get wired audio input into it that the prior model lacked. The Sonos Line-In Adapter, a separate $25 purchase, will pass 3.5mm audio into the USB-C port. It’s not something too many folks will need, which is likely why Sonos isn’t bundling the adapter in the box, but it’s nice to have the option.
As with any other Sonos speaker, the Sonos Move 2 and Move are pretty much on par when it comes to compatibility. Both can be added to your existing Sonos system, and support all the usual streaming services, including Sonos' own Sonos Radio, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Tidal, and more. There’s also AirPlay 2 support for beaming audio over directly from an Apple device, plus Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant built-in. These services only work over Wi-Fi, so if you plan to take your speaker on the road you’ll be streaming to it from your smartphone, tablet, or laptop, just like any other Bluetooth speaker.
Battery life
One of the things that limited the original Sonos Move from being a road warrior was its relatively short battery life. Sonos promises 11 hours on that, but that’s under ideal conditions — at moderate volume while connected to Wi-Fi. If you expect to take it out to a beach party where you’re likely going to want peak volume, you’d be lucky to get eight hours.
The good news is that Sonos has more than doubled that with the Move 2, delivering 24 hours of listening time under the same conditions. Naturally, cranking the volume will shorten that, but there’s more here to play with, and it’s certainly more likely to get you through a weekend at the cottage.
The Sonos Move 2 can also be charged and powered directly over USB-C using any USB-PD power adapter, so you can leave the charging ring at home. Plus, with all this extra battery capacity, Sonos has added another trick — the Move 2 can double as a power bank to reverse-charge a smartphone or other low-power electronic device through the USB-C port, so it’s a handy way to get a bit of extra juice for your phone once you’re done listening.
Sonos Move 2 vs. Move: Which is right for you?
Significantly better sound quality and 24-hour battery life make the Sonos Move 2 an easy winner. You’ll get the stereo sound quality of two mono Sonos Move speakers for the price of a single Move 2, and a speaker that’s much more practical to use on the go without the feature of running the battery dry.
If those two things weren’t enough, Sonos has added some nice icing to the cake with a much nicer and more refined design, improved touch controls, and better Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. Unless you’re on a really tight budget — in which case you probably won’t be in the market for a Sonos speaker in the first place — or you have some specific requirements, the Sonos Move 2 is hands-down the best choice for most people.
Note that you can’t combine a Sonos Move with a Sonos Move 2 into a stereo pair — both speakers have to be the same model. However, even if you already have a Sonos Move and want to turn that into a stereo pair, you’ll likely be better off replacing it entirely with a single Sonos Move 2 and relegating the original first-generation speaker to another room in your house.
Nevertheless, there are still some compelling reasons why you may want to opt for the Sonos Move. While it’s only $50 less than the Move 2 on paper, the street price will generally be much lower. It’s not a bad way to add an affordable satellite to your Sonos system for a room where you’re more concerned about listening to podcasts or other spoken-word audio, especially if you can find a really great deal on one.
The Sonos Move is a handy way to expand your Sonos system with a speaker you can move around your home, but with an 11-hour battery life, monaural audio, and a price tag that’s only $50 lower than its successor, it’s a hard sell unless you can find it at a really great discount.
