New Sonos Move smart speaker could blow away Bluetooth rivals

New Sonos Move smart speaker could accident away Bluetooth rivals — here's how

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

A smaller successor to the Sonos Move wireless smart speaker could be on the way, co-ordinate to an FCC filing.

Spotted by The Verge, the filing details a Bluetooth- and Wi-Fi-enabled speaker that seemingly adopts a more portable, cylindrical design than the existing Move.

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That'due south an exciting prospect because while the Motion is both one of the best waterproof speakers and one of the all-time Bluetooth speakers overall, it's also a fleck on the bulky side. A slimmer, lighter pattern would give Sonos a much better chance of challenging the likes of the UE Megaboom iii as a go-anywhere speaker.

As the filing confirms the inclusion of 802.11ac Wi-Fi, this new speaker would probable follow the Sonos Move — Sonos' commencement fully wireless speaker — in offering congenital-in streaming and smart banana functions.

One diagram also appears to take the device sat on a wireless charging dock, reinforcing it as a bombardment-powered speaker. And smaller dimensions are a safe bet, every bit this new device is listed with lower ability usage than the Motility.

Another diagram, showing laser-etched labeling that would appear on the underside of the device, puts the labeling in a circular pattern. This farther indicates a sparse cylindrical shape, more alike to that of the Megaboom three than the nearly bucket-shaped Move.

Every bit skilful as the Sonos Movement is — it's easily 1 of the best-sounding wireless smart speakers — a new model, with the features outlined in this filing, would make for a very tempting alternative. A smaller design would instantly fix the Movement's portability issues, and because it uses 802.11ac Wi-Fi, instead of the Motion's 802.11n, it could manage better wireless performance when at long range from a router. That's particularly vital to a wireless speaker designed to exist taken exterior.

Nosotros'd too similar to encounter improved waterproofing, equally the Move'south IP56 rating makes it splash-resistant just not able to survive full submersion similar the Megaboom 3 tin can. In that location's nothing in the filing about this aspect specifically, though.

Yet, this new speaker is definitely related to the Sonos Move: its model number is given as S27, while the Motion'southward is S17. Hopefully, a shorter stature and less powerful drivers also make it cheaper than the $400 Motility as well.

James is currently Hardware Editor at Stone Paper Shotgun, but earlier that was Audio Editor at Tom's Guide, where he covered headphones, speakers, soundbars and anything else that intentionally makes racket. A PC enthusiast, he as well wrote computing and gaming news for TG, usually relating to how hard it is to find graphics card stock.