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

• Sonos / Pocket-lint

  Sonos Move 2

  The Sonos Move 2 inherits the three-year-old Move and brings a number of improvements, including a refined design, twice the battery life, and improved sound.

• Sonos / Pocket-lint

  Sonos Move

  The Sonos Move is an exceptional speaker that delivers big sound in a portable device. There’s 11 hours of battery life, loud volume, and some great features, especially for those with Sonos.

Sonos announced the Move 2, the successor to the first portable Bluetooth speaker in the form of the Move in 2019. Since the Move was revealed, the company has leveraged both portability and Bluetooth. It launched the smaller Roam and Roam SL in 2021, offering both, and the Era 100 and Era 300 both launched more recently as wired speakers but with Bluetooth for the first time.

The Sonos Move 2 has a very similar design to the original Move, although it does bring some improvements as well as a redesigned audio architecture. Here’s how the Sonos Move 2 compares to the Sonos Move. Should you upgrade and if you’re considering buying a portable Sonos speaker with great sound, should you choose the new Move or the old Move?

Price, Availability, Specifications

The Sonos Move launched in 2019 and costs $399 in the US and £399 in the UK. It is available in Shadow Black and Lunar White color options and is available now. It is currently unclear how long it will last after the launch of its successor.

The Sonos Move 2 will go on sale on September 20, almost three years after the first version (four more days and should have been). It has a slightly increased price tag, priced at $449 in the US and £449 in the UK. For those in Europe, the Sonos Move 2 will cost €499. However, there are three color options instead of two, including Black, White, and Olive. It is worth mentioning that the Black option on the Move 2 is richer than the Shadow Black of the original Move with more depth.

We’ve included the specs sheet below to compare the numbers of the two side-by-side, but there’s more to these speakers than just numbers, so read the specs sheet to see how. Learn more about how these two portable party speakers compare and what has changed.

• Sonos Move 2

  Connect

  Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0

  Battery

  24 hours

  Water proof

  IP56

  Sound

  Three class-D amplifiers, mid-woofer, two dual-angle tweeters, far-field mic

  Voice assistant

  Amazon Alexa, Sonos Voice Control

  Color

  Black, White, Olive

  knot

  Volume chute slider, capacitive touch controls, Bluetooth button, microphone on/off switch

  Others

  Sonos features, Trueplay Auto-Tune, AirPlay 2, USB-C input

  Size

  241 x 160 x 127mm, 3kg

• Sonos Move

  Connect

  Wi-Fi 4.0, Bluetooth

  Battery

  11 o’clock

  Water proof

  IP56

  Sound

  Two Class D amplifiers, mid-woofer, tweeter, far-field mic

  Voice assistant

  Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, Sonos Voice Control

  Color

  Black and white shadow

  knot

  Capacitive touch control, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth switch, Pairing button

  Others

  Features Sonos, Auto-Tuning Trueplay, AirPlay 2

  Size

  240 x 160 x 126mm, 3kg

Design

The Sonos Move 2 and the original Sonos Move have design similarities. In fact, from a distance, you’d be forgiven for not being able to tell the difference. Both speakers are similar in size, and both are similar in weight. Both have built-in handles on the back, which is useful for carrying them around as they’re not the lightest portable speakers available today.

The speaker grilles on both extend largely around the speaker, leaving a strip at the back that houses a handle and some buttons, while the base of both the Sonos Move 2 and Move has a rubberized finish and has a rubberized finish. features USB-C port and metal charging connectors when Move and Move 2 are on the charging dock. The two speakers also have the Sonos logo in the same place on the front and both come in black and white color options, although the Sonos Move 2 is also offered with the mentioned Olive colorway and slightly different colors. . Both the Move 2 and the Move are IP56 water and dust resistant, so both can handle being outdoors as well as a few bumps and falls.

There are some minor design differences that are worth highlighting, despite the similarities between these two speakers. The first is at the top. The Move 2 brings the same controls as those first introduced on the Era 100 and Era 300 speakers, providing a volume chute, along with capacitive play/pause, forward and reverse controls. . There is also a microphone capacitive button. The original Move had all capacitive buttons, with volume up and down on either side of the play/pause buttons and skipping and rewinding a track done by swiping from left to right or vice versa on the controls. control. It also has a microphone on/off button.

The second difference lies on the back of the Move speaker. The Move 2 has a hardware switch that turns the microphone on/off, along with a power button and a Bluetooth button. Meanwhile, the original Move has a power button, a Bluetooth to Wi-Fi button to switch between the two modes (not automatically), and a pairing button. Therefore, there are some differences in how you use the Move 2 and Move speakers and the features they provide.

Featured

The Sonos Move 2 and Sonos Move share some features, although as mentioned, there are some that are different. The Sonos Move 2, for example, offers more than just speaker charging through the USB-C port on the rear. You can also charge other devices through the port, or use it as an input to connect other audio sources like your computer or turntable. It also comes with Alexa and Sonos Voice Control, with the former letting you ask the Move 2 any questions or control a smart home, while the latter lets you control the speaker itself and any Which group is grouped with it, by your voice. Sonos Move also offers this voice assistant, although it is also compatible with Google Assistant.

Both the Move 2 and the Move are Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capable. This means you can pair a Bluetooth device with either speaker and share audio instantly, and when using Wi-Fi, the two will act like a traditional Sonos speaker, providing features the same, like compatibility with more than 100 music services, seamless multi-room audio, and the ability to group and separate speakers. However, the Move 2 will automatically switch between Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, while the original Move requires you to switch between the two modes.

Elsewhere, you can expect a similar experience from Move 2 and Move. Both can be controlled via the excellent Sonos app which offers a number of features, and both can be paired stereo. However, it is worth mentioning that you will need the same speakers, i.e. two Sonos Move speakers or two Sonos Move 2 speakers. It won’t work when pairing Sonos Move stereo with Sonos Move 2. There is also support. Apple AirPlay 2 on both Move speakers and Trueplay adjust automatically, meaning both speakers will adjust the sound output to suit the environment they’re in.

Sound

When it comes to the internals of the Sonos Move 2 and Sonos Move, here are some differences as well. The Sonos Move 2 has been redesigned inside, just like the Era 100 compared to the Sonos One. The biggest difference is that the Move 2 has a secondary tweeter. The two tweeters in the Move 2 are angled, like the Era 100, allowing for stereo separation. This means that the Move 2 offers stereo sound, while the original Move offers mono. There’s also an additional Class-D digital amplifier on the Move 2 compared to the Move with three supposedly precision-tuned Class-D digital amplifiers and a mid-woofer.

The Move has a single downward tweeter, two Class-D digital amplifiers, and a mid-woofer for comparison. The Move’s audio performance is excellent, although the Move 2 is even better based on its hardware. We still need to listen to know for sure, but we don’t expect to be disappointed.

Both the Move 2 and the Move offer adjustable EQ levels through the Sonos app, so you can tweak the bass, treble, and volume to suit your preferences. You won’t find support for Dolby Atmos or Spatial Audio like the Era 300.

Battery

Last but not least is the battery. The Sonos Move originally claimed to offer 11 hours of battery life on a single charge at moderate volume, which we found wasn’t too far from reality when we tested it. There is also a replacement battery pack that comes with a new battery and the necessary tools to replace the battery yourself, which you can purchase separately if you notice that the battery on the Move is getting worse and worse.

The Move 2 claims to offer 24 hours of battery life, which, if this is correct, is a pretty significant improvement over its predecessor. That means you can listen to music day and night instead of having to grab a charging dock or USB-C cable in the middle of the evening. Like the Move, the Move 2 also has a replaceable battery.

Sonos Move 2 vs Sonos Move: Which Should You Buy?

The Sonos Move 2 adds some great improvements on the original Sonos Move on paper. The design changes are subtle, but that doesn’t mean they don’t make a difference. The controls are clearer and more user-friendly, while the microphone hardware switch on the back of the Move 2 will be welcomed by many. The extras of the USB-C port come in handy too, and you can’t argue with double the battery life or the stereo over mono so there are plenty of upgrades.

If you have the original Move and are considering adding a Move 2, we doubt the new model will perform as well as the original, although you might also consider buying another Move if you can get the price. well, since that will allow stereo pairing. If you’re choosing between the Move 2 and the Move, you’ll pay a bit more for the Move 2, but you do get some upgrades that are sure to support the device in the future for several years, so we recommend it. use Move 2 instead of Move unless you can get a really good deal on the original.