The Sonos Move is not that new. However recently I had to upgrade to keep my system functional for the long term. With that I did get a trade in credit of 30% for their recycle program. There is enough press about that so I will leave that alone.
It arrived in typical timely Sonos fashion. The unboxing is a very solid process with everything easy to open and the speaker itself in a cloth bag. Very nice. Firs two things I noticed is the weight of the speaker. It is not something I would travel with (Now the type of travel I do is more airplane so take that into consideration) It does not compete with the Bose travel speakers. The second thing is the bottom of the speaker is rubber and very nice. It provides a solid foundation and ultimately must help the sound quality.
When connecting to the Sonos system it was easy and I did have to do a software update (Just a couple of minutes) My Alexa app found the new device however I did have to activate the feature inside the Sonos app. (This was my first Alexa powered Sonos device) The second Alexa Sonos speaker activated automatically.
For my first trial I took it out to the garage (I am rewiring a Sonos Amp and those speakers are currently down but that is what I am working on) I did not do the Truplay since it is moving in the garage. The sound is very good. Bass and mids are solid, the upper end was a bit muted (But again it was a garage and not an ideal listening situation) One thing I would have thought is with the concrete I would think it would sound hot on the highs. This is a large garage with tall ceilings and oversized 3 car bays. It filled the space very well and at less than 2/3's volume. I listened for a couple hours and had 90% battery left.
The charging stand (Ring, whatever you might call it) is easy to put it on/in. Has a light on front showing charge status along with the exact percent of battery in the app.
I did use Alexa a couple times and responded well from the other side of the room.
When it warms up my plan is to use this by the pool. The pool runs parallel to the house and I have 2 Sonos Amp powered speakers by the house (TIC's that sound amazing) that Amp is getting upgraded to the latest Amp this weekend so we will see but it already sounded amazing. The pool is powered by Alexa (Pump, radio, lights and so much more) so I have had a battery powered Amazon Echo device that has been discontinued that I was using just for Alexa. Now I will use the Move as the Alexa and a speaker in phase with the Amp speakers but on the back side of the pool (Farthest from pool) so we will see but I am guessing the amazing sound I had will be even better! I could run speakers back there (But the landscaping is not real good for that) and besides I would still have to have an Alexa and as far as I am aware there is not a outdoor Alexa device. Other thing I may consider since I have a couple more devices I can trade, is to purchase another Move and have the back in stereo!
In conclusion, it is a heavy but quality (As you would expect from Sonos) device. I would say the $399 price tag feels a bit high but with trade in discount it is less than $300 so that is about right.
