The Sonos Move is More than a Portable Speaker

My speaker system was a mess, but when Sonos released its portable Move speaker, I was comforted. You see, not only do I have some high-end legacy gear that I refuse to part with, but I was also an early smart-speaker adopter (perhaps too early) and most recently, a Sonos owner. I’ve adjusted and learned which system works best for certain situations. Of course, no one was happier than I was when Sonos rolled out Alexa- and Google Assistant-enabled speakers. As great as my digital assistants are, my Sonos speakers simply sound better to me, their music controls and integrations are stellar—and my digital assistants have numerous advantages of their own, as covered by virtually every tech blog known to man. So, thanks to a convergence of technologies, I am one step closer to unifying my in-home music experience.

Sonos Move

Now I can tackle an often-overlooked problem: my outdoor music. With the Move, my portable speaker can now feel connected to my in-home setup. If I’m listening to a podcast in my backyard or garage, I can head indoors for a few minutes without missing a beat or lugging a speaker back and forth. From the Sonos app, I can simply choose where to play my music and at what volume, something that isn’t plausible with my outdoor Bluetooth-enabled boombox. Furthermore, I can now take my digital assistant with me. Sure, I can simply use a digital assistant-enabled speaker outdoors, but I’d need a portable power source and I prefer something that can survive the elements and provide plenty of volume along the way. Keep in mind that Wi-Fi connectivity is necessary for using the speaker’s digital assistant capabilities. Thankfully, the Move has 802.11 b/g/n on board.  The Move supports Apple’s AirPlay 2 built-in via Wi-Fi, so I can easily stream music from my compatible Apple devices.