Sonos Move 2 – portable oomph anywhere (AV review)

The Sonos Move 2 is the stereo update to the successful 2019 Move. It is the speaker you take with you when the Sonos Roam is not quite enough.

What is the difference between Sonos Move 2 and Move?

• Stereo – two tweeters for clear left and right channels (mono)
• Twice the battery life – up to 24 hours (up to 12 hours)
• BT 5.0 via Sonos S2 App (BT 4.X)
• New touch control and volume slider (older style)
• Physical Mic mute switch (no)
• USB-C – Ethernet and AUX (No)
• New Olive colour (Sonos online) as well as White and Black (Grey)
• Alexa and Hey Sonos (Google Assistant missing)
• 2675g (2615g)

Both have

• IP56
• Auto Trueplay
• Sono S2 App
• Replaceable battery (it is the same battery pack for Move and Move 2)

Australian Review: Sonos Move 2

Website	Product page and Support Page
Colour	Sonos White, black matte or Olive (Sonos Only) polycarbonate case
Price	$799 inc free delivery
From	Sonos Online, Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi, Good Guys, Videopro
Warranty	12-months ACL
Made in	US-designed and made in China.
About	Sonos is an American Audio company based in Santa Barbara, California [Est 2002]. It develops and manufactures smart speakers to play music simultaneously in multiple rooms.
More	CyberShack Sonos news and reviews

We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed. You can click on most images for an enlargement.

First Impression – More of the same

More of the same is not a bad thing. Apart from the cosmetic changes to the top panel, it looks much the same. Inside is a different story. It is pretty much a Sonos Era 100 – the versatile speaker with a battery pack and IP rating. That is not to downplay the Era 100– it is one of the sweetest-sounding BT/Wi-Fi/Aux speakers we have heard.

It comes with a 45W USB-C charger and a charging cradle. Extra charging cradles and chargers are $129

I like the clean matte white and black. The new Olive is a Sonos Online exclusive.

Setup – S2 App – Exceed

The Sonos App for Android and iOS is foolproof. It has more to do with your Wi-Fi setup if it does not work. Ensure the smart phone is on a 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi band (recommended for maximum distance from the router).

Assuming you don’t have Sonos already (and this is the start of your multi-room adventure), open the App and create a Sonos account.

The App will then find the Era 100 and any other Sonos speakers and run you through the setup. It plays a chime to connect to the App.

If you are adding a stereo pair or soundbar rears (or other model Sonos speakers), the App will guide you through those, too.

The App has privacy settings, and you can turn personalisation services off. It has an EQ that can fine-tune but calibrate with TruePlay first.

The S2 app has many settings. The EQ should not be necessary (see sound signature)

Placement – Pass+

Our testing found the best sound was at 80-100cm high (desktop) and out about 2-3 metres. After that, the stereo sound stage becomes less noticeable.

The dual-angled stereo tweeters are best, with open space in front and on top.

Battery

It has a 14V/3.1A/44W battery. The user-replaceable 1000 recharge cycle, $129 battery can be used in Move 2 and Move (was 2500mAh). Sonos will send a shipping label to return the old one, which is good.

It uses a 45W charger (12V/3A/33W, 15V/3A/45W and 20V/2.25A/45W) and most of the time it starts at 20V/2A/40W and drops off after about 60% charge to 20V/1.5A/30W.

It has a charging cradle rated for 15V/3A/45W and must be used with the Sonos charger (or the warranty is void). But the speaker’s USB-C port can use any USB-C PD 45W PD or higher PPS-rated charger.

We don’t have accurate charge times yet – it is around an hour. You can check the charge level in the S2 App.

Playtime is rubbery. It claims up to 24 hours, but that is at 50% volume, bass recessed, mic and voice assistants off, LEDs off, and we are guessing via AUX line-in.

We have only had time for two tests:

• Spotify Wi-Fi streaming 100% volume: 12 hours.
• Spotify Wi-Fi streaming 50% volume: 19 hours.

Still, these are pretty impressive.

We gather the extended battery life is due more to the exclusion of OK Google’s always listening and constant Wi-Fi polling rather than a larger battery.

TruePlay – Pass+

As a portable single speaker with dual angled stereo tweeters and a forward-firing woofer, you can place this anywhere regardless of a power point. It has TruePlay built in using its microphone. Every time it is moved, it quickly tunes to the new environment.

iPhone users can still use the phone to room tune, and it remains the most comprehensive, best for stereo pairs and rears.

How does it sound? Exceed.

Again, due to limited time, we have only tested with the BT and Wi-Fi inputs. Maximum volume is 85dB (loud).

We would love to test AUX-IN, but we don’t have a $69 combo adapter (USB-C to Ethernet and AUX-IN).

First, I have never heard a stereo, BT/Wi-Fi/AUX-In portable speaker with such a dynamic range and a neutral sound signature (the audiophile standard is a flat response that neither adds nor subtracts from the original music). This is impressive, as I have tested hundreds.

Bass starts at 27Hz, but it does clip until 40Hz, where it steadily builds to 80Hz before a completely flat response to 6kHz (excellent). It dips slightly to avoid harshness and is flat from 8kHZ to 20kHz.

In layman’s terms, it has low-bass (you feel this), building mid-bass (you hear the thump, not a wet whump), strong and flat upper-bass (for oomph and definition), all the musically meaningful action in low-mid-high mid, sparkling low-mid-treble (for sound character, e.g., crispness and vitality) and high-treble (adds a sense of sound direction and a feeling of ‘air’, a reality as though the music were really there).

The stereo sound stage is far wider than the speaker. You get excellent stereo left/right separation, although you must be at least 2-3 metres from the speaker to get the best sound stage.

It does not have a Dolby Atmos (DA) decoder or capabilities (nor should it), but when content is played from a DA decoder source using Wi-Fi or Ethernet, the sound stage widens, and there is some 3D height and surround.

Given the constraints of an IP56-rated (sealed) speaker, Sonos has aced this!

Stereo pair – Not Tested

Move 2 can stereo-pair with another Move 2.

Rears to a Sonos Soundbar – no

As a portable speaker, it cannot pair with a Sono soundbar or Sub.

Whole of Home – Pass+

You can play BT content on it and broadcast to the whole of home Wi-Fi network.

Voice Assistant – Pass

It has a six-far-field mic array good to about six metres. It can be physically turned off.

We can only assume that the ongoing Sonos wins, Google loses patent infringement precludes an inbuilt Google Assistant. But Google Home recognises it and can perform basic speaker control over Wi-Fi.

PS – Sonos was awarded US$32.5M from Google in damages, and this action is far from over.

Amazon Alexa is included

• Alexa will play music from your default music service.
• It can set a default speaker without saying the room name (Alexa groups)
• For stereo pairs, both will enable their microphones and respond to commands.

Siri is supported via AirPlay with limited commands.

Sonos Voice Control offers far more options, including access to the free advert-supported Sonos Radio.

Build – superb – Exceed

242 x 160 x 126 mm x approx. 3kg. It is IP56 water and dust resistance – not waterproof. You can use it in the bathroom.

CyberShack’s view – Sonos Move 2 – more of the same but better

I have had a Move since launch, and it has served me well for portable, mono sound. Mind you, the Roam punches well above its weight as a portable speaker.

The Move 2 is a similar concept; now, with stereo in one box, it is quite desirable.

Sonos Move 2 best use

If you leave it on the shelf, get two Era 100s and stereo pair.

This is it if you need a portable speaker for the pool, garden, beach, etc.

Rating

• Features: 90 – Stereo, excellent sound signature, USB-C charger, cradle, and three input sources.
• Value: 85 – $799 is not cheap. As we said, one or a pair of Era 100 ($399 each) offer better value if you don’t need portability.
• Performance: 95 – The sound signature and volume compared to the original move (which was good) are truly impressive.
• Ease of Use: 90 – BT, Wi-Fi, AUX-In and Ethernet (via the optional Dongle) make it flexible. The S2 App is foolproof.
• Design: 85 – when you are on a good thing, stick to it.