After leaking comprehensively last month, Sonos has finally revealed the Sonos Move WiFi / Bluetooth speaker ahead of IFA at a beautiful event at Bridge Studios in Berlin.
Sonos is a brand that’s known for its wireless speakers but, until now, it has never aimed its products outside the home, but that changes today with the Sonos Move.
The Sonos Move is as a Sonos speaker like any other, but take it outside the home and it functions like a high quality Bluetooth speaker that you can use on the go as well. Why have a portable speaker that’s stuck on your WiFi, after all?
This represents a bit of a move for Sonos, acknowledged by Sonos CEO Patrick Spence (above) after 17 years of building speakers for inside the home. Spence acknowledged there were “engineering challenges to overcome to bring Sonos’ quality to a portable, Bluetooth speaker with incredible sound”, but it seems they’ve achieved it.
The Sonos Move features built in Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant functionality, and when connected over WiFi (its preferred environment) it will appear in the Sonos app to be used in conjunction with any other Sonos speakers in your place. In this regard, the Sonos Move functions much the same as the relatively recent Sonos One release.
At the launch event, Sonos Moves were everywhere providing chilled beats to backdrop the event, and were working on a network with other Sonos speakers, both indoors and outdoors to ensure that great tunes were heard, in sync, inside and out around the stunning venue.
Being a portable speaker, Sonos Move also shows you the charge state in the Sonos app, so you know whether to top up before you head out. However, when it’s operating in Bluetooth mode, you lose some of the voice control functionality and it won’t appear in the Sonos app.
There’s little doubt as to the audio quality of the device, and demos did not disappoint. A single unit was able to fill a room with quality sound, and out and about, you’ll not be left wanting.
You might be worried about its hardiness, but I wouldn’t be. It’s protected against water and dust ingress, and during drop testing onto concrete, a Sonos Move kept playing and didn’t lose any functionality. Impressive. Chances are it looked a bit dinged up afterwards though.
The Sonos Move is available for pre-order starting today at sonos.com for $649, with global availability announced for 24 September.
