The Sonos Move was the speaker company’s first foray into portable speakers and set a standard for sound quality that you can take with you. The just-announced Move 2 promises to eclipse the original in every way.
Building on the release of two new music-focused speakers this spring, the Era 300 and Era 100, the Move 2 borrows heavily from the tech and design of Sonos’ latest models. That bodes well, considering how good those two speakers sound. Sonos also improved on the Move’s weakest link: its battery. But getting more will also cost you more.
Sonos Move 2 price and where to preorder
The new Sonos Move 2 promises to bring better sound, longer battery life and an improved design to the company’s biggest portable speaker.
The Move 2 costs $449 — that’s $50 more than the Move — and will be available from Sonos starting Sept. 20, 2023.
The speaker is available in traditional black or white, as well as olive — a color previously only available for Sonos’ smaller portable, the Roam.
Stereo sound
Leaning heavily on advances developed for the Era 100, the Move 2 features two tweeters that bring stereo sound to the speaker. The tweeters are angled out to provide a wider and — if the Era 100 is any indicator — better sound. There’s also a woofer to produce midtones and low-end frequencies.
The speaker also includes Auto TruePlay, which adjusts the sound to the environment. That’s something that was first seen on the Roam and added to the original Move via a firmware update later.
Like the Era 100, the Move 2 doesn’t support Dolby Atmos.
Longer battery life
The biggest drawback of the original Move was its battery. Though it was rated at 11 hours, it often didn’t seem to make it that long.
Sonos says the Move 2 will last 24 hours on a full charge, which we’ll test when we review the speaker. Sonos also redesigned the charging cradle, making it smaller with a detachable charging cable. You can also charge it with a USB-C cable.
Updated design and controls
Again taking direction from the Era 100, the Move 2 looks slightly slimmer and less boxy than its predecessor. It’s still on the large side for a portable; if you want to have a unit for your backpack, try the Roam instead.
The Move 2 also incorporates the touch-sensitive slider on the top to adjust volume as well as other controls that you find on the Era 100 and Era 300. You can now add an external source if you pick up the $19 Sonos Line-In Adapter.
You can connect to the Move 2 via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth at the same time, whereas previously you had to pick one. That should make taking it beyond the reaches of your Wi-Fi range more seamless. You can also pair two Move 2 speakers together via Bluetooth for a bigger sound, but you can’t do that with a Move 2 and the original Move. The Move 2 keeps the original’s IP56 ruggedness, enough to protect it from drops, dust and water.
The takeaway
We found the original Move to be an impressive portable smart speaker with excellent sound, and the new Move 2 should only improve on what worked. Adding stereo sound and 24 hours of battery life will definitely help.
The price remains a barrier for many people. At $449, there are definitely portable speakers that sound good for less, like our top pick, the Ultimate Ears Boom 3.
But if you’re already invested in the Sonos ecosystem and want something you can take outside, the Move 2 is going to be your best-sounding option. The Roam sounds great for a small portable, but it can’t compare to the Move for big sound that you can take with you.