It doesn't feel like all that long ago we were writing about the Sonos Era 100 and Era 300 speakers, which were the latest devices to join the Sonos portfolio. Until now at least. Sonos has announced a second generation of the Sonos Move portable Bluetooth speaker in the Move 2, but what does it offer and how does it change compared to the original?

We've covered off how the Move 2 is different to the Move in a separate feature, and how the Move 2 is different to the Era 300 elsewhere, but here we are focusing on everything you need to know about the Move 2 speaker. When will it release, how much will it cost and what features does it offer?

Sonos Move Gen 2 release date and price

The original Sonos Move arrived several years ago now - three to be precise, gracing us with its presence in September 2019. It was the company's first portable speaker, and the first offering Bluetooth too, so it was a pretty big deal at the time for Sonos fans. The Sonos Roam followed in April 2021 as a much more portable offering, though the Sonos Move remained a compelling option with superb sound performance. It doesn't even feel dated - not by any stretch of the imagination in fact - though Sonos clearly decided it needed a refresh.

Sonos Move 2

The Sonos Move 2 will go on sale on 20 September and it will cost $449 in the US and £449 in the UK.

Pre-order from Sonos

The Sonos Move 2 - which it is called rather than Sonos Move (Gen 2) - was announced on 6 September 2023. It will be available to buy from 20 September 2023. When it comes to price, the current Move is $399 in the US and £399 in the UK but the Move 2 is slightly more expensive than its predecessor, hitting the Sonos Era 300 ballpark. It will cost $449 in the US, £449 in the UK and €499 in Europe when it arrives.

Sonos Move 2 design

The design of the Sonos Move 2 hasn't changed all that much compared to its predecessor - it's more about refinement than a redesign. That's not a bad thing though. The Sonos Move 2, like the Move, has a solid and sturdy design, with a clever integrated carrying handle at the back and an IP56 rating. It's pretty heavy (3kg) so it's not as portable as the much smaller and more versatile Roam, but it will likely continue to be a great speaker to use in the home and then bring outside for a BBQ or pool party.

It's oval in shape again, though there have been some subtle changes that are worth mentioning when it comes to the design. The Move 2 is 1mm taller than the Move (not that you would notice), and it switches out the pairing button for a microphone on/off hardware switch at the back. The Wi-Fi to Bluetooth toggle has also changed to just Bluetooth as this transition is now more seamless, though the power button remains, along with USB-C and the metal charging points at the bottom of the speaker. The USB-C port can charge other devices too now though, as well as act as a line-in port, allowing you to connect other audio devices to the Move 2, such as a turntable or computer.

On the top, things have changed a little on the Move 2 compared to the original Move as well. In place of the all capacitive touch controls on the top, there are touch controls for play/pause, skip and rewind, as well as turning the microphones on and off, but there is now a trough for volume control, like the Era 100 and Era 300 offer.

Elsewhere, the second generation Move comes in an extra colour option. There aren't as many choices as Roam still, but there is an Olive colour on top of Black and White.

Sonos Move 2 features

Sonos

The Sonos Move 2 offers everything the current Sonos Move does as you would expect, though there are some new features too. The Sonos Move 2 offers the usual Sonos features when connected to Wi-Fi, including compatibility with over 100 music services, the ability to adjust EQ settings, the ability to stereo pair two Sonos Move 2 speakers together (you can't stereo pair a Move and Move 2) and plenty more, like grouping speakers together for seamless listening in different rooms. We've got a Sonos tips and tricks feature that dives into plenty of detail on everything Sonos speakers are traditionally capable of.

The original Sonos Move offers compatibility with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, though given the Era 100 and Era 300 both dropped support for Google Assistant, it's not surprising to see the Sonos Move 2 drop support for Google's voice assistant too. Sonos Voice Control is on board though, along with automatic Trueplay tuning again, like the current Move offers. The Era 100 and Era 300 have the option to use their built-in microphones in order to adapt the sound to room rather than requiring an iOS device (though its not as advanced), though it doesn't seem like this is an option on Move 2 based on the press materials.

Elsewhere on the features front, you can't use two Sonos Move 2 as surrounds to a Sonos Arc or Sonos Beam Gen 2, as you can with the wired products, but Bluetooth capabilities are on board as mentioned, and automatic switching between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth too, which should be great. There's also the USB-C line-in port, and the Sonos Move 2 is promising a significantly improved battery life of 24 hours compared to the original Move's 11 hours.

It's worth mentioning, there have been reports to suggest the Sonos Move 2 won't be compatible with the legacy Sonos S1 software that speakers like the original Play:5 run on. Instead, it will be a Sonos S2 speaker only, which means it wouldn't work with the original Play:5 and you wouldn't be able to group them together, for example. This isn't confirmed as yet though.

Sonos Move audio

Sonos

When it comes to acoustic architecture, the Move 2 sees a redesign compared to the original Move. We fully expect this to be an excellent speaker like its predecessor is, but we haven't heard it yet so we will update this feature when we have. it doesn't have Spatial Audio support like the Era 300 but it offers stereo output instead of mono, thanks to dual-angled tweeters like the Era 100 offers. The Move 2 has two woofers to handle bass frequencies - one extra than the original Move. It also has an extra driver with three Class-D digital amplifiers on board.

For reference, the original Sonos Move has two Class-D amplifiers, a mid-woofer and a tweeter, along with custom waveguides and as we mentioned, it is superb in its performance. We're therefore expecting the Sonos Move 2 to deliver in the sound department with all the improvements mentioned.

Sonos Move 2 rumours: What happened?

This is everything we heard about the Sonos Move 2 before it was announced.

28 August 2023: Sonos Move 2 renders leak

While getting close to the September launch, MySmartPrice leaked a series of images showing off the design of the Move 2.

2 August 2023: Sonos Move 2 details revealed ahead of imminent launch

The Verge published a report offering up a number of details on the upcoming Sonos Move 2.

24 March 2023: Sonos Move 2 portable speaker tipped for summer launch

The Verge reported that a second-generation Sonos Move (model number S44) is in the works and could launch in late summer 2023.