The $ 399Sonos Moveis a very capablewireless speaker . When at base , it can link up to the rest of your Sonos gear mechanism , and its build - in microphone lets it pretend as a Google- or Alexa - poweredsmart verbalizer . On the road , its Bluetooth wireless and 10 - hour rechargeable battery makes for a hefty , portable sound system . Well , maybe not that portable .
In truth , as good as the Move is , it ’s never decease to be a grab - and - go speaker unit because it ’s but too big and too profound . Going from the bread and butter room to the terrace ? Grab the Move . Going from the terrace to the park ? That ’s a dissimilar story .
But now we have the $ 169 Sonos Roam . It ’s got all of the Move ’s capableness ( and then some ) , but it ’s a fraction of the Move ’s size , weight unit , and price . Does this make the Roam a no - brainer leverage for Sonos fans ? rent ’s hold back it out .
What’s in the box?
Sonos has long been a drawing card in sustainably packaged products , but the Roam is its best effort yet . It even admit a handy label to help determine which parts can be recycled .
Inside the small , plainly print cardboard loge , you ’ll find the Roam , a USB - degree centigrade institutionalise line , a printed quick - start guide , and not a hint of plastic or froth .
Design
The first thing that strikes you when you unbox the Sonos Roam is just how small it is . It ’s not just the smallest Sonos speaker by a huge gross profit , at a hairsbreadth over 6.5 inches magniloquent , but it ’s also a bit humble and light than many of the Bluetooth verbalizer it will be competing with , like the $ 120 JBL Flip 5 and the $ 150Marshall Emberton .
The Roam ’s form practically begs you to lift out it up and take it with you .
Despite its flyspeck sizing , the Roam ’s minimalist aim is pure Sonos , whether clad in matte black or lusterlessness Edward D. White like our review unit .
Its Toblerone - esque triangular shape is n’t just for looks ; it makes the Roam supremely grabbable . slant any of its three sides toward your ribbon , and your finger naturally curl around the curved edges , along the other two sides . Where the Move ’s integrate carry handle always feels a little risky when you snaffle it , the Roam ’s physical body much solicit you to trump it up and take it with you .
The only thing miss is an integrated lanyard choice for times when you need your men complimentary .
you could tolerate the Roam up vertically or lay it down horizontally using the four built - in rubber feet to keep it securely drop anchor to whatever surface you take .
Either means , the Roam ’s unproblematic elegance lets it blend invisibly with almost any decor .
The physical controls are also very stealthy — a set of four release that are hidden behind a layer of safety on the top venire , hardly hinted at by their somewhat raised icons . From a aloofness of a few feet , they vanish completely .
The speaker grille , with its yard of tiny perforations , smoothly integrates into the Roam ’s physical structure . It looks like it could cease up dumbfound badly dented , but behind that thin level is a much more robust hexangular lattice , which give the grille an impressive amount of rigidness .
Two bantam LED lights hidden behind the grille state you the loudspeaker system ’s position : One luminousness that shows whether you ’re in Wi - Fi or Bluetooth modality and one that indicates the electric battery ’s charge stratum . A third light next to the microphone button lets you know when the mic is active — Sonos say this is firmly - telegraph to the mic circuitry so when the light is off , you’re able to be assured that no one is listening .
Around the back , you ’ll find the USB - snow charging port and a tiny might button that is also used for Bluetooth pairing . When you ’re home , you ’ll want to leave the Roam continuously plug in to power so it ’s always ready to play your tunes , but if you ’re likely to move it about a deal , you ’ll need to take advantage of its wireless charge feature .
Sonos sell a $ 50 usage Qi battery charger that is shaped to match the bottom of the Roam and can stay magnetically latched until you involve it , but I did n’t get one to quiz . Not that it weigh — anyQi charging matwill do the job , and I found it very light to just pass on the Roam sitting on one when I was n’t carting it around .
Setup and configuration
If you ’re a Sonos owner , you do n’t need me to recite you how easy it is to set up the company ’s wireless speakers . A few strike in the Sonos app , a few button presses on the speaker , and less than two minutes after , you ’re done . But with the Roam , Sonos has simplify this process even further .
Every technical school product should be this promiscuous to configure .
After connecting the Roam to a mogul source using the included USB - atomic number 6 cable ( or a wireless courser ) and opening theSonos S2 app , you are mechanically motivate by the app to set up the verbalizer . It ’s a lot like the way Apple ’s AirPods will prompt you when you open their load case for the first prison term .
The next step is to tap the back of your phone against the back of the Roam . This should trigger the utterer ’s NFC sensor to recognize your phone so it can complete the process .
Unfortunately , this did n’t work with my iPhone 11 , but after two failed attempts , the Sonos app provided a different result : It stimulate the Roam to let out an hearable chime , which was picked up by the iPhone ’s mic , and the apparatus automatically completed , including the summation of the Roam to my Wi - Fi net . No clit to urge on and no watchword to enter . Every tech product should be this easy to configure .
At this point , you ’ll be able to play music from the Sonos app , carry off the Roam as a single speaker or as part of a group of Sonos products , or stream audio at once to the Roam usingApple AirPlay .
But give that the Roam can also act as a smart speaker , you may want to take the redundant footmark of tote up it to the Google Home app or the Amazon Alexa app — something that carry only a few surplus minutes .
Sound quality
In keeping with Sonos ’ reputation for products that plug well above their weight class , the Roam sounds awesome for such a small speaker .
It delivers a warm yet clear signature , with a decent amount of sonorousness considering just how summary it is .
Indoors , the Roam is an idealistic verbaliser for smaller rooms .
When you ’re on Wi - Fi , the Sonos app get you adjust bass and triple if you want to override the factory EQ — a tweak that will be maintained even if you switch to Bluetooth operation .
Indoors , the Roam is an ideal speaker for smaller rooms — like a bedchamber , a lav , or even a kitchen . Outdoors , it gets loud enough to power a consortium party or backyard get - together . Speaking of loudness , the Roam is effectively distortion - free all the way up to its tawdry setting , and there ’s no unpleasant buzzing of the speaker system cabinet , something that can happen with lesser - timbre Bluetooth speakers .
As you climb up the bulk context , the Roam manage to keep the frequencies balanced — until you hit about 75 % . Once you exceed this limit , the speaker plainly has no more low- or midrange leave and leverages the high frequency to get to its maximal mass .
There ’s just no way a speaker of this size can deliver the variety of rich basso or muscular sound of declamatory devices , but if you direct the Roam in a corner — a prove method acting for raise bass - response — it ’s surprising just how deep the sound can get .
The Roam outshine the JBL Flip 5 for clearness and tonal timber , but it delivers an almost identical signature tune to the Marshall Emberton .
The Emberton proved slightly more compromising for out-of-door gathering thanks to its 360 - degree speaker pattern , whereas the Roam is more directional .
In hypothesis , the Roam’sAutomatic Trueplayfeature will continually conform the Roam ’s sound base on where you place it . It works whether you ’re using Bluetooth or Wi - Fi , and you wo n’t find it on any other wireless speaker that does n’t bear the Sonos stigma .
In recitation , I found it difficult to determine whether Auto Trueplay was really make a significant dispute . I affect the Roam into various spot both inside and outdoors , turn Auto Trueplay on and off to see if I could tell . For the most part , the changes were scantily noticeable , even when I placed the speaker in locations that should have actuate a big accommodation ( like the corner position mention above ) .
Usability
If you ’ve never used the Sonos app and the Roam is your first Sonos mathematical product , you ’re in for a goody . It is , bar none , the best audio stream software program on the planet . Not only is it compatible with just about every streaming music source imaginable — over 100 so far — but all that euphony is incredibly easy to navigate and find thanks to the universal search lineament .
The Sonos software is so good , it ’s reason enough to bribe the Roam over any other portable speaker in its terms chain of mountains .
you’re able to create your playlist and favorites that work severally from the one you may have already create on your music apps , and once you have more than one Sonos speaker , you’re able to control each speaker severally or as a group .
Most otherWi - Fi speakersrely on Apple HomeKit , Google Home , or Amazon Alexa for their multiroom functionality , but these can not hold a cd to the Sonos app ’s encompassing lineament set .
Like every other Sonos talker , the control condition are as intuitive as it catch . The two book buttons wreak precisely as you ’d expect , while the Play / interruption push can jump one cartroad forward with a double crush or backward with a three-fold pressure .
Switching from Wi - Fi to Bluetooth is also beat mere . A prospicient pressure on the small button on the back panel shifts the speaker to Bluetooth style , and the Roam will mechanically re - pair with the last twin gimmick .
pair a 2d or third gadget is a bit more complicated . You need to turn off the Bluetooth wireless on the currently paired gimmick so that the Roam know to initiate Bluetooth pairing again . But once the 2d ( or third , etc . ) equipment has been paired , you may contain which one the Roam is talk to without repeating the sexual union process .
Unfortunately , Sonos does n’t abide stereo union of its Speaker over Bluetooth . To do this , you need to be on your home Wi - Fi connection , and you need to have a matched lot of Sonos speakers — the Roam can only stereo brace with a second Roam , and even a mate set of Roams ca n’t be used as environs verbalizer for aSonos Arc , Beam , Playbase , or Playbar .
And despite the presence of a microphone , you ca n’t use the Roam as a speakerphone — which is a bit of a bummer given how many business people are likely to tamp the Roam in their handbag when they travel .
Smart speaker skills
The Sonos Roam is by far the most low-priced portable speaker that can also double as a overbold speaker — and it ’s one of the few that gives you a pick between Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant .
It ’s astonishing how easily the Roam can hear and respond to your commands
I define it up with Google Assistant , a process that takes about two minutes and requires you to have the Google Assistant app establish on your phone .
Once you ’re good to go , it ’s astonishing how well the Roam can take heed and respond to your command . For fun , I placed the Roam at one end of our yard and called out “ Hey Google , ” from the other closing — a length of about 40 feet . The Roam hear and responded flop away .
Smart speakers are pretty darn handy , permit you do everything from managing medicine playback to machinate your shopping inclination and controlling smart plate devices like lights and cameras . But smart utterer usually need to last out tethered to power , which is why folk will often grease one’s palms aNest MiniorEcho Dotfor each room in their sign of the zodiac . Because the Roam is fully wireless , it can go wherever you go and will carry on to exploit as a smart loudspeaker as long as it has access to Wi - Fi .
The Ultimate Ears Blast and JBL Link Portable can do this too , but they be $ 10 more than the Roam , and they only puzzle out with one assistant ( Amazon Alexa for the Blast , Google Assistant for the Link Portable ) .
If freedom of choice is important to you , the Sonos Roam is clearly the best pick .
Extras
What construct the Sonos Roam such a remarkable speaker is its extra features . Some , like wireless charging , Auto Trueplay , AirPlay , and its ability to double as an assistant - agnostic smart utterer , are touchable benefits for anyone who buys it .
But if you have or are planning to buy other Sonos products , there are even more coolheaded feature of speech on wiretap , like Sound Swap , which have you transplant a Wi - Fi cyclosis session to and from the Roam by agitate and hold the drama / interruption button . It only works with newer Sonos mathematical product like Sonos One , One SL , Beam , Move , and Arc , but it works flawlessly .
you may also leverage the Roam ’s Bluetooth connection as a source for your other Sonos speakers . For instance , if you ’re away from habitation using the Roam as a Bluetooth speaker , then when you return home , you may launch the Sonos app and group your other speaker system with the Roam , which will then share the Roam ’s BT session with the chemical group .
This is also a peachy solution for giving guests access to your Sonos arrangement without give them your Wi - Fi password or forcing them to download and instal the Sonos app .
It ’s also a peachy solution for streaming song that are locally lay in on your phone — a feature Sonos used to volunteer from within its app .
Battery life
At a claimed 10 60 minutes of barrage life-time , the Roam wo n’t adjust any stamen record , peculiarly when you consider that the JBL Flip 5 pose 12 hour and the Marshall Emberton packs 20 hours . On the other hand , the Emberton press 40 % more than the Roam .
Still , 10 hour is probably more than enough for a twenty-four hour period trip , and if you demand to put out the Roam ’s play prison term , you could always bring along a portable battery camp since the Roam ( unlike the Move ) can agitate from virtually any USB superpower source .
Ruggedness
With an IP67 rating , the Roam will be able-bodied to wield just about anything you throw off at it , from full submerging in water to a sandy day at the beach . That form it a cracking pool political party companion as long as you ’re prepared to plunk in after it if it goes kerplunk : The Roam does n’t blow .
But I ’m not convince that the Roam will be capable to withstand drop onto voiceless surfaces as well as the JBL Flip 5 or Marshall Emberton .
Despite its thin golosh end caps , the body of the Roam is unprotected voiceless plastic , which see like it could crack or chip with a verbatim wallop — some tending should be taken to avoid this from happening .
Our take
Sonos has packed so many feature article into the Roam , it ’s easily the best value in a portable speaker .
Is there a better alternative?
you may find portable speakers that have better sound quality , longer assault and battery lifespan , or louder volume point , but you wo n’t find one that has all the feature of the Sonos Roam at any price — including its more expensive big brother , the Sonos Move .
That say , if you ’re uncoerced to give up Wi - Fi , Apple AirPlay , voice command , and the Sonos ecosystem , the $ 150 Marshall Emberton sounds just as respectable and has a 20 - hour electric battery .
If you ’re uncoerced to give up a option of voice helper , Apple AirPlay , and the Sonos Ecosystem , the $ 180 UE Blast has longer assault and battery life sentence and 360 - academic degree sound .
How long will it last?
Sonos products are very well built . When you consider its IP67 protection from dust and water supply , it should last many years as long as you protect it from serious impacts . All Sonos product come with a one - year warranty .
Should you buy it?
Yes , I highly recommend the Sonos Roam whether you intend on part a newfangled Sonos system , add it to an live system , or using it all on its own .
