Sonos is back with what it claims is its most powerful portable speaker ever. The Move 2 Bluetooth speaker is now official and, according to the brand, it's a "premium portable powerhouse" that sports a completely overhauled acoustic architecture, design and feature upgrades inspired by its Era wireless speakers, and longer battery life.
Let's start with audio. The Sonos Move 2 is now able to deliver stereo sound, says Sonos, thanks to two angled tweeters (instead of the original Move's one) and a woofer, with all three drivers powered by its own class D amplifier. Custom waveguides help control and disperse the frequencies, delivering a "wider, more balanced soundstage". Sonos says the resulting sound should mean "wide, spacious stereo sound, crisp vocals and a deep, punchy bass."
The Move, while on the large side, was Sonos's first portable speaker (the smaller Roam followed after) – and the new Move 2 retains its chunky dimensions and 3kg weight. But there are plenty of feature upgrades and refinements, the most notable being longer battery life. The new model now packs up to a mighty 24 hours of playback – that's more than double the previous model's quoted 10-11 hours. As before, the battery is replaceable via Sonos as well.
The wireless charging base that the speaker comes with has also been given a light upgrade; if you don't want to use that, you can charge the speaker using a USB-C cable. You can also charge your smartphone using the USB-C connection, which is handy. A water and dustproof rating of IP56 means it can withstand splashes of rain and dirt when taken outdoors, while Sonos says the durable Move 2 is made with "shock-absorbent materials" to protect it against any drops or bumps.
Connectivity options are strong, too. Wi-fi and Bluetooth 5.0 are on board (with standard AAC and SBC codecs), as is Apple AirPlay 2. As with all Sonos speakers, you get full access to the Sonos app which opens up a world of music streaming options (including support for Spotify, internet radio and more), while you can add the Move 2 to other Sonos products in your house to create a multi-room system. You can also link up two Move 2 speakers to play in stereo, but note that they have to be connected to wi-fi if using Bluetooth to stream to a stereo pair.
Many of the updates we saw in the new Era 300 and Era 100 wireless speakers (launched earlier this year) can be seen in the new Move 2. Mainly, the on-unit touch controls on the top of the speaker have been redesigned to match the Era speakers', complete with the new volume slider. The buttons for power, Bluetooth pairing and turning off the microphone have also been given a refresh in the recessed back of the speaker. Voice control returns, although this time the Move 2 sports only Amazon Alexa and Sonos's own voice control. As with the Era speakers, there's no Google Assistant support as a change in Google’s technical requirements for third-party devices meant that Sonos hasn’t been able to include it in its latest products.
Elsewhere, you can plug in external audio sources to the Move 2 using the USB-C port, although you will need the Sonos Line Adapter (sold separately) to complete the wired connection.
Sonos's bespoke Automatic Trueplay calibrations tech also returns; this allows the Move 2 to adjust its sound to the environment every time you relocate it – we find this works effectively with the first Move model.
The Sonos Move 2 will be available in olive, black or white finishes from 20th September with a price tag of £449 / $449 / €499 / AU$799. That puts it on par with Sonos's Era 300 spatial audio-toting wireless speaker at £449 / $449 / AU$749, making it a rather pricey proposition. By contrast, the original Move model was tested at £399 / $399, while the newly-announced Ultimate Ears Epicboom is yours for £330 / $350 / AU$499.
There is plenty to get excited about with the new Move 2. While we like the original Move from 2019, we feel its audio quality falls just short of truly class-leading, so we are hoping that Sonos has upped its game with this long-awaited sequel. We were impressed with just how much Sonos has matured with the excellent Era speakers (both five stars), and we are hoping to hear a similar upgrade in overall sound performance from the Move 2. Rivals are few but formidable in this premium portable category: the sleek Dali Katch G2 (£349 / AU$749) is our go-to Award-winner at this price, while the new UE Epicboom is a similarly sized alternative – admittedly, neither has Sonos's wide multi-room versatility. We will find out, of course, when we put the new Move 2 through the review testing process, so stay tuned for the full review in a couple of weeks.
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