There's a pretty good reason why Sonos isn't exactly breathing down Amazon or Google's neck in the global smart speaker vendor hierarchy, and that's because the Move, One, Roam, and Era devices are all significantly costlier than the cheapest Echoes and Nests around.
If you were hoping the US-based audio industry veteran would somehow "fix" that problem in the near future, we're sad to inform you that the Sonos Move 2 is actually expected to be priced higher than its $399 forerunner rather than lower.
Big price, big sound, big battery
According to the folks over at The Verge, who have somehow been able to find out everything there is to know about the upcoming premium speaker, this bad boy will make its commercial debut sometime in "late September" at a recommended price point of $449.
This is the bulky, powerful, and super-versatile OG Sonos Move.
That's way more expensive than Amazon's high-end $200 Echo Studio, for instance, although the two products are not technically comparable in at least one key area. Just like the first-gen Move, the Sonos Move 2 will allow you to, well, move around and take your favorite tunes with you wherever you go, which is something no current member of either the Amazon Echo or Google Nest families can do.
Incredibly enough, the Move 2 is tipped to absolutely smoke its predecessor in the battery life department, keeping the party going for up to a whopping 24 hours (!!!) before requiring a recharge instead of less than half that number.
This huge upgrade will not come at the expense of sound quality, mind you, as the Sonos Move 2 is rumored to make "substantial improvements" in that field as well with dual angled tweeters enabling "true" stereo playback.
Then you have all of the latest connectivity technologies and standards, like Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0, which a $450 speaker definitely needs to cover in 2023, and an interesting-sounding trio of color options including olive in addition to black and white.
A refined design and many other helpful features
You actually don't need to imagine how that new shade will look on the Move 2, as there's also a promotional image (below) leaked alongside all this other information in advance of next month's official launch. And yes, in case you're wondering, it doesn't sound like Sonos will be able to do much about the original model's bulk, which of course makes total sense given the massive expected battery life enhancement. In fact, if the weight doesn't go up, we'll probably put another one in the win column for the company's engineering division.
This is apparently how the Sonos Move 2 will look in a new green color.
As far as voice assistance is concerned, the next-gen super-high-end speaker is predictably expected to retain its predecessor's support for Alexa in addition to the proprietary Sonos Voice Control tool. You will have to live without Google Assistant functionality, however, which may prove to be a bit of inconvenience for certain users and hardcore fans of the search giant.
Obviously, there's not much that Alexa can't do these days, although it's important to keep in mind that Sonos speakers are nowhere near as helpful around the house as some Echo models, lacking, for instance, smart home hub capabilities.
The Move 2's voice assistant microphones, meanwhile, will support easy disabling via a physical switch on the speaker's back, which should help those concerned about their privacy sleep a little better. Another small design change will see this thing adopt a dedicated volume slider similar to the one found on the Era 100 and Era 300, while the OG Move's IP56 water and dust resistance is set to go unchanged.
Overall, there are plenty of things to be excited about here, but the key question remains this - who wants and actually can afford a $449 smart speaker... with less "smarts" than the $200 Amazon Echo Studio?
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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