Sonos' Next Speaker Leaks With Some Surprising Changes
Sonos is one of the best-known manufacturers of connected speaker systems. By connecting to the same Wi-Fi network, a number of Sonos speakers arranged via the Sonos app can fill your entire home with sound. The company offers everything from inexpensive SYMFONISK bookshelf speakers (at a starting price of $120 at Ikea) to entertainment room setups like the Sonos Ray soundbar, which is priced at $279 on the official Sonos store, and the long-anticipated Sonos Sub Mini.
All of these models can be chained together, allowing you to play the same audio across your house whether it's coming from your TV or one of the many music services listed on the Sonos website. Now, it looks like Sonos is coming out with a brand-new type of wireless speaker that can evidently sit in any room, as it reportedly fills a far wider number of purposes than any existing speakers in the company's lineup. Called the Optimo 2 as reported in a leak from The Verge, this would be Sonos' so-called "swiss army knife," as it can allegedly play audio in all directions.
Optimo 2 looks like a Sonos centerpiece
According to the report, Sonos' Optimo 2 is packed with advanced tech that could make it a far more central speaker in any Sonos household. It looks like this model is designed to replace the two-year-old Sonos Five, which is itself a successor to the much older Sonos Play:5. The Verge noted that the speaker's outer chassis is a work-in-progress, but the insides are likely to include "twice as much" RAM and up to eight times as much storage space than the Sonos Five.
You generally can't have a great-sounding speaker without high-quality drivers, and it looks like there are several drivers positioned around the interior of the Optimo 2 facing in all directions, giving it an omnidirectional sound field. The leak notes that one driver is apparently positioned upward as well, making it possible to fill the entire room with noise if you choose to place the speaker on the first floor of a two-story room, such as one with a mezzanine floor. Regardless, it sounds like the Optimo 2 will support Dolby Atmos audio, potentially making it a powerful addition to any entertainment center. In addition to Wi-Fi network support, it's set to also include support for Bluetooth playback and even USB-C line-in audio. The model will reportedly also work with Sonos Voice Control.
Currently, there are no concrete details about the price or release date, though it sounds like 2023 is a reasonable window to expect more details. The Verge estimates the Optimo 1 and 1 SL speakers, which were not given a closer look, may fit their own niche as inexpensive alternatives to the Optimo 2.