Sonos Move 2 Analysis: The Ultimate Portable Sound System with a Soulful Home Appeal

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Key Takeaways

The Sonos Move 2 is a streaming speaker that can be used throughout the whole home, with both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections for maximum usability.
While it may be heavy to pack for short trips, the Move 2 has a long battery life and a versatile USB-C port for convenience.
The Move 2 offers stereo sound with minimal stereo separation but improved audio clarity.

The Sonos Move 2 really encapsulates what it means to be a streaming speaker for the whole home. Its Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections ensure you’ll be able to use it from all areas of your property—and beyond. Its heavier weight, however, makes it less ideal to pack for short trips. A homebody at heart, the Move 2 gets long battery life, new dual-tweeters, and a new convenient USB-C port. It’s the do-it-all speaker that can go anywhere that also doesn’t mind staying put.

Sonos Move 2

8/ 10

Stereo sound in a portable speaker that supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and line-in connectivity.

Display

Dimensions

9.5 x 6.3 x 5in (241 x 160 x 127mm)

Weight

6.61lbs (3kg)

Integrations

Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect

Connectivity

Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax 2.4 GHz/5 GHz); Bluetooth 5.0

Ports

USB-C

Colors

White, Black, Olive

Buttons

Capacitive buttons

Speakers

Dual-tweeters and woofer

SMART ASSISTANTS

Alexa, Sonos Voice Control

Pros

Longer battery life for more versatility
Dual tweeters improve the sound over original
New volume slider is much easier to use

Cons

Line in requires additional USB-C dongle
Uses older Bluetooth 5.0 spec

Expand

$449 at Sonos $449 at Best Buy $449 at crutchfield

Move 2 Design and Portability

Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek

The Sonos Move was a perfectly fine first attempt at a portable speaker. It was heavy to pack for a trip, but it sounded great and handled Bluetooth and Wi-Fi music streams. After a few years, however, some of its weaknesses have become more clear.

One example of how the Move 2 is getting a modern overhaul as a portable speaker is its integrated USB-C port and contact charger. The updated port now handles audio inputs (with the use of an adaptor ), the same way the Era 100 does. This means I could temporarily drop the speaker in the living room to connect to my turntable.

The port can also provide sufficient power to other devices, like phones or tablets. I found this very handy and convenient: charging my phone in the backyard while listening to music.

Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek

The battery life doubled from a rated 11 hours to 24 hours. In practice, this went a long way in how useful the speaker was to plant around in different rooms or use at louder volumes outdoors.

Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek

I have appreciated the addition of the carved-out volume trough on the Move 2. I often forgot whether the touch buttons on the original Move would control the volume or skip tracks since they were an unintuitive collection of dots. This new design tweak matches the Era 100. It’s a minor change in theory but goes a long way in practice.

The new induction charger that comes with the Move 2 looked more modern than the previous one. It can also disconnect from the wall adapter so it can be tucked into more tight spaces. I never needed to do that, but more modularity should be better for everyone. Another nice aspect is that the charger rings are backward compatible, so the Move 2 could be charged in the original Move charger—and vice versa.

New Stereo Sound From Move 2

Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek

Original Move speaker (left) in black and new Move 2 in Olive

A notable highlight of the new Move 2 speaker is that it has dual tweeters for stereo sound. As expected, there was only minimal stereo separation coming from the Move 2 because of the drivers’ proximity to each other. Music did still have more dispersion with a wider coverage area thanks to the added driver configuration. Thanks to the dual tweeters, the speaker did seem to have a bit more audio clarity over the original Move.

The original Move speaker had a fine, meaty sound that worked well for its versatile uses. However, I was expecting more significant audio gains for this new Move 2 speaker. Unfortunately, the audio is only marginally better on the new speaker, still carrying a thick mid-range. There’s a good chance any audio differences will even be noticed by casual listeners. One example that convinced me of this was a blind test with members of my family which yielded no consensus on where the original Move or Move 2 was better sounding—or why. Maybe Sonos has reached the peak of improving the sound with the current Move’s general form factor. Regardless of future advancements, the Move 2 does have a touch more audio clarity and hints of stereo separation with the right songs. The improvements in this area are just a lot more subtle than I expected.

I did connect a turntable to the back of the Move 2 with Sonos’ USB-C adapter. I was pleasantly surprised by its capability when playing a vinyl record. I wouldn’t recommend someone buy a Move 2 specifically to be their turntable speaker, but it could work great for occasional use.

Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek

Apart from my side-by-by comparison between the different Move speakers, I also did a side-by-side comparison of the Move 2 and the Era 100 speaker. The Era 100 employs a similar dual-tweeter configuration to the Move 2 for stereo sound—in a smaller package.

The Era 100 could hold its own against the Move 2 up to a certain volume. After that, the Move 2 was able to produce a fuller and overall richer sound at higher volumes. An important feat for using the speak outdoors. Even at the halfway volume point, the Era 100 had plenty of thump, but its whole sound profile leaned more trebly than the Move 2.

The Move 2 still uses Bluetooth 5.0 instead of a newer wireless spec. It’s hard to tell how much that will impact real-world performance over time, but it’s a little disappointing that it could become a limiting factor in the future.

Same Sonos Software

The Move 2 still uses the same Sonos app for setup, TruePlay, and general interaction with it. The Sonos app is available for iPhone and Android .

One new aspect of the Move 2 is that it can share its Bluetooth connection—like the Roam can. This means that audio streamed to Move 2 over Bluetooth can then be passed on, wirelessly, to other Sonos speakers. I never found myself wanting to use it, but it worked and could be neat for certain niche circumstances.

Move 2 Battery Life and New Charger

Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek

The most exciting feature of the Sonos Move 2 might be its 24-hour-rated battery life. This is more than twice as much as the previous model. With more power comes more time to listen to music and the ability to plug in your phone and keep it charged.

In testing the Move 2, I did notice the longer battery life over the Move, even more than the sound difference between the two products. While the Move’s 11-hour battery life was more than fine for all my uses over the last several years, it could be much shorter when using it with louder volumes outside for a party. The new one just extends the fun even longer.

Move 2 Price and Availability

The Move 2 goes on sale on September 20, 2023, for $449 . It’s available in black, white, and olive colors. The previous model will continue to be sold at $399 until its inventory is gone.

Sonos Move vs. Move 2: Should Current Owners Feel Bad?

Primary differences

Stereo vs. mono
Up to 24 hours of playback vs. 11 hours

The Move 2 is not exactly the same dimensions as the Move, but it’s close. Any difference was imperceptible in person. Interestingly, the battery has a larger capacity in the same physical space and the whole unit weighs exactly the same.

New

44Wh battery
6.61lbs
9.5 x 6.3 x 5in (241 x 160 x 127mm)

Old

36Wh battery
6.61lbs
9.44 x 6.29 x 4.96in (240 x 160 x 126mm)

So, should people who bought a Move in the last year feel bad? Or should current Move owners instantly upgrade? In short, no. The Move 2 updates make the new speaker better all around but don’t change it enough that current owners should give up on their original Move.

Basically, the additions should help keep the speaker relevant and competitive for potential consumers, but it’s not a must-upgrade type of product. It’s an expensive device to replace every couple of years!

Should You Buy the Sonos Move 2?

The Sonos Move 2 is priced at a staggering $449 price. Its cost comes in well above the average Bluetooth speaker. It even matches the Dolby Atmos-capable Sonos Era 300 . While the Era 300 focuses on immersive listening, the Move 2 puts its efforts into being the most versatile speaker ever.

The Move 2 can be a star in any room of the house as well as in the backyard or on a tailgate. It has features that don’t force it into any one location, but most importantly, the Move 2 worked great wherever I used it.

The improvements of the Move 2 make the speaker an even better product than it was before. So, people who want to listen to music in a variety of ways should find value in this single speaker, rather than needing to buy multiple ones. The Move 2’s $449 retail price, however, means the inherent value for general consumers is even tougher to swallow than when the original Move debuted at $399.

Sonos Move 2

8/ 10

Stereo sound in a portable speaker that supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and line-in connectivity.

$449 at Sonos $449 at Best Buy $449 at crutchfield

Review Topics

Sonos Move 2 Analysis: The Ultimate Portable Sound System with a Soulful Home Appeal