The Sonos Move 2 is the next generation of the Sonos Move. Looking similar to the last generation, much of the updates are internal, such as the ability to playback stereo content without downmixing to mono. Its built-in Amazon Alexa support allows for hands-free control, and its Trueplay feature automatically optimizes its sound to the unique acoustics of your space. Thanks to its IP56 rating for dust and water resistance, it's stylish enough for a Wi-Fi home hub and sturdy enough to take to the backyard.
Our Verdict
The Sonos Move 2 is good for music. Its TruePlay room correction tool analyzes the space to adjust the speaker's tuning for its best sound, though it requires iOS to work. The resulting sound is quite good, even if it's a bit lacking in low-end extension. Voices and lead instruments are clear in the mix with an airy top end. There's a little extra warmth in the high-bass, too. You can customize it a little with bass and treble adjustments as well, and its directivity allows your music to sound nearly the same at all angles. However, it compresses in the bass range at max volume.
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Bass and treble adjustments.
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Automatic room correction tool.
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Gets loud.
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Some compression at max volume.
The Sonos Move 2 is alright for videos. This speaker reproduces dialogue with clarity. Its wireless latency is lowest over an Airplay connection, so you can stream videos without noticeable lipsync mismatch. If you purchase a USB-C to analog adapter, you can use its line-in for the lowest possible latency, though. However, latency is a touch higher with iOS and Android devices via Bluetooth without a low-latency mode. Plus, it lacks the deep rumble in the low-bass to bring a cinematic feel to movies.
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Automatic room correction tool.
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Gets loud.
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Some compression at max volume.
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Lacks deep low-bass.
The Sonos Move 2 is good for podcasts. This speaker reproduces dialogue with clarity and accuracy, so it's easy to follow along with the conversation in your favorite shows. For longer episodes, its portable design means you can bring it with you from room to room as you listen. It gets loud, too, though there's some compression when you push it to max volume.
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Bass and treble adjustments.
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Gets loud.
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Portable design.
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Some compression at max volume.
The Sonos Move 2 has built-in Alexa for hands-free control. This voice assistant tool easily understands your commands, even if you're far away from the speaker or in a noisy environment. You can also manually mute the microphone for more private moments. Plus, it has Sonos Voice Control to connect with other Sonos products using only your voice.
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Built-in voice assistant.
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Mic mute button.
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Some compression at max volume.
The Sonos Move 2 is good for outdoor use. It's a solid, sturdy speaker rated IP56 for dust and water resistance. Since it's battery-powered, you don't need to worry about plugging it into an outlet to use it. It's also designed for easy one-hand carry, which is nice. Its roughly 10-hour battery life is suitable for a day outside, but it isn't enough for overnight camping trips.
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Gets loud.
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Portable design.
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IP56 rating for dust and water resistance.
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Some compression at max volume.
- 7.5 Music
- 6.9 Videos/Movies
- 7.8 Podcasts
- 8.8 Voice Assistant
- 7.6 Outdoors
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Updated Nov 12, 2024:
This review's text has been refreshed for accuracy and clarity, but the data hasn't changed.
- Updated May 03, 2024: We've added a comparison between this speaker and the Brane X in Dynamics.
- Updated Nov 17, 2023: Review published.
- Updated Nov 13, 2023: Early access published.
- Updated Nov 08, 2023: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Oct 11, 2023: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Oct 03, 2023: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Sonos Move 2 is available in colors like 'Black,' 'White,' and 'Green.' Our unit is the 'Black' version, and you can view its label here.
If you encounter any other variants of this speaker, please let us know in the comments, and we'll update our review accordingly.
Compared To Other Speakers
The Sonos Move 2 is a portable Bluetooth and Wi-Fi speaker that's the successor to the Sonos Move. Unlike the original model, the Move 2 can playback stereo content and has some extra connectivity options for those who want to use a line-in adapter. It's notably larger than the Sonos Roam 2, which is considerably lighter and smaller but isn't necessarily a hub. While you can move the Move 2, its dock means it has a place in your home, especially if you have other Sonos speakers you can group alongside it within the app.
Check out our recommendations for the best outdoor speakers, the best smart speakers, and the best home speakers.
The Sonos Move 2 is the next generation of the Sonos Move, and it has some noticeable improvements. Namely, the Move 2 can playback stereo content without downmixing it to mono. Both speakers have a similar design, and while the Move 2 is advertised to have a longer battery life, it performed about the same as its predecessor in our tests.
The Sonos Era 100 and the Sonos Move 2 are very comparable speakers in terms of performance and sound reproduction. The main difference is that the Era 100 is cheaper but doesn't have a built-in battery, so you can't easily take it on the move. It's also not rated for dust or water resistance like the Move 2. So if you want to bring your speaker on the go, the Move 2 is the better choice.
The Sonos Era 300 and the Sonos Move 2 are designed with different use cases in mind. The Era 300 is a wired-only home speaker, so it's not as portable as the Move 2 and isn't rated for dust or water resistance. Still, it has a better low-frequency extension and Dolby Atmos support, which the Move 2 lacks. If you want a battery-powered speaker to bring outdoors, though, the Move 2 is a better bet.
The Sonos Roam 2 and Sonos Move 2 are both portable speakers, but which is better depends on your needs. If you prioritize a smaller size, the Roam 2 is considerably lighter. However, the Move 2 sounds better and gets louder. It also has more consistent sound across different listening angles. That said, the Roam 2 shares similar functionality as the Move 2 via the app and is easier to pack in a backpack for a hike.
The Sonos Roam/Roam SL is a smaller, more portable alternative to the Sonos Move 2. However, the larger Move 2 gets louder, brings more bass, and lasts longer on its battery. It can playback stereo content, too, unlike the Roam, which has to downmix it into mono.
The Sonos Move 2 and Bose SoundLink Max are both portable but larger speakers with different strengths. The Sonos is designed as a Wi-Fi hub with a dedicated dock that you can also take outside. It sounds a bit more balanced out of the box, and you can even replace its battery down the line. The Bose has a longer-lasting battery and doesn't require an adapter to connect to analog line-in sources, but it can't connect to Wi-Fi.
The Sonos Move 2 is a better speak overall than the Ultimate Ears HYPERBOOM. It's more portable, better built, and has better directivity. It also has voice assistant capabilities and can be integrated with other Sonos speakers as part of a multi-room system. That said, it lacks the Ultimate Ears' ability to connect up to two devices via Bluetooth, and latency on both Android and iOS devices is higher, so you may experience syncing issues between audio and video.
The Sonos Move 2 and the Brane X are both portable smart speakers with premium price tags. They're very lightweight and easily carried from room to room, plus they share a similarly sturdy build quality. They're also both WiFi-enabled and come with Alexa integration. They do have some differences when it comes to sound, though. The Brane features a more elevated bass response, although this comes at the expense of the Sonos' high-end detail and clarity. The Brane can also get quite a bit louder, but you'll encounter more compression at max volume. The Sonos is a better choice for outdoor use, though, due to its superior directivity and longer continuous battery life.
Test Results
The Sonos Move 2 looks very similar to the first Sonos Move. Both are sleek and simple speakers designed to complement your home decor. They also come with a charging dock. This version comes in several colors, including Black. Around the back of the speaker, there's a handle and a removable battery.
This speaker is portable, but it's not as light or small as the Sonos Roam 2, which is nearly six pounds lighter by comparison. The Sonos Move 2 is battery-powered, so you don't need to keep it docked on the charger to use it. Plus, there's a hollowed section of the back of the speaker, which acts as a handle for carrying it single-handedly.
The Sonos Move 2 has a great build quality. Like its predecessor, it's rated IP56 for dust and water resistance to help protect it against the elements. It has a solid build with tough metal grilles covering most of the speaker, protecting the drivers inside. The top hosts the touch controls, and like the back of the speaker, it's made of matte plastic. Its base is covered in a rubberized base to help hold it in place. The charging dock is also rubberized, which can attract dust.
The controls are intuitive and easy to use and are mostly located on the top of the speaker, with audible feedback indicating the commands register. There are lights that correspond to many of the controls as well, so you can monitor battery and Bluetooth pairing. At the top of the speaker, you find two arrow buttons to skip to the previous or to the next track and a play/pause button. An indented volume slider lets you tap to increase or decrease the volume in incremental steps on either end or slide your finger across it to smoothly adjust the volume up or down. Also, the speech bubble button lets you activate the voice assistant.
On the back of the speaker, you find a few more controls that are used less frequently. There's power on/off, activate Bluetooth, and a physical mute and unmute for the microphone.
- Sonos Move 2 speaker
- Setup guide
- Charging base (Cable length: 6.6 ft / 2 m)
- 45 W Detachable charger (USB-C)
The Sonos Move 2 uses the Auto Trueplay room correction feature, which we used for testing. It automatically adjusts the speaker's sound based on the unique acoustics of your listening space, but it only works with an iOS device. You don't need to press any buttons to activate it, though you'll need to ensure the microphones are on for it to work.
Overall, the speaker's sound is quite even, especially in the mids, where most voices and lead instruments reproduce. There's a touch of extra warmth in the high-bass that brings some life to bass-centric genres like EDM and hip-hop. It doesn't quite output the heavy rumble of sub-bass instruments, and the top-end is a touch excited with a slightly airy quality. With bass and treble adjustments in its app, you can customize its sound, too, but these weren't altered for testing.
The Sonos Move 2's soundstage is great. Compared to the Sonos Move, this speaker adds a second tweeter, so it can playback stereo content without downmixing it to mono. Its directivity is very good, so you get rather consistent sound from all angles around the speaker.
This speaker gets loud, making it suitable for listening in larger, more open spaces. It gets quite a bit louder than the smaller Sonos Roam 2, for instance. When you push it to max volume, though, there's some compression in the bass, which causes the low-end to sound less full.
The manufacturer advertises a battery life of 24 hours. In our tests, the speaker lasts around 10 hours, which is still decent for most days on the go but not exactly the full day. However, battery life can vary with different usages, such as listening volume, so your results may not match ours. With the dock, it doesn't take very long to charge, and you can even charge it with the dock of a first-gen Sonos Move if that's easier for you. You can also charge it via an ordinary USB-C cable without the dock. Plus, the power-saving mode shuts it off after thirty minutes of inactivity to help conserve the battery. You can even listen to music while it charges on the base, which is nice.
Sonos also sells a replacement battery kit to extend the lifespan of the speaker in the event the battery's capacity begins to shorten.
The speaker has a mic for accessing either Amazon Alexa or Sonos Voice Control. Built-in Alexa lets you control the speaker using your voice. It easily picks up on your commands when you're far away and outperforms the Sonos Move in noisier environments. Sonos Voice Control is also available, though this is best suited for users who own multiple Sonos devices, as it lets you pair them together and move the music from one room to the next.
The Sonos S2 app lets you control this speaker and other Sonos products from your mobile devices. You can connect multiple speakers and spread audio throughout different rooms of your house. Plus, you can set up alarms, the status light, and touch controls. Services like Spotify, YouTube Music, and Tidal are accessible through the app as well. If you want to adjust the speaker's tuning, there are bass and treble controls, too. You can see a demo video of the app.
As much as the app has useful features like configuring other Sonos products, there have been reports of features disappearing and bugs. It's available for iOS and Android, but TruePlay (the room correction tool) is only available with iOS.
This speaker has a few more connectivity options than the original Sonos Move. The USB-C port offers a few options like charging, but you can use it as an AUX input with a USB-C to analog adapter (sold separately) so you can playback audio from any device with an analog output, like CD players or turntables (if they have a preamp already). You'll need to configure this function via the app. Also, you can use the port for a wired Internet connection with a combo adapter sold separately by Sonos. Because the speaker can run off its battery or playback audio while charging on its dock, you can listen back to wired audio regardless of whether it's charging or not.
You can wirelessly stream audio to the speaker via Bluetooth. Unlike the Sonos Move, though, you can only pair it with one device at a time. Latency is on the higher side, especially with Android devices, so you may notice some lip-synching issues with videos. Still, it's more than suitable for streaming music, and latency can depend on other variables such as connection strength and some apps compensate.
The speaker has very good Wi-Fi compatibility for easily streaming audio. If you own Apple products, you can also stream over AirPlay. Latency falls within good limits, which is ideal for streaming videos and movies. Plus, you can group it with other Sonos speakers in your home.