Sonos Move 2: This Is Sonos’s New Top Tier Portable Speaker

It’s official. Sonos has announced the Move 2, which is a new and improved version of its 2019-released Move portable speaker. It has an updated look, improved sound and battery life, as well as some new playback abilities. Sonos also bumped up the price by $50.

The Sonos Move 2 will be available on September 20.

Here’s what you need to know:

Sonos Move 2 vs Sonos Move: What’s the Same?

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The Sonos Move 2 is very similar to the original Move in most ways. It supports both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, allowing you to sync it with your other Sonos speakers when inside or use it as a traditional Bluetooth speaker when outside. It has the same IP56 water-resistance rating. It supports Automatic Trueplay and therefore can adjust its sound on the fly. And it comes with a wireless charging base.

Sonos Move 2 vs Sonos Move: What’s New?

The Move 2 plays stereo sound

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Probably the biggest upgrade is that the Move 2 can play true stereo sound instead of just mono like the original Move. Sonos gave the Move 2 an extra tweeter (along with another Class-D amplifier) and angled the two of them so that they can play true stereo. This should give the Move 2 a much wider sound stage.

The Move 2 has over double the battery life

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According to Sonos, the Move 2 can get up to 24 hours of playback time when playing music at moderate volume. This is more than double the battery life of the original Move, which is rated for up to 11 hours.

The Move 2 is slightly the bigger speaker in size — we’re talking a tenth of an inch difference in height, width and depth — but the two weigh the exact same: 6.61 pounds.

The Move 2 supports USB-C line-in

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The Move 2 has been given the same USB-C line-in connection as the Era 100 and Era 300 speakers. This allows you to hardwire the Move 2 to an analog source such as a computer or turntable. The catch is that, just like Sonos’s Era speakers, you need to use one of Sonos’s special line-in adapters for those to work.

The Sonos Move 2 can charge your other gadgets

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Unlike the original Move, the Move 2 supports reverse charging. This means you can plug in a USB-C cable to the back of the speaker and charge your smartphone or tablet. It effectively turns your speaker into a portable power bank.

The Move 2 is available in a new color

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The original Move was only available in two colors: white or black. Sonos has upped this by adding a third color for the Move 2. In addition to white and black, the Move 2 will also be available in a new olive finish. This looks to be the same olive finish that Sonos offers with the Roam.

The Move 2 has the same controls as the Era speakers

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Sonos has given the Move 2 the same capacitive controls as its newest Era speakers. This includes a new indented slider for volume control; you can tap your fingers at either end or slide your fingers through it to raise or lower the volume.

The Move 2 doesn’t support Google Assistant

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Like the Move, the Move 2 is also a smart speaker. You can set it up with a voice assistant and then request songs on the fly. The catch is that while the original Move supports Alexa, Google Assistant and Sonos Voice Control (Sonos’s in-house voice assistant that solely focuses on music), the Move 2 does not support Google Assistant.

This is the same as Sonos’s other newer speakers, such as the Era 100 and Era 300, which also don’t support Google Assistant. The reasoning for this, according to Sonos, is that Google changed the technical requirements for Google Assistant on third-party devices and it’s a big engineering lift. In the end, it’s a bummer for people who have built a Google smart home around and have Sonos speakers.

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Sonos Move 2

• $449.00 at Sonos

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