Sonos Play vs Move 2: what are the differences on paper?

Sonos has a new portable speaker. And, like the Move 2 and Roam 2, the Play has wi-fi as well as Bluetooth, so it’s equally at home playing music on the go or as part of your home multi-room setup.

It sits between the smaller, cheaper Roam 2 and the bigger, more expensive Move 2. It's a fair bit cheaper than the Move 2, but that's not the only difference between them, as we’ll see based on our early comparison of the two.

Sonos Play vs Move 2: price

As we say, there's quite a price difference between the two speakers. The Play costs £299 / $299 / AU$499 – pre-orders are live now, with shipping starting on 31st March. That’s a good amount cheaper than the Move 2, which costs half as much again, retailing at £449 / $449 / AU$799.

While the Move 2’s price has dropped by around £100 during big sales since its launch in 2023, the rest of the time it has held firm. Which makes this round an easy win for the Play.

** Winner: Sonos Play **

Sonos Play vs Move 2: build & design

The Sonos Move 2 might be a portable speaker, but it’s anything but small. Standing 24.1 x 16 x 12.7cm, it’s about the size of a typical food-waste caddy, but at 3kg, significantly heavier (unless the caddy is extremely full, that is).

Thankfully, there’s a recessed handle on the back to help you lift it with one hand.

The Move 2 is built to Sonos’s usual high standards, and looks in keeping with the other speakers in the brand’s line-up. It’s one of the few speakers in the range that doesn't come only in white or black; there's an olive green colourway too. That option is not available with the Play.

But the Play is better equipped to deal with the elements, being rated IP67 compared with the Move 2’s IP56.

The Play has the same button layout as the Move 2, but its controls are textured so you can feel when you have found them with your fingers. The Move 2’s controls are purely touch sensitive.

The Play is a fair bit smaller than the Move 2, measuring 19.2 x 11.3 x 7.7cm. And, at 1.3kg, it's a lot lighter. It also comes with a “removable utility loop” which you can hook around your finger to make it easier to carry.

For its greater resistance to the elements, more portable nature and textured buttons, we're giving this round to the Sonos Play. But it will be interesting to see how it stands up under the scrutiny of a review.

** Winner: Sonos Play **

Sonos Play vs Move 2: features

Both the Move 2 and Play are similar propositions – portable speakers that can also plug into the mains and join your home wi-fi network to serve as part of your Sonos multi-room system. So it's hardly surprising that they share a lot of the same features.

Bluetooth and wi-fi are on board, though being newer, the Play supports Bluetooth 5.3 compared with the Move 2’s 5.0. Both pack 24 hours of battery life, and customise the sound to your environment using Automatic TruePlay. Their mics also feature advanced beam-forming and multichannel echo cancellation for easy voice controls and TruePlay adjustments.

Both have wireless charging bases for home use, so you can keep the battery topped up ready for your travels. And when you are out and about, you can pair up to four Play and/or Move 2 speakers via Bluetooth for a bigger sound (a bit like JBL PartyBoost/Connect+/Auracast).

Both speakers work with all manner of streaming services and wireless technologies, including Spotify Connect, Apple Music, Tidal and AirPlay 2.

Both also have stereo sound, though their arrays are a little different. The Play sports three class-H amplifiers, while the Move 2 has three class-D amps. Both have two angled tweeters and one midwoofer, though the components themselves differ. The Move 2 also lacks the Play's dual force-cancelling passive radiators (which make for deep bass while minimising vibrations).

Neither supports higher quality codecs such as aptX HD or LDAC, but they can stream in up to 24-bit/48kHz quality from a compatible streaming service.

Both speakers have only a USB-C port in terms of physical connections, but you can use this to connect an external audio source such as a music player or turntable using a line-in adapter. Sonos also sells an adapter that adds an ethernet port for a more solid wired internet connection; this adapter works with both speakers, but of course costs extra.

One thing to note regarding the Move 2: you need to set it up using the app and connect to your wi-fi network before it will work over Bluetooth. So don’t buy it on your way to a festival and expect it to soundtrack your tent adventures. This isn’t the case with the Play – it works over Bluetooth straight out of the box.

** Winner: Sonos Play **

Sonos Play vs Move 2: sound

We’ll have to wait until our review is complete before we can pass judgement on the Play’s sound quality. The Move 2 scored four stars in our review – a good score, but not a great one. Its sound was one of the main reasons it missed out on a fifth star.

Don't get us wrong, it has plenty to recommend it. Its sound spreads wide and has plenty of heft, all while remaining “nicely balanced, clean and detailed, and easy to listen to”, we wrote in our Sonos Move 2 review.

“Play Coi Leray’s Players and the speaker handles the playful, funky tune admirably with clean, precise edges and a punchy beat – it gets your toes tapping and fingers snapping,” we added.

Taylor Swift’s Exile has a pleasing degree of solidity to the piano notes, while Bon Iver’s voice has depth and grit. But it is outperformed by rival Bluetooth speakers, which also manage to be cheaper.

Compared with the best in class, the Move 2 is a bit heavy on the bass. It's still a solid four-star performance, but no more than that, sadly. For a prestige brand such as Sonos, that will be a disappointment.

We’ll update this once we have reviewed the Sonos Play.

** Winner: TBC **

Sonos Play vs Move 2: early verdict

The Play looks like a great proposition. It has already addressed two of our three main criticisms of the Move 2, being both smaller and more affordable. It's also built to be more resistant to the elements, and has textured buttons that should be more tactile.

The big question is: how does it sound? On that we must reserve judgement until we have put it through our usual thorough review treatment. If it can even match the four-star Move 2's sonic performance, it should fare well given its improvements in other areas. And if it can improve on that sound performance? That fifth star could well be within reach…

We will update this article once we have reviewed the Sonos Play.

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