The Sonos Move 2 is the latest portable smart speaker from Sonos, and it’s a significant upgrade over its predecessor.
As a disclaimer, I have not tried the original one, so I can’t compare Move 1 and 2. This review is coming from someone who has only started using Move 2. I have been using the Move 2 for a month now and here are my thoughts about it.
What’s in the box?
You get the speaker, a charging base with a 2 metre USB-C to USB-C cable, a 45 W USB-C PD power adapter and a QuickStart guide.
Design and build quality
The Sonos Move 2 is a well-built speaker with a sleek and minimalist design. It’s available in Black, White (the one I have) and Olive (which is a new colour), and according to Sonos, it weighs around 3kg.
There’s an integrated handle on the back lets you carry the Move 2 around. You can use this speaker as a dumbbell if you want.
The speaker is very well built, feels very solid, and is nice to touch. I bet it will even survive if you drop it from waist high or maybe even higher.
The speaker is made of a durable plastic material that’s IP56 rated for water and dust-resistant, and it has a rubberised bottom that helps to keep it from slipping. So you can bring it to the bathroom or put it next to a swimming pool without worry.
On the top of the speaker is a recessed touch panel with controls for volume, play/pause, and skip/back.
There’s also a microphone for voice control which only supports Amazon Alexa and Sonos voice control; no Google Assistant unfortunately.
Tapping the speech bubble button on top of the speaker deactivates voice assistants while retaining features like auto Trueplay.
On the back of the speaker there’s a button to toggle the Bluetooth mode, and a power on/off button, a charging port, a USB-C port for connecting to other devices (requires a Line-in adapter), and a physical button for disabling the microphone entirely.
Sound quality
The Sonos Move 2 sounds great, both indoors and out. It has a wide soundstage and delivers deep bass, clear vocals, and crisp highs. The speaker is also very loud, and it can easily fill a large room. It goes really well with rock, hip-hop, pop, and electronics.
Try not to turn the volume way up and keep it at around 50%, as it will distort the sound if you keep it at a higher volume.
The Move 2 also has an automatic tuning feature called Trueplay. This feature uses the speaker’s built-in microphone to analyse the acoustics of the room you’re in and adjust the sound accordingly.
This ensures that the speaker always sounds its best, no matter where you place it. To my ears, there’s no big difference when I move the speaker from my bedroom to the living room. What I can hear is just a subtle one.
Battery life
The Sonos Move 2 has a battery life of up to 24 hours. This is a significant improvement over the original Move, which had a battery life of up to 10 hours.
My typical use case would be connecting the speaker via Bluetooth to my phone, and I tend to spend around an hour each day listening to it while I’m chilling in my room.
Personally, I only have to charge the speaker once every two plus weeks, which is very good for me. Also, the speaker’s battery can be monitored through the Sonos app.
The speaker can be charged using the included power adapter and placing it on a wireless charging dock.
You can also purchase the wireless charging dock separately. This offers a convenient solution for moving the speaker around without the need to carry the charging dock with you. Simply get a few docks and place them throughout your house.
The good thing about the power adapter is that when I’m not using it to charge the speaker, I can use it to charge my other devices, thanks to its removable USB-C cable.
Sonos says it takes about three hours to fully charge it from 0 to 100%, and my charging time pretty much aligns with that.
The company claims the battery lifespan is about three years, or 900 charges, and you can buy a replacement battery, which is great because that means you can keep the speaker for many years to come.
Features
The Sonos Move 2 is a smart speaker, so to get the most out of it, you need to use the Sonos app. You can also group the Move 2 with other Sonos speakers to create a multi-room audio system.
Take note that you have to setup the speaker through the Sonos app and connect it to WiFi before you can start using the Bluetooth mode and do everything else.
The Move 2 has a number of other features, including:
- WiFi streaming: If you want the best possible audio quality, this is the best option. But it’s a bit restrictive because the speaker will not play the sound of the YouTube videos and games.
- Bluetooth support: This allows you to use the Move 2 with your devices, but it can only be paired with one device at a time, and it only supports SBC and AAC codecs, which is unfortunate considering the price you are paying.
- AirPlay 2 support: This allows you to stream audio from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to the Move 2.
- Equaliser: Well, you can only adjust the bass and treble and turn loudness off or on. For those looking for a speaker where you can fine-tune the sound, this is not it.
Is it worth your money?
The Sonos Move 2 is one of the best portable speakers you can buy. It sounds great, has a long battery life, and has useful features.
It’s a bit expensive at RM2,799, but it’s worth the price if you’re looking for a high-quality portable speaker.
The Move 2 is a great choice for anyone who’s looking for a high-quality portable speaker that sounds great both indoors and out.
It’s especially well-suited for people who want to be able to easily move their speaker from room to room, or take it with them on the go.
If you don’t care about portability and you care more about sound quality, for the same price, you can consider the Sonos Era 300 speaker instead.
The Era 300 has six powerful drivers that direct sound left, right, forward, and upward and support spatial audio together with Dolby Atmos.
