Rumors of a new Sonos speaker have been running for a while now, and it seems that all the details of the new Sonos Roam were leaked before its announcement.
The Verge got images and specifications for the $ 169 Roam, which is a waterproof portable speaker that looks like a UE Boom 3, but, you know, Sonos. The price, if accurate, puts Roam between the $ 150 Boom 3 and the $ 200 Megaboom 3.
The speaker reportedly weighs about 1 pound and measures 6.5 x 2.5 x 2.5 inches, which makes it slightly smaller than Boom 3. And like Boom 3, it can be charged wirelessly via of a $ 49 charger that will be sold separately. As you can see below in the image obtained by Verge, Roam looks a lot like Boom (although a little more triangular in shape and without the absolutely gigantic volume buttons).
There are some differences between the new Sonos speaker and the popular Boom 3, however, according to these leaked details. For one, Sonos Roam is supposed to use Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, so you can connect to your home network while you’re at home and pair with Bluetooth on the go. And the Boom 3’s microUSB charging port is inconvenient for those of us who are fully USB-C, so I’m excited about what looks like a USB-C cable in one of the leaked images. The Verge reports that the Roam will last about 10 hours on a charge, which is considerably less than the Boom 3 15-hour battery – although, to be fair, the speaker battery life depends on a series of factors, including volume levels.
G / O Media can receive a commission
And according to Verge, Roam has built-in microphones to activate voice assistants (Alexa and Google Assistant), support for AirPlay 2, and can be paired with another Roam via wifi for stereo sound. These advanced features suddenly make Boom 3 look a little basic.
As someone who has invested in the Sonos ecosystem which also has a Boom 3 to hang outdoors, I am curious to see how Sonos Roam compares. I had considered buying one Sonos Move, which is the company’s only portable offering today, but this speaker is much bigger and very expensive. I would love to stream music on my Playbase and then take the party out (when we are having parties again) with a smaller, more robust speaker.
Sonos had previously announced that it would host an event on March 9, probably to launch this speaker. According to The Verge, Sonos Roam will be released on April 20.