Exciting news from Sonos comes in its smallest package yet! Launching this month, Sonos’s newest speaker, Roam, is a long awaiting upgrade, taking notes from its highly successful portable speaker predecessor, the Move.
The Move was Sonos’s first portable speaker, but its size and weight was more suited for impressive sound quality with around-home use. The Roam on the other hand has been built with portability first in mind, giving the Sonos lineup a true grab-n-go type speaker.
At A Glance
- Easy to handle ergonomic design
- Weighs less than a pound. 0.95 lb
- Wifi and Bluetooth with automatic pairing
- Stream with Sonos App or Apple AirPlay2
- Built in Voice Control with Amazon Alexa and Google
- Sonos quality sound + Auto Trueplay
- 10-hour battery life
- 1P67 Water resistant - can be submerged underwater at 3m, for 30 minutes
- Drop Resistant rugged design
- Automatic software updates
Specs for the audiophiles:
- Two Class-H digital amplifiers perfectly tuned to the drivers and speaker's unique acoustic architecture.
- One tweeter creates a crisp high-frequency response.
- One mid-woofer ensures faithful playback of mid-range frequencies and maximizes low-end output.
- Sonos app equalizer to adjust bass, treble, and loudness.
- Far-field microphone array uses advanced beamforming and multi-channel echo cancellation enables quick voice assistant activation and automatic Trueplay™ tuning.
Don't let its size fool you. The Roam is a full fledged Sonos device, meaning when its connected to your home network, it behaves like all Sonos devices. Group with other speakers to play in sync, or pair matching speakers together in the same room for more detailed stereo sound.
Stream directly from your smartphone, tablet, or computer using Bluetooth. Roam automatically connects to your home network and pairs with your phone when you're away. So all you have to think about is what to play.
The Roam is also built with Auto Trueplay tuning, and built in voice control. Auto Trueplay adapts to your surroundings and whatever you're listening to for sound that's astonishingly detailed and perfectly balanced. Get hands-free help from Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. Just ask to play music, check news, control your smart home devices, and more.
Looks like a Toblerone, passes like a baton
When positioned vertically, Roam has a minimal footprint, and the rounded triangular shape can tuck neatly into a corner. Lay it horizontally for stability on uneven ground and Roam subtly directs the sound upward in the direction of your ears for a better listening experience.
The Roam is also equipped with a new Sonos feature called Sound Swap, which allows you to transfer your music from the Roam onto another Sonos speaker in your home network. In use, this allows you to bring the Roam back indoors and automatically throw your music to the nearest Sonos with a touch of a button. Another innovative feature is its automatic connectivity. Roam connects with your home network whenever in range, and automatically switches to bluetooth whenever you take it on the go. Both of these features allow smooth transitions between bluetooth and wifi, withing having to manually pair.
How the Roam stacks up against other portable speakers
We think the Sonos Roam is ahead of the game in the portable speaker market for its home connectivity and sound design features, and will likely set the benchmark for other brands moving forward.
Key features that set the Roam apart:
- Smallest and cheapest Sonos product to date
- Seamless integration with (Sonos) home sound system network, or a great starting piece to build one.
- Built in voice control and smart home capabilities
- Can become create stereo setup with matching Roam
- Automatic wifi and bluetooth pairing when in and out of range
- Built to last: Water resistant, drop proof, and long 10hr battery charge
- Trueplay: Unrivaled automatic sound adaptation, exclusive to Sonos
- Sound Swap: Roam can cast streaming audio to other nearby Sonos speakers
- Automatic Updates - We want to note this. A typical speaker’s design lifecycle ends at the production line once it's packaged. That means their EQ and balancing starts and ends in its testing environment. Sonos speakers however are living products, designed to sound perfect in every home, and have the software to evolve over time.
Looking for a portable speaker, but packing a bigger punch? The Roam’s older brother, Move may be an excellent speaker. Learn more about the Move here.
