PRICE: $449
AT A GLANCE
Plus
Stereo sound from twin tweeters
Battery life as much as 24 hours
Assist for wired audio sources
Upgraded Wi-fi Charging Base
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities
Minus
Stereo soundstage is proscribed
Can’t be paired with Sonos subwoofer
Proprietary USB-C Line-In Adapter not included in field
THE VERDICT
With lengthy battery life, a sturdy construct, highly effective bass, and superior connectivity choices, the Transfer 2 is a compelling improve that is prepared for each indoor and outside use. Whereas it is perhaps on the pricier facet, for the standard and options provided, it’s an funding that delivers.
Sonos, a model synonymous with wi-fi multi-room audio audio, unveils its newest: the Sonos Transfer 2. This speaker is not only a sequel however a big improve from its predecessor.
Options
The unique Sonos Transfer was already a formidable entry within the transportable audio area. Now, meet its developed successor—the Sonos Transfer 2. At first look, the Transfer 2 retains the acquainted aesthetics of its predecessor, retaining its dimensions and transportable kind. Nevertheless, Sonos introduces an olive shade, including to the unique Transfer’s black and white choices.
The Transfer 2 has capacitive contact controls; you possibly can play, pause, skip, replay, alter the quantity, mute your voice assistant, and group or ungroup Sonos merchandise utilizing these controls.
Just like the Transfer, the Transfer 2 works with voice assistants. It helps Sonos Voice Management and likewise Amazon Alexa. The privateness management is a change that disengages the built-in microphone on the {hardware} stage.
The setup course of could be very straightforward, particularly if you have already got a Sonos account. That is positively a powerful go well with, Sonos is understood for consumer pleasant merchandise. And for those who get into any bother, it additionally has glorious buyer assist.
A brand new battery guarantees as much as 24 hours of playback, doubling the stamina of the unique. Charging is streamlined with an upgraded Wi-fi Charging Base, and its IP56 ranking assures resilience towards mud and water, making it a fantastic option to take open air and on the street.
Wi-Fi 6 assist, Bluetooth 5.0, and a brand new line-in functionality through USB C adapter provide versatile connectivity. You can even cost the Transfer 2 through USB C. The Sonos app stays intuitive, and the speaker seamlessly matches into the Sonos ecosystem. Nevertheless, its lack of ability to pair with a Sonos subwoofer is perhaps a letdown for some. One other no-can-do is utilizing Transfer 2s for surround-sound in a house theater system.
In case you are watching video content material with an iOS machine, you need to use the AirPlay 2 performance that gives a low latency connection for enhanced high quality audio that is sync’d with the video.
My hands-on expertise was restricted by the truth that I solely had one speaker to work with. But it surely’s straightforward to see how a pair of them reproducing stereo would lead to a compelling stereophonic listening expertise. Nevertheless, it is price noting that this speaker just isn’t designed to be used with TVs as a soundbar substitute, because of Bluetooth latency points.
Efficiency
Listening impressions are extremely favorable inside the context of a tool this measurement and sort. The rationale for that is the tuning and the adjustability. The speaker adapts to the atmosphere in addition to providing tone controls and a traditional loudness characteristic that reinforces bass when the quantity is low. You may get sound that pleases you out of it.
The Transfer 2’s sound high quality and output is spectacular contemplating it’s cordless—not merely wi-fi—and the actual fact it’s a single, compact, and transportable unit. The inclusion of an extra tweeter provides it a little bit little bit of stereo, giving it a broader soundstage than the unique monophonic Transfer. Nonetheless, the stereo soundstage is modest and the vast majority of the sound seems to return from the speaker itself. This isn’t the identical expertise as a two-speaker stereo system, or perhaps a soundbar that makes use of beamforming like Sonos’ personal Beam.
The bass is tight, deep, and well-balanced. The Automated Trueplay room tuning characteristic ensures the sound stays surprisingly constant no matter the place the speaker is positioned. For instance once I place the speaker in a nook it compensates for the change in bass response (a results of the boundary impact) as in comparison with when it is sitting out within the open.
These acquainted with Sonos’ tuning will discover the Transfer 2 aurally matches in with the remainder of their audio system. These not acquainted with Sonos will discover the sound clear and pure in character.
Whereas the Transfer 2 just isn’t going to exchange a high-end bookshelf speaker, efficiency is extremely favorable for a speaker of its measurement and sort. It manages to persistently impress with its output, notably when enjoying genres like rock, pop, and electronica. Nevertheless, it might falter a bit when pushed arduous with sure recordings of genres like jazz or classical, it’s best to maintain the quantity ranges modest when a recording has a really large dynamic vary.
My subjective and anecdotal check of Sonos Automated Trueplay’s efficacy concerned enjoying the album The Music of Grand Theft Auto V Quantity 2, The Rating. That is one in every of my favourite instrumental albums, and its music can sound congested if a speaker can’t successfully parse by means of the layers. On this check, I discovered that the speaker tailored nicely to varied placements whereas sustaining readability.
It carried out persistently whether or not it was out within the open in my loft front room, the place the middle channel speaker for my {surround} system often resides, or in a nook subsequent to the kitchen sink. The speaker additionally maintained related tonality when positioned on high of the fridge and on a bookshelf in the back of my front room.
By using RoomEQ Wizard and sine wave check tones, I used to be capable of monitor the bass response of the Transfer 2 and located that it extends right down to roughly 36 Hz and does so cleanly. Nevertheless, the bass rolls off extremely rapidly—virtually a brick wall—in order that by the point you attain 30 Hz, there’s basically no sound and no motion from the woofer. I deduce this speaker doesn’t waste electrical energy on trying to breed bass that it may well’t deal with. Relatively, it goals to faithfully reproduce music and AV content material whereas avoiding the problems that include pushing it previous bodily limits of amplification and driver tour. It proactively reduces bass ranges when the quantity is elevated, stopping the woofer from turning into overtaxed.
It is essential to notice that bass extension right down to 36 Hz will cowl the overwhelming majority of music genres and price reiterating that this speaker just isn’t designed or marketed for residence theater use.
What the Transfer 2 is designed for is touring, so I tossed it in a backpack and scooted to one in every of my favourite city outside spots, Philadelphia’s Rail Park, the place I loved the brand new album Metallic Spheres in Color by The Orb and David Gilmour. The music is ambient dub i.e. mellow paced and spacey, however with a heavy dose of Gilmour’s guitar. Flip it up and the sound covers fairly a big space, it may definitely deal with a picnic or a yard celebration.
Outdoors, the primary distinction is there isn’t any reinforcement of the bass such as you get indoors. Massive celebration audio system can overcome this with brute drive however the Sonos doesn’t have that luxurious. It is no huge deal although as a result of the general sound is so good, so clear, and to the extent it may well, the speaker adjusts its tuning so music nonetheless sounds full and balanced. A change in tempo to the fats beats of Bassnectar’s The Golden Rule: Half 1: Unlocked confirmed that the speaker’s processing can discover a option to “pump that bass” in a manner that enables it to take care of composure, but nonetheless ship the sonic goodies in a convincingly strong method.
Last Ideas
The Sonos Transfer 2 is a crucial a part of the model’s speaker ecosystem as a result of whereas all Sonos audio system are wi-fi within the sense that they join through Wi-Fi, they aren’t all cordless. Most must be plugged in. Plus, it hits a candy spot between small measurement and excessive efficiency.
The Transfer 2 just isn’t a substitute for a high-end sound system, but it affords a superb listening expertise for a conveyable speaker in its class. Its sound and construct high quality, characteristic set, and flexibility make it nicely price its $450 MSRP. And I can solely speculate {that a} pair of them would ship a implausible true stereo listening expertise.
From its long-lasting but replaceable battery to its genuinely helpful and efficient Automated Trueplay characteristic, Sonos has created a compelling compact, transportable speaker that works nice by itself or as half of a bigger Sonos system.
Specs
Audio
- Amplifiers – Three class-D digital amplifiers
- Tweeters – Two angled tweeters for stereo
- Woofers – One midwoofer
- Microphones – Far-field microphone array with superior beamforming and multichannel echo cancellation. Used for correct voice management and Trueplay tuning
- Adjustable EQ – Use the Sonos app to regulate bass, treble, and loudness
- Automated Trueplay – Software program frequently optimizes the speaker’s sound for its atmosphere and the audio content material
Energy and Connectivity
- WiFi – Appropriate with WiFi 6. Use any 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax 2.4 GHz/5 GHz broadcast-capable router
- Bluetooth – Bluetooth 5.0, stream from any Bluetooth-enabled machine
- Battery – 44Wh battery, as much as 24 hours of steady playback on a single cost
- USB-C – Cost your telephone on the go, or hook up with an audio supply utilizing an auxiliary cable and the Sonos Line-In Adapter. Join your router with an ethernet cable and the Sonos Combo Adapter (equipment offered individually)
- Apple AirPlay 2 – Works with AirPlay 2 on Apple gadgets iOS 11.4 and better on WiFi
{Hardware} and Dimensions
- IP56 – Protected against mud and high-pressure water streams
- Dimensions – Peak: 9.49 in (241 mm), Width: 6.3 in (160 mm), Depth: 5.00 in (127 mm)
- Weight – 6.61 lbs (3 kg)
- Colours – Black, White, Olive
- End – Matte
- Controls – Capacitive contact controls for play, pause, skip, replay, adjusting the quantity, muting the voice assistant, and grouping or ungrouping Sonos merchandise
- Bluetooth Button – Press to pair with a Bluetooth machine
- Mic Change – Use this change on the again of the product to disconnect all energy to the microphone
- LEDs – Lights on the product point out connection, microphone exercise, and mute standing
