Sonos Move 2 review: Now things are clearer
A TEST REPORT from David Haydl 
on October 16, 2023, 8:00 am | Write a comment
Last month Sonos introduced the second version of their first portable speaker: the Sonos Move 2. In this test you will find out what is new and what everyday life is like with the speaker.
tl; dr: The first Sonos Move I was still a bit skeptical about the whole concept. For me it was simply too heavy and too unwieldy for a portable speaker. But as it turned out later, he should Sonos roam the actual mobile speaker. With the Move 2, however, it becomes clear once again that this product range feels most at home in your own four walls or even in the garden.
A lot of the design remained the same, but that's not a bad thing at all. An innovation is the volume slider on the top, which you can access from the It was 100 and It was 300 took over. And a new color found its way into the range, which is called "Olive". My biggest criticism of the product is that the sound did not completely convince me. To be more precise, the bass is too present for me in some situations. On the positive side, the battery life has increased dramatically.
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Unboxing and initial setup
The packaging once again consists of a bright cardboard box on which the product name, several logos, various other text and a schematic representation of the multi-room speaker can be seen. After removing the seals, you can see the contents of the packaging, which consists of the speaker, a power supply with USB-C, a charging station and the usual instructions. Due to the inclusion of the charging station, which is noticeably higher quality than the first generation, a USB-C cable for charging is missing.
A USB-C cable is not included. (Picture: TechnikNews)
The furnishingproThe process is almost the same as always. If this is relevant to anyone, I recommend the corresponding section review of the Era 300 from Sonos linked above. The only difference is that automatic TruePlay is activated. TruePlay is basically there in Sonos products to adapt the sound to the environment and normally setting up this feature is a separate and optional step. The Move 2, however, is able to perform the calibration automatically when changing location.
Design and workmanship
Visually, the Sonos Move 2 has only evolved slightly compared to its predecessor. The manufacturer took the basic structure completely from this and only added a touch-sensitive volume control, which we already know from the Era devices. This works pretty much as well here as with the Era 300 I tested. There is also a change in the colors. In addition to white and black, green (“olive”) is now also available as an option.
Picture: TechnikNews
The Sonos Move 2 is 241 millimeters high, 160 millimeters wide and 127 millimeters deep.
Among other things, a kill switch for the microphones was installed on the back. This completely disconnects it from the power supply, which means that the independent TruePlay no longer works when it is switched over. Next you will see a button to initiate pairingprocesses for a new Bluetooth connection and a USB-C port. This serves as a cable input (with the separately available AUX adapter from Sonos, other adapters are incompatible) and can also charge other devices, such as smartphones, with 7,5 watts. It's not that fast, but it'll do it in a pinch. Directly below you will find the connectors for the charging station. The handling of this is the same as the first Move - you put the device in and it charges. The docking station could also be included with Roam. Last but not least, we have a carrying handle at the back that is integrated into the case.
This means you can carry the Move 2 around quite easily, but only until the weight of three kilograms becomes too heavy. So I see my own four walls and perhaps a balcony or garden as the place of use for the Move, while the Roam is perfect for musical accompaniment on the go.
Picture: TechnikNews
The top has a pretty Sonos-typical design. There are touch-sensitive buttons for controlling playback and the previously mentioned slider for adjusting the volume. You can also temporarily deactivate the voice assistant using another button. The Sonos Move 2 supports Amazon Alexa and the in-house Sonos Voice Control.
Picture: TechnikNews
All in all, the speaker seems very robust. It is also protected against water and dust in accordance with IP56. Thanks to the rubberized bottom, it doesn't fall over easily and is also "crash-proof" according to Sonos. One negative thing I noticed once again was that the top is not completely flush with the rest of the housing. However, other Sonos products also have this flaw.
Audio inputs and battery life
Sonos is known to support numerous ways to bring music to your speakers and the Move 2 is no different. Streaming services can be stored in the app again, media can be transferred via AirPlay 2, there is Bluetooth 5.0 or you can simply plug an AUX cable over the previously installed oneproadapter. By the way, this is only suitable for use with a record player or similar devices, but not for the television.
The battery life noticeably increased. In the previous model this was 10 hours, now it is a full 24 hours. I got roughly there review. It is very pleasant that you no longer have to worry about reloading.
sound quality
The Sonos Move 2 has three digital amplifiers, two angled tweeters, a midrange driver and a woofer.
The sound from the Move 2 is very loud and powerful, making it perfect for outdoor use. There isn't much difference to the Era 300 and you get the portability as a plus. The Move now also has stereo. Since it's been a while since I tested the Move 1, unfortunately I can no longer accurately judge the difference. Other testers agree that a difference is audible, but that it doesn't make a world of difference.
I see room for improvement with the bass, it's a bit too present in certain moments. This is particularly noticeable in the title Victim by Alltta, because you can hardly hear the background voice in the chorus anymore.
Sonos app
As always, the Sonos app is there for setting up and controlling the product. However, since this has not changed since the last test, I will leave it at a link to the last walkthrough.
Prices and availability
The RRP of the Sonos Move 2 is 499 euros. This is available via the Sonos homepage and Amazon.
We would like to thank Sonos for providing the Sonos Move 2!