Swedish company Audio Pro has announced a new portable Bluetooth speaker that's capable of connecting to your home Wi-Fi network – and it's could be a cool alternative to the Sonos Move.
The Audio Pro A15 is a sophisticated-looking Bluetooth speaker, which can be used as part of a multiroom audio setup, just as easily as it can be taken outside into your garden, giving you more choice over where and how you listen to your music.
Bluetooth speakers with Wi-Fi connectivity are an emerging trend in the world of home audio, with models like the Sonos Move and the small cylinder-shaped Sonos Roam demonstrating how one speaker can meet pretty much all of your audio needs.
The Audio Pro A15 is more similar to the Sonos Move than it is the Roam, with a boxy, minimalist build that should look good in most homes. Unlike Sonos' speakers though, it has a fabric grille, carrying handle, and an array of physical control buttons to adjust your music playback. It's IPX2 rated, so it has some protection from accidental splashes – though we wouldn't recommend taking this particular speaker in the shower or to the beach.
Although Audio Pro doesn't have the same powerful brand cache as Sonos, it boasts its own line up of multiroom wireless speakers that can be paired in different configurations for bespoke sound setups.
The A15 can be linked with other Audio Pro speakers using the company's bespoke multiroom system tech, as well as with other Google Chromecast and AirPlay 2-compatible speakers.
You get 11 hours of battery life if you have the speaker playing at half-volume; that's reduced to eight hours if you're really blasting your music, but that should be enough time to soundrack a party.
Audio Pro hasn't shared any information about the drivers inside the A15, so we'd need to test it before we can assess the sound quality on offer here. However, we're fans of the company's stereo speakers (see our Audio Pro A36 review for more information), and all the other specs sound promising.
Should I buy the Sonos Move instead?
If the Audio Pro A15 was significantly cheaper than the Sonos Move, we'd say it's worth taking a risk on; however, they're almost priced identically in the US.
The Sonos Move cost $399 / £399 / AU$649 when it launched in 2019, and discounts are still extremely rare. The Audio Pro A15 is priced at $400 / £350, and while Australian pricing is still to be confirmed, that works out at about AU$530.
So, the A15 is the same price as the Sonos Move for US buyers, slightly cheaper for UK buyers, and potentially much cheaper in Australia (provided Audio Pro uses a straight conversion when working out the price in this region).
That means your buying decision won't necessarily come down to price if you're choosing between the Sonos Move and the A15 – and there are some features that make the Move a potentially better choice.
For instance, the Sonos Move comes with an IP67 dust and water resistance, making it far more robust than the A15. It also comes with Alexa and Google Assistant support, which means the Move can double up as a smart speaker and be used to control your other smart home devices.
Saying that, we;d recommend looking at the Sonos Roam if you don't need the huge sound afforded by the Move. This cheaper, smaller Bluetooth speaker comes with lots of nifty features, such as the ability to ‘swap' audio to other Sonos speakers, and automatic switching between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
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