It's official: the new Sonos Move 2 portable speaker is here after months of anticipation and rumours. Highlights include new stereo sound, a much-improved battery life, new features and design flourishes, and an increased price tag (as expected). But there's far more to the new speaker than just that.
You can read our official Sonos Move 2 review right now, and see below for the full details following the launch.
American audio giant Sonos isn’t known for pumping out products at a relentless pace, but it isn’t a company of slow-handed slouches either. After the impressive new Sonos Era 300 and Era 100 wireless speakers made their debut earlier this year, it was the hefty portable Move speaker (Sonos's first ever portable speaker, in fact) that was rumoured to get a sequel.
We liked the first Move a lot, but it wasn't perfect. We found it to be a little on the costly side and not quite able to match the original Apple HomePod in the sound department (its main rival back in 2019 when we first tested it). Here's a rundown of all the changes and improvements (and returning features) that Sonos has made with the new Move 2.
- Read our full Sonos Move 2 review
Sonos Move 2: release date
The Sonos Move 2 made its official launch on 6th September 2023, with the speaker due to go on sale globally from 20th September onwards.
The original Sonos Move made its debut on September 24, 2019. The sequel comes nearly four years to the day later, and this launch date was predicted earlier this year by The Verge, which has a solid track record when it comes to leaking Sonos products.
It hasn't quite missed the height of the summer (the UK is going through an unseasonable heatwave since the Move 2's launch), so Sonos's launch is timely for those wanting to enjoy music outdoors in the sun.
Sonos Move 2: price
What we are surprised to see, however, is the official price tag. The Sonos Move 2 will cost a rather substantial £449 / $449 / €499 / AU$799 when it goes on sale.
While that matches up with the rumoured price conjectured by The Verge, it's still a surprise to see the Move 2 priced near-identical to the Era 300 wireless speaker – which launched at £449 / $449 / AU$749. Bearing in mind that the Era 300 has more drivers inside, supports spatial audio technology and hi-res audio over wi-fi, while the Move 2 has Bluetooth and wi-fi (no spatial audio) but is portable – it's an interesting choice to make.
This also makes it £50 / $50 pricier than the original Move, which launched at £399 / $399 / AU$649 in 2019 (but has since gone up to AU$699 in Australia).
We thought the original Move was a smidge expensive for what you were actually getting and for its audio performance (it received four stars overall), but we have had newer, pricier wireless speakers enter the market since then. Another portable speaker of this type is the new Ultimate Ears Epicboom wireless speaker, launched on the same day as Move 2 at £330 / $350 / AU$499.95. Another class-leading Bluetooth speaker at this premium end of the price range includes the Award-winning Dali Katch G2.
A pretty tough market, although all these speakers have different features to offer. We'll update you on which is best once we get a chance to run them all head-to-head in our dedicated listening rooms.
Sonos Move 2: design
The rather big, bulky and heavy design of the original Sonos Move returns, especially for a speaker that's still meant to be ‘portable’. It's nowhere near as light and portable as the smaller Roam or JBL Charge 5 or Flip 6, but you are able to carry it around the house and into the garden, at least.
In line with the March 2023 report from The Verge, the second-generation Move speaker has retained its predecessor’s dimensions of 24.1 x 16 x 12.7cm and 3kg weight. We wouldn't recommend trying to fit it into your backpack, for sure.
While there's been no change to the physical size, we do at least get an extra colour option: olive, as seen in the above picture. This sits in addition to the standard black and white matte finishes. It's not five different shades, as you get with the far more truly portable Sonos Roam, but it's definitely welcome.
In terms of interface, the Move 2 has been given a refresh to look more in line with the smarter Era 100 and Era 300 speakers, which we found to be a slicker, more modern user experience. The on-unit touch controls on top of the speaker have been refined with new icons, a new one-tap voice control button, and a volume "trough" built into the speaker that you slide your finger across to make adjustments.
The buttons at the back have also been refined, with the power button joining a swift Bluetooth pairing button and a switch to turn the internal mics entirely off (or turn on) for voice control.
The wireless charging base station returns, but it's also been overhauled with a detachable power adapter (the original's was hard-wired). A USB-C port is also present, for hard-wiring external audio sources or even a sturdier wired ethernet connection – keep in mind you'll need specific and separate adapters for this, however, and these are sold by Sonos at an extra cost. You should also be able to charge your smartphone using the USB-C connection.
Sonos Move 2: features
The first Sonos Move gave a good account of itself when it came to boasting numerous functionalities and features: being a Sonos wireless speaker and supported by the S2 platform and app, it came with all the multi-room and streaming services support you can expect from the brand.
In the Move 2, you get wi-fi 6, Bluetooth and AirPlay 2 for streaming from devices. Bluetooth is of the updated 5.0 version (the original Move was 4.1) with support for the standard SBC and AAC codecs. Once again, there's no sign of higher-quality codecs like aptX HD here, as is the case with the Era speakers.
While the old Move supported both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, the new Move 2 features Alexa and Sonos's own voice control (the latter is available in certain territories only for now). There's no Google Assistant in the new model, like with the Era speakers, due to a change in Google's requirements for third-party device support.
It's worth noting that the Move was compatible with Sonos’ S2 software and its older S1 platform, whereas the Move 2 will be S2-only. You will also be able to replace the battery in the Move 2 (just as before) as Sonos, like many other audio manufacturers, looks to improve its brand sustainability.
Speaking of batteries, this is one area where the Move 2 has improved significantly – it's now supersized to 24 hours, more than doubling the playtime from the old Move's paltry 10 hours. It should also use less power in standby mode, and so should require recharging less frequently.
We hadn't expected the Move 2 to support spatial audio tracks and we can confirm it doesn't, but it does support stereo pairing if you invest in two Move 2 speakers. If using a stereo pair and streaming songs over Bluetooth, Sonos notes that you will still have to be connected to wi-fi to play across both speakers. You'll also need wi-fi for the setup and if using it as part of a multi-room system with other Sonos speakers in your house, of course.
Other features that make a return include Automatic Trueplay, Sonos’ automatic sound calibration system for its portable speakers, which is now available for both iOS and Android users through the Sonos app. It also has an IP56 rating for water- and dust resistance, with the same shock absorbent materials to protect the speaker against falls, bumps and other weather-related protection such as UV rays.
Sonos Move 2: sound quality
This really should be where Sonos has all bases covered. We liked the original Move's open, full-bodied sound both inside the home and down at the bottom of the garden. It had a decent, even-handed tone, but we didn’t find the Move’s sound quality to be truly class-leading in our review. The original HomePod offered more drive, impetus and cohesiveness to songs in direct comparison.
Considering the newer, more formidable competition at this end of the market (not just from Apple's new HomePod 2 but also from within Sonos's own wireless speaker portfolio), Sonos needs to up its sonic game in the Move 2.
The new Move 2 now offers stereo sound, thanks to dual angled tweeters, instead of the original Move's one tweeter. The two tweeters are supported by a woofer, and Class D amplification powers all three drivers. There are also custom waveguides to aid the dispersion of the frequencies, with Sonos aiming to deliver a "wide, spacious stereo sound, crisp vocals and a deep, punchy bass" with the Move 2. If it comes close to the performance of the Era 100 speaker (which similarly went through a stereo sound evolution), we're looking at a potentially improved sound.
Does it succeed in its mission and deliver a new level of performance? You can check out our full Sonos Move 2 review for the final verdict.
MORE:
Check out our original Sonos Move review
Read our five-star Sonos Era 300 review
Which Sonos speaker should you buy?
Here's our pick of the best wireless speakers and best Bluetooth speakers
