Sonos Move 1 vs Sonos Move 2: Which Should You Choose? 🤔

This is the Sonos Move 1 (left, in White) and the Sonos Move 2 (right, in Olive).

So, besides the color difference, it’s the same, right? Yes and no. 

Well, I will explain in this article as I’ll answer 3 more questions for you, like what’s new? Is it better? And if you should upgrade if you already have the Sonos Move 1? Because the answer is not what you think.

First of all, where does the Sonos Move 2 stand among all the Sonos “elite” of speakers? Now, after reviewing almost all of the Sonos lineup, I would say that this Move 2 should not be compared with its smaller sibling, the Sonos Roam, but it should be standing between the Sonos Era 100 and the Sonos Era 300 speakers, which I’ve done reviews on both. And let’s first start on comparing the build of these two speakers.

 

Build

Yes, at first glance, these two look very similar, unless we get this brand-new Olive color that is.

So one interesting fact is that the White on this new Sonos Move 2 is also whiter, instead of a white-greyish Lunar White that you would see in the Move 1. So, it seems like the new white color version of the Sonos Move 2 blends very well with the Sonos Era 100 and the 300 speakers. Now, if I had known that earlier, I would just go with White, but I have to say that I have no regrets choosing this new Olive variant. 

Then the Black version is now called Black instead of Shadow Black, and the Sonos Move 2 has the logo in black, hence it blends more to the speaker compared to a white-colored logo on the previous generation Move, and it is even darker in black too.

Okay, when you start noticing the difference is when you look on top, as there is now the new volume slider that is found in the new Era 100 and the Era 300 speakers. 

As mentioned in those video reviews, I really like the feeling of just sliding up and down to my preferred volume instead of just endlessly tapping. 

And while the voice assistant button looks different, but it performs the same, and yes, there’s still no Google Assistant because the dispute between Sonos and Google doesn’t seem to settle yet. 

Then, on the Move 2, there is a dedicated track selection touch capacity buttons to repeat or go to the next track, whereas the left and right buttons on the Move 1 are for volume controls instead. And while you see there is a difference in the whole placement of both of the speakers, but there’s no difference in the performance. 

The light indicator has moved from the top to the front of the speaker just above the Sonos logo on the Move 2. It is very small, so if you like even that more minimalist look, now this is an upgrade. 

But for me, it took me quite a while for me to get used to since I’m always used to the fact that the light indicator is on top, so sometimes I go like, um, is it on now?

Over at the back, things are looking different once again where on the Move 2, the power button is circular like the previous Move 1, but on the Move 2, there is a dedicated Bluetooth button in a smaller pill shape, and there’s a switch with a nice flick to turn the microphone on and off. So for people who are worried about anyone spying on you, you don’t have to worry at all.

As for the first-gen Move, you’ll see a pairing button instead, which is not on the Sonos Move 2 since you just need to press and hold the Bluetooth button to go into pairing mode. 

Finally, there is a USB-C down below, similar to the Move 1, but the good news is that this USB-C can now be used for line-in connection. But the not-so-good news is that you need to get a separate adapter from Sonos. 

Speaking of this USB-C, you can even use that to turn the Sonos Move 2 into a giant power bank. Now, at first, I thought that it won’t work on the Sonos Move 1, but the good news is that you can also charge your phone too with the first-generation Sonos Move. But keep in mind that if you leave it charging for a long while without playing any music once the speaker goes idle, it will not charge the phone. 

So besides that, the build quality is excellent overall with the same rubberized finish at the bottom and of course the same drop resistance and IP56 rating. Both versions are weighing the same at 3kg, the same hardy silicon base, and the same integrated carry handle at the back. 

But there has been an upgrade on the charging dock where the adapter is smaller and the wire is also detachable. Now this is a significant step from Sonos to improve this to prevent your cable from being broken.

 

Connectivity

As for connectivity, you would see some obvious differences in the Sonos S2 app where you’ll find the additional controls for line-in and Bluetooth as well since it comes with Bluetooth version 5.0 instead of Bluetooth 4.1. 

So there are two new options in the app which are the Always Auto-Connect which connects to Bluetooth the moment the speaker is turned on and there’s also the toggle for Idle Auto-Disconnect too where if you have not been playing anything for a while, it will automatically disconnect the Bluetooth connection. And these are all very handy settings indeed. 

And there’s also the upgraded Wi-Fi 6 as well. Now both speakers have AirPlay 2, Amazon Alexa, Sonos Voice, and the dumb app called Spotify Connect

And since both speakers have Automatic Trueplay just like the Sonos Roam, where in case you did not know that the speaker adjusts the sound projection based on its surroundings wherever you move it. So for me, I didn’t even bother touching any of the EQ settings when I was listening to both of the speakers where I just had to set it up and just leave it at that. But keep in mind that you will need to switch on the microphone in order for the automatic Trueplay to work.

 

Sound

As for sound quality, I will always say that sound is all about preference and yes, I do prefer the sound coming from this new Move 2 and I really think that it sounds great. 

Now, two things that the Sonos Move 2 does very well is projecting realistically amazing vocals and supplementing them with very good bass, where it seems as though the artist is in the speaker itself! So yeah, both male and female vocals like Billie Eilish and Myles Kennedy were presented beautifully over here and everything was very articulated and clear but not too clinical, thanks to the heft of the bass where it is on a warmer side of the spectrum if you like those audiophile kind of talk.

And the bass also had a good punch and to think that all of this comes in an all-in-one portable speaker that is quite impressive again.

Now, another thing worth mentioning is that compared to the Move 1, the mid and the upper bass can really resonate and punch fully as the Sonos Move 2 handles this frequency very well. But of course, if you like more less bass and more treble, you can dive into the settings in the Sonos S2 app where the controls are similar and straightforward as how the app has always been. 

Then as mentioned, the previous generation Move slightly lacking the sparkle of the higher frequencies, which was way much better now since the new Move 2 has two physical dual tweeters and a custom waveguide as well. 

Now, of course, it’s not as good as how the higher frequencies were on the Sonos Era 300, but I have to say that overall this does sound better than the Sonos Era 100. 

And while the change from mono to stereo from the first Move was really helping on the audio improvements but don’t expect a “real” stereo sound, but you can group these two speakers together if you want, which again you can do it in the app.

Now, of course, when I’m talking about sound, I’m talking about more of a near-field listening where the speaker is really close to you. I understand that the added bass boost is meant to give you a better bass experience if the speaker is further but for me, I just find it more enjoyable when the speaker is quite close to me.

 

Battery

According to Sonos, the battery life on the Sonos Move 2 lasts longer than my movie marathon, which is doubled on the Sonos Move 2 compared to the Move 1 where it was just 11 hours on the Sonos Move 1 and 24 hours on the Sonos Move 2. 

So is that really the case? Well based on my tests I got close to 20 hours with the volume on maximum on the Sonos Move 2 on Wi-Fi, so you will get a better battery life if you are not as deaf as me, who likes to listen to maybe about 50% volume. And the first-generation Sonos Move still gave me about 9 hours plus of battery life.

Charging the speaker from 0 to 100% is like a cat nap, about 2 hours and 10 minutes on the charging base. Now, I wish there will be a quick charging option in the future but that was fine by me.

One great feature that these Sonos speakers have is the ability to go to sleep when you’re not playing anything for an extended period of time. Yeah, these two speakers sleep more than me but of course, the battery drain on the Sonos Move 2 was significantly better.

 

Conclusion

So yeah, to conclude, the changes on the Sonos Move 2 are more than skin deep because literally a lot of things have been changed on the insides as it sounds so much better, especially with the stereo imaging but more importantly the battery lasts even much longer than before. 

If you want to save some money you can still go with the Sonos Move 1 which is still available at TC Acoustics website, which is currently priced at RM2,249 which is about USD 482 but I would just advise for you to spend the extra money to get the Sonos Move 2 if you do not have the Sonos Move 1 since it costs just about RM2,799 or USD 599 to enjoy the new features and the better sound quality and of course the battery life that the speaker brings.

So that answers your question on what’s new, what the differences are, and if it’s better. Then as for the final question on upgrading, well if you’re coming from the first-generation Move, if you’re really happy with your current Sonos Move 1 then just stick to it since Sonos has always known to have speakers that last a really long time. But if you like the sexy new Olive color, then yeah just get the new one instead! 

 

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