Sonos releases Move 2, its chunky speaker for the outdoors

Update adds stereo sound and the option to charge your phone

(Sonos)

Sonos has released the Move 2, an updated version of its chunky speaker for the outdoors.

The Move was released in September 2019, as Sonos’s first battery-operated and semi-portable speaker. It was joined later by the Sonos Roam, which comes in a much smaller and lighter form factor that is intended to be more easily carried around, and the Move has focused on uses such as carrying a speaker into the garden or moving it from room to room.

Now Sonos has revealed an updated version of that Move, focusing largely on sound quality and its battery. It will cost $449, or the same in pounds – slightly more than the previous Move, which sold for $399 – and will be available on 20 September.

(Sonos)

The improvements to the sound bring what Sonos says is a “completely overhauled” design of the speakers. That allows for stereo sound and other improvements to the audio quality.

The improvements to the battery double the playtime from the version of the Move, increasing it to up to 24 hours. It also includes a USB-C port that can send power out the other way: charging up a phone or other electronics, for instance.

Audio can also go into the speaker through that input. After being largely resisted to adding line-in connections to its speakers, Sonos has recently brought USB-C inputs to its latest releases, though still requires customers to buy a line-in adapter separately.

And it comes in a new olive colour, alongside the black and white of the original Sonos. That is matched with a new design on the user interface, first unveiled with Sonos’s recent Era speakers, which include a slider for volume control.

Otherwise, the Move looks almost identical to its predecessor. It has the same level of water resistance and features WiFi and Bluetooth, though it has the option to bring two Moves together for stereo sound when they are connected to WiFi.