Sonos has announced its first portable speaker at IFA 2019 this week. It’s the Sonos Move.
This is a big change for Sonos, and the start of a new product category for the company. Previously, all of Sonos’ products had been stationary speakers. Speakers that needed to stay plugged in. But the Move is a battery-operated speaker that can be taken anywhere.
Sonos Move is bringing real competition to brands like Sony, Bose & Others
The Sonos Move still has all of the great sound that you would expect from Sonos speakers. But now, it’s portable.
It will work with Sonos’ current WiFi system, where music is streamed over WiFi versus Bluetooth. Which also means that you can pair it with a Sonos One, or Sonos PLAYBAR to get surround sound in your home.
The Move is a somewhat large speaker, considering it is a portable speaker. It’s about 10-inches tall and weighs almost seven pounds. That makes it much larger than the Sonos One, and also heavier than the popular UE BOOM Bluetooth speakers. Luckily, Sonos did design a handle into the speaker. Making it easier to move around and carry.
There is also a charging base that uses pogo pins to charge the Move, making it easier to charge at home, and giving it a place to live. It also can be charged via USB-C, with the port on the backside. Sonos is not saying yet, how long the battery will last on the Move, however.
That’s not all Sonos has up its sleeve
Sonos also has two other products that it is announcing today. The Sonos One SL and Port.
The Sonos One SL is basically a Sonos One, but without the microphones. It is going to be replacing the Sonos PLAY:1, and will cost $20 less than the Sonos One. So if you’re looking for a good, compact speaker that does not have Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant included, then this is the one to get.
Then there is the Sonos Port. It’s exactly what it sounds like. Think of the Amazon Echo Input, but for Sonos. The Sonos Port can be connected to a stereo system and you’ll instantly be able to pair it with other Sonos speakers and also stream plenty of music over WiFi to it.
Pricing & Availability
The Sonos Move is available for pre-order today and will be available starting September 24, with a price of $399.
While the Sonos One SL will go on sale September 12 and be priced at $179.
Finally, the Sonos Port is going to be available starting September 12 in limited quantities. It will have a more broad rollout in January 2020, with a price of $399.