Credit: Ben Patterson/IDG
The Sonos Move is one of our favorite outdoor speakers, but at a hefty 6.6 pounds, calling it portable is a bit of a stretch; “luggable” is more like it. Now comes word that Sonos is teeing up a new device for next month, and there are strong hints that it could be a smaller, more movable Move.
During Sonos’ earning call on Wednesday, CEO Patrick Spence announced that the company’s “newest product” would arrive in March, according to The Ambient.
While Spence didn’t go into any further detail about the upcoming device, a recent Sonos FCC filing suggests that the product could be a new—and likely smaller—portable Bluetooth/Wi-Fi smart speaker.
As The Verge notes, the FCC filing describes a new speaker that supports both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 5, along with a wireless charging dock. The filing also says that the upcoming speaker consumes less power than the two-year-old Move, which suggests a smaller (and hopefully lighter) shell.
Despite the Move’s daunting size and heft—it’s fitted with a handle, and feels as heavy as a bowling ball—we still lavished it with praise in our review, calling it a “remarkable” portable speaker with “fantastic” audio quality, “amazing” Wi-Fi range and “long” battery life. The Move is tough, too, with its IP56-certified shell designed to resist dust and jets of water.
Of course, there’s another possibility for Sonos’ next product, and it’s an enticing one: a pair of headphones.
Sonos fans have long wondered whether the company would unveil wireless headphones, and there’s evidence that Sonos has at least mulled the idea. Last summer, Sonos was awarded a patent for a pair of over-ear headphones with noise cancellation, touch controls, a line-level input, and a “possible” USB-C charging report, Protocol reports.
Interesting stuff, but how often have we seen patents for products that never come to fruition? An FCC filing, on the other hand, points to a device that’s close to fully baked, and that’s why our money is on a smaller Move rather than the headphones (for now, anyway). Stay tuned.
