This image, which is a 3D recreation of the actual in-development product render, shows the front side of the speaker. The vertical rectangle on the side indicates the location of the Sonos logo. Note that the bronze colorway shown in the image isn’t official. The Optimo 2 may come in Sonos’ traditional white and black colors only.
The Sonos Optimo 2 will be a powerhouse of a speaker
It’s not aesthetics that Sonos is focusing on here, though. According to the new report, the upcoming device will be a flagship offering that the company intends to position as “the best-sounding speaker” it has ever made. The speaker will include an “arsenal of drivers” that fire in different directions. At least one will fire upwards, while several drivers fire from beneath the shell, “between the front speaker grille and backplate”. As the new report puts it, the Optimo 2 will play your music in all directions. It will be “a showcase for Dolby Atmos audio.” The upcoming Sonos speaker will also boast other premium features. It’ll support music playback over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The company mostly limits Bluetooth playback to portable products like the Move and Roam. On top of that, it may also add USB-C line-in playback. Only the Sonos Five has that capability, though it uses 3.5mm aux input. To ensure optimal sound, Sonos will equip the Optimo 2 with an automatic sound tuning feature. It leverages the device’s built-in microphones to optimize the sound performance in various settings. The new product will also support Sonos Voice Control. Launched in June this year, the voice assistant only takes music requests because that’s what Sonos does. If all this doesn’t sound like a powerhouse of a speaker from Sonos, let us tell you that the Optimo 2 will boast twice as much RAM and eight times more flash memory than any previous speaker from the company.
Sonos has a whole family of Optimo-series speakers in the pipeline
The Optimo 2 isn’t the only product Sonos is developing under this series. While it will be the top-of-the-line model, the company also has the Optimo 1 and Optimo 1 SL in the works. The latter will reportedly lack built-in microphones but apart from that, there’s not much information available about these two speakers. As The Verge speculates, they may slot in as “smaller smart speakers or satellite speakers in Sonos surround sound systems.” Sonos is reportedly preparing for a major update for its speaker software, unlocking new functionality. The company sees innovation as the only way to grow after lackluster earnings this past quarter amid global economic headwinds. The Optimo 1, Optimo 1 SL, and Optimo 2 could be the beginning of this innovation journey. From what we have learned about the Optimo 2 so far, Sonos is certainly aiming for something big here. Of course, the device is still in development, and some of the features that Sonos is considering for it may not make it into the end product. But we may still see the best of Sonos in the Optimo 2.
