Sonos Roam made official with auto tuning, audio handoff, and more

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Posted:
in General Discussion edited April 22

After being leaked in exhaustive detail, Sonos has made its new portable speaker official. The Sonos Roam is the company's second portable speaker with both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity.

The new ultra-portable Sonos Roam
The new ultra-portable Sonos Roam



Very little was still unknown about the Sonos Roam prior to its unveiling, but existing details were confirmed in an early briefing by Sonos.

The Sonos Roam is just over six inches tall and weighs just under a pound. Specifically, 15 ounces. It has a design that very much looks like a Sonos speaker, coming in both black and white with the Sonos wordmark displayed proudly on the side. It has concave endcaps which are both protective during drops but also prevent you from inadvertently pressing the slightly-embossed control buttons situated there.

The optional MagSafe-like magnetic Qi charging dock for Sonos Roam
The optional MagSafe-like magnetic Qi charging dock for Sonos Roam



It charges over USB-C as well as Qi. Sonos does offer an optional $49 color-matched Qi charging dock that magnetically connects to the Roam for a more elegant solution that feels much like Apple's MagSafe. It has a ten-hour battery life and is able to stay in standby mode for up to ten days. When you go to wake it up, it is active in less than a second.

Fitting in at home is crucial for Sonos. When at home, it is able to play music wirelessly over Wi-Fi but can also use Bluetooth when Wi-Fi is unavailable, such as when you venture outside your home to take Roam with you on the go.

Sonos is relying on its new S2 platform that rolled out in 2020 which brings the signature multi-room support the company is known for. AirPlay 2 is supported as well bringing multi-room support for any other AirPlay 2-enabled speakers in the home. Two Sonos Roam can be paired in stereo.

The new ultra-portable Sonos Roam
The new ultra-portable Sonos Roam



Integrated microphones allow voice commands through either Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. It will be available in both black as well white and will be IP67 water and dust-resistant. That resistance rating means it is able to stay submerged in three feet of water for up to 30 minutes without issue.

Several other features are being borrowed from other speakers in the Sonos lineup. Automatic TruePlay for example is on the Sonos Roam to constantly adjust the audio to best suit its placement. This environmental calibration was very impressive for the Sonos Move and we have high hopes for the Roam.

Automatic TruePlay is improving from its launch on the Move though. It now will work on Bluetooth as well as Wi-Fi. This update will be coming to the Move in the near future.

Roam's Sound Swap intelligently passes off audio to the nearest Sonos speaker. For example, users can bring the Roam in from outdoors and double-tap the play/pause button to jump the audio from the Roam to your indoor Sonos Five. This is an easy way to go from a small speaker to a larger setup without stopping the music.

The Sonos Roam is available to preorder now direct from Sonos for $169 with shipping commencing on April 20. Shoppers can also pick one up from Adorama and at B&H Photo for the same price.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,404member
    Sonos is overrated. 

    Good sound, but a pain set-up and connectivity-wise. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 6
    GG1GG1 Posts: 483member
    I don't own any Sonos equipment. Could I use this Roam as any other Bluetooth or Airplay2 speaker without setting up a Sonos account or having to use their app?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 6
    xander04xander04 Posts: 5member
    Looks great. I would just be happy if they fixed the unusable Alexa on the Sonos Beam. 
    A problem they repeatedly deny exists despite numerous forums full of customer complaints. 
    Nice product. Atrocious customer service. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 6
    barthrhbarthrh Posts: 138member
    anantksundaram said:
    Sonos is overrated. 

    Good sound, but a pain set-up and connectivity-wise. 
    How is that? Airplay 2... what's hard about that? The old Sonos app and setup wasn't great, but there is zero reason to use that anymore.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 6
    Andrew_OSUAndrew_OSU Posts: 573member, editor
    GG1 said:
    I don't own any Sonos equipment. Could I use this Roam as any other Bluetooth or Airplay2 speaker without setting up a Sonos account or having to use their app?
    You likely have to activate it using a Sonos account which is needed anyway for firmware updates but once setup, you can use it exclusively through Bluetooth or AirPlay 2.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 6
    Andrew_OSUAndrew_OSU Posts: 573member, editor

    anantksundaram said:
    Sonos is overrated. 

    Good sound, but a pain set-up and connectivity-wise. 
    I've found their setup one of the easiest around. I plug it in, the Sonos app discovers it and then adds it to your network. As far as connectivity, Bluetooth, Sonos app, WI-Fi, AirPlay 2, they have some of the best connectivity around.
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