Move, the first portable offering which brings the company’s innovation to where one wants it to be, a product that marks the Sonos’s first step outside the home. Created to go where no Sonos speaker has gone before, Sonos users have lacked a speaker that can be taken out into the garden for some audio bliss. The Move is as much a Wi-Fi speaker as the company’s other speaker offerings. Equipped with arguably the strongest multi-room offering over 802.11 b/g/n on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, as well as support for more than a hundred streaming services and multiple voice assistants. The Move is equipped with Bluetooth and a replaceable lithium-ion battery rated to provide up to ten hours of continuous playback on a single charge. The lifespan of the battery is estimated to be about 3 years, Sonos will make available a replacement battery module to extend the longevity of the Move.
With audio products gearing up to every part of one’s day, portable speakers are no exception. Manufacturers are moving towards enhancing their usability with IP (Ingress Protection) rating, Sonos is no different when it comes to the Move. Rated at IP56, the speaker is dust-protected and protected against jets of water but please do not bring it into the swimming pool since it probably won’t survive being submerged.
“Since the very beginning, Sonos has been giving listeners unparalleled freedom of choice and setting standards the rest of the audio industry must rise to meet. Our platform gives you the freedom to play any song you want, any way you want, Move takes freedom of choice to the next level. For the first time, you can take Sonos anywhere. Move marks the beginning of a new era for Sonos – one where brilliant sound not only fills your home, but extends to every part of your day.”
Patrick Spence, CEO, Sonos.
Measuring 240 x 160 x 126mm and weighing in at 3kg, the Move is a powerful, versatile smart speaker that sounds incredible indoors, outdoors, and on the go. In Wi-Fi mode, the Move also supports stereo pairing, where one could look to have a pair of bookshelf speaker setup where wires or a power outlet is out of reach.
According to Sonos, the Move is equipped with two Class D digital amplifiers powering a forward-firing midrange driver that is found on the Play:5 as well as a downward-firing tweeter. Ensuring that the Move could handle big low-end sounds and not lose clarity in the outdoors as well as the ability to provide a wide, even soundstage regardless of where it’s placed.
During the launch in Singapore, Christian Honegger, CEO of TC Acoustic which is the local distributor of Sonos demoed the new automated process for Trueplay, the system Sonos uses to get a speaker sounding its best no matter where one placed the speaker. In the past, when one set up a new Sonos speaker, the Sonos app brings one through the process of calibration where after the speaker is placed, one is required to wave the smartphone above the head for 45 seconds to allow the smartphone to “scan” and study the behaviour of sound waves in the space to calibrate the speaker.
With the new Trueplay, as long as the Move is connected to Wi-Fi, the calibration routine will be continuous at intervals of 30 seconds which means the speaker will continue to adjust its calibration as and when one moves it and at intervals of 30 seconds, it is almost on the fly. To demo this, Christian faced the speaker into the corner of the room, causing the audio to be muffled for about 15 to 18 seconds. When the calibration is completed, clarity is certainly restored exhibiting that the Move is a true smart speaker that will automatically calibrate itself regardless of where one place it as long as it is connected to a Wi-Fi connection.
Sonos Move is available in Singapore through partner retailers Harvey Norman, Challenger, Courts, and trysonos.sg for SGD 729.
