two minute review
Originally voted Best Bluetooth Speaker at the 2021 TechRadar Choice Awards, the Sonos Roam retained the title at the 2022 TechRadar Choice Awards.
The Sonos Roam is the latest portable wireless speaker from the multi-room audio company, and the brand's CEO Patrick Spence calls it "the smartest speaker we've ever built."
- Sonos Roam at Walmart for €179 (opens in a new tab)
Following in the footsteps of the larger Sonos Move, the Roam comes with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, meaning it can function as a portable speaker as well as part of your larger multi-room Sonos system, and with Google Assistant and Alexa enabled. . dashboard, it also works as a smart speaker.
At $179 / £179 / AU$299, it's the smallest and cheapest Sonos speaker to date, and thus the most affordable entry point into the brand's multi-room audio ecosystem. To avoid confusion, the Sonos Ray is a newer Sonos product coming June 7, 2022 ($279 / €279 / AU$399), but the Ray is a low-profile plug-n-play soundbar. , instead of this portable Bluetooth. beauty.
Así que volvamos al Roam y, a pesar de su precio (relativemente) bajo, obtentiondrás lo que pagas aquí. Its sleek design means the Sonos Roam won't look out of place in your home, while a sturdy, waterproof and dustproof build and decent battery life make it ideal for listening to music. in the exterior. Also come with support for Google Assistant/Alexa, as well as control solo with you can use it to control your smart devices.
If the idea of a Bluetooth speaker with built-in microphones makes you uncomfortable, Sonos also offers a version of the Roam that comes without them: the Sonos Roam SL is also slightly cheaper due to the omission of microphones, in the same vein as Sonos speakers. One and Sonos One SL.
To make this transition from indoors to outdoors as seamless as possible, the Sonos Roam comes with a number of great features. The first of these is Sound Swap: just hold down the play button and the Sonos Roam will "send" your audio to the next closest available Sonos speaker.
Another, automatic switching between Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections, means you can simply walk into your home and the Sonos Roam, after being previously paired with your Bluetooth device, will connect to your Wi-Fi, no need to configure it. and reconnect manually.
Finally, the Auto TruePlay feature first introduced with the Sonos Move has been updated here, so the Roam will automatically adjust its soundstage to your surroundings, whether you're connected to Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
Of course, all those flashy features would be useless if the Sonos Roam didn't sound great, but we're happy to report that despite its small size, the Roam packs a punchy sonic performance, with noticeably prominent bass, even though it lacks the rhythmic precision you expect from an audiophile speaker. If you're among the world's audiophiles, you might find the bass a bit overwhelming, though those powerful low frequencies work well outdoors where there are no walls for sound to bounce off.
The Sonos Roam's combination of cutting-edge connectivity features, powerful sound, and great design means it's our pick for the best portable speaker of 2021 and 2022, but take note: It doesn't beat the very talented Sonos One in terms of audio quality. .
Either way, we think Sonos has achieved its goals of creating the smartest Sonos speaker to date, and for that reason, we highly recommend buying this if you're looking for a portable speaker that can fit into your existing home audio system. as easily as you can deliver tunes around a campfire or on the beach.
And Sonos isn't one to rest on its laurels either. In September 2021, the Sonos Roam got even better with an update that improved connectivity and battery life. Downloading the update via the Sonos S2 app has improved the Roam's power management to help extend the Roam's battery life when not in active use. neat!
Sonos Roam: Pricing and Availability
- Available to buy now
- $179 / £179 / A$299
- The cheapest Sonos speaker yet
The Sonos Roam is available to buy for $179 / £179 / AU$299; that's $20 / £20 / AU$20 more than its original launch price in April 2021, after Sonos announced a price hike for almost the entire product.
That price makes it the cheapest Sonos speaker yet in the US and UK, matching the Sonos One SL, which is also £179 / €179 (although it gets a bit confusing in Australia, because here the One SL costs AU€269). It's also cheaper than Sonos' first portable smart speaker, the Sonos Move, which costs €399 / €399 / AU$649, a price that puts this speaker firmly at the top of the Bluetooth speaker market, although it does win this award. thanks to its host of intelligent Sonos features and powerful audio.
It's still not cheap by any means; one of our favorite Bluetooth speakers, the UE Boom 3, is $129.99 / £129.99 / AU$199.95, and the cheap and cheerful Tribit Stormbox Blast is just $199 (or about $163 or AU$290, where it's on sale). - of course, none come with support for the smart assistant of the latest Sonos device.
If you don't want your Roam to come with voice assistant features, you can save some money on the new Sonos Roam SL. It's available for €159 / €159 / AU$269 (opens in a new tab).
Sonos Roam: design
- IP67 dust and water resistance rating
- 0,95lbs/0,43kg
- Robust construction
While the Sonos Roam retains the minimalist aesthetic of the brand's previous devices, its design remains a departure for the audio company, with an emphasis on sturdiness and portability.
It's longer and slimmer than the relatively short and water-bottle-sized Sonos Move, or the newer Cleer Scene (which is very similar in shape to the gorgeous JBL Flip 6). It's also much lighter than the Move, at 0,95lbs/0,43kg, and you can easily hold it in your hand or stash it in a bag when you're on the go.
This lightweight construction, combined with an IP67 dust and water resistance rating, makes it more portable than its predecessor and durable enough to withstand the elements. In fact, Sonos says it can survive three feet underwater for 30 minutes.
On the front of the speaker is an etched Sonos logo in white; At the top, an LED indicates the speaker's connection status, while an LED at the opposite end indicates battery life.
The control buttons are on the far left of the speaker when placed horizontally. You can also orient the speaker vertically, with the buttons at the top. There are volume up and down buttons, a play/pause button, and a button to turn the microphone on and off. The play/pause button can be pressed twice to skip to the next track, or three times to skip to the previous track.
To pair the Roam with other Sonos products, you must press and hold the play/pause button; holding the button down for a longer time will activate the aforementioned "cast" function, switching your audio to the other nearest Sonos speaker. Slightly raised, the buttons are more tactile and easier to use than the touch buttons on top of the Sonos Move, and are more accessible to the visually impaired.
On the back of the speaker is the power button; you must hold it until you hear the pairing tone to connect the Sonos Roam to a Bluetooth device. Below the button is a USB-C port for charging – you get a USB-A to USB-C connector in the box, but you'll need to use your own adapter.
The ends of the speakers are slightly concave, which Sonos says increases their resistance to drops and helps prevent accidental button presses, so you don't crank the volume up to 11 every time you pass it.
Sonos describes the buttons as "tactile and slightly raised," and the raised design makes it easy to read or change the volume. They are very responsive and we didn't feel any lag between pressing the button and the resulting action; the buttons on the Sonos Move are tactile, so the ability to feel the buttons is probably a welcome feature for anyone with a visual impairment.
Available in 'Shadow' black and 'Lunar' white, the Sonos Roam features a 'precision-engineered' honeycomb grille; It's not a surround grill, so don't expect true 360-degree sound.
You have some flexibility when it comes to speaker placement: the Roam can be positioned horizontally for stability on uneven ground, or vertically for a smaller footprint, with its triangular shape channeling sound upwards. If you place the Roam horizontally on a flat surface like a table, the small feet on what is, in this orientation, the bottom of the speaker help keep it stable.
If you want, you can buy a $49 / £44 / AU$79 wireless charging stand for the Roam. Simply place the speaker on the stand and it will snap into place with magnets, giving the Roam a permanent home within yours.
Overall, we think the Sonos Roam's design is really attractive. While many of the best portable waterproof speakers are finished with bold colors and functional materials, the Roam retains the sleek aesthetic of the brand's home speakers, and its lightweight, compact build makes it ideal for listening to music on the go. .
If Sonos' goal was to make a speaker that works just as well indoors as it does outdoors, it's done.
