There’s not much left that we didn’t already know, but today, Sonos has officially announced its latest speaker, Sonos Roam. As The Verge reported last week, Roam is a $ 169 battery-powered portable speaker. Pre-orders start today and it will go on sale on April 20th.
Sonos Move was the company’s first attempt at a portable product, but it is quite large and robust for traveling. Roam, however, is a true “take it anywhere” speaker. It is the smallest speaker Sonos has ever made, although the measurements I gave you last week were a hair. In fact, it is 6.61 x 2.44 x 2.36 inches and weighs 0.95 pounds. With dimensions like these, the big question is whether Roam can live up to Sonos’ reputation for good sound quality.
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Image: Sonos
I didn’t hear anything firsthand, so I still can’t say how it compares to an UE Boom, JBL Charge or one of Bose’s portable speakers. Sonos equipped the Roam with “two Class H amplifiers”. There is a tweeter for high frequencies and a “custom racing track” mid-woofer – similar in format to the one on the Arc sound bar – which “guarantees the faithful reproduction of mid frequencies and maximizes the bass output”.
Here’s how it all fits together:
GIF: Sleep
Sonos is also bringing automatic Trueplay to Roam, so it will adjust the audio output for the best results based on any room or environment the speaker is in. (It does this using the built-in microphones, which are also there for the purpose of the Alexa and Google Assistant hands-free voice commands.) Two Roams can be configured as a stereo pair over Wi-Fi, but unfortunately, this option does not is available when you are playing music over Bluetooth.
Unlike Move, which makes you choose between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modes, Roam takes advantage of both connections at the same time. You can touch something from your Bluetooth phone on Roam and extend it throughout the Sonos multiroom system. (Yes, the company confirmed to me that this is also an easy way to play Bluetooth enabled turntables on all Sonos speakers.) Apple’s AirPlay 2 is also compatible and, as always, you can play audio from a ton of services through the Sonos mobile app.
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Image: Sonos
Roam can last up to 10 hours of audio playback on a charge, and a USB-C charging cable comes in the box. As I said last week, Sonos is also selling a wireless charging cradle – Roam connects to it magnetically – but you can use any Qi wireless charger that fits the speaker when you’re standing, which is Good. When not in use, Roam can last up to 10 days on standby.
Like Move before him, Sonos says Roam has undergone a ton of durability tests. The speaker has silicone on both ends to help protect you when you fall. It is rated IP67 for dust and water resistance, so it can withstand baths of up to one meter for 30 minutes.
Another cool trick from Roam is called Sound Swap. Just hold the play / pause button on the top for three seconds and Roam will pass the song that’s playing to any other Sonos speaker on your nearest system. The way Sonos does this is smart: when Sound Swap is turned on, all Sonos speakers emit a high frequency that people (and dogs, I am told) cannot hear. That’s how Roam finds out which one is nearby. This type of transfer can be useful for an eventual, long rumored, set of noise-canceling Sonos headphones.
Roam appears to be an attractive product for Sonos, and I’ve seen a lot of enthusiasm with a variety of use cases. Is the bathroom speaker perfect? The ideal speaker to put in your bag while traveling? Going to the beach or the park? A lot depends on how good it sounds for $ 169. For that verdict, stay tuned for our full review.