In the wide-eyed world of consumer tech , there ’s one thing that ’s perhaps toilsome than always pushing the envelope to do up with the latest , greatest , most brain - blowing products clock time and metre again , and that ’s fuck when to leave well enough alone .
In the pillow slip of the 2nd generation of Sonos ’ small and least - expensive loudspeaker system , the$179 Sonos Roam 2that was exhaust at the end of May , the troupe has ( gratefully ) negociate to keep its hands to itself with a subsequence that ’s gotten a slightly refreshed looking at ( and some unexampled colouring material ) , a new dedicated Bluetooth push , and piffling else . And that ’s a in effect matter .
I ’ve had a first - gen Sonos Roam since its liberation in 2021 , and it ’s still one of my everyday drivers . I habituate it manly as a bedside - table speaker for music in my chamber , and as a clean stochasticity simple machine to help quell my tinnitus while I kip . It may be small , but it ’s always sounded great , it works as part of my large Sonos networks ( at place and at the cottage ) and as a standaloneBluetooth speaker , and its excellently heavyset , so I can take it with me when I trip .
The Sonos Roam checks all kinds of box for me and what I necessitate a small verbaliser , so yeah , I was eager to get my hands on the Roam 2 to see how it stacks up . I ’ve spent the last few week with the mighty small loudspeaker and , TL;DR , it’salmostexactly the same ( which is why this is n’t a full review article ) . Here ’s what I liked and what I did n’t .
Some of these things are just like the other
If you ’re familiar with the first - genesis Sonos Roam , then you may want to skip over this lilliputian roundup of what the Roam 2 is all about because , as we ’ve cite , it ’s jolly much selfsame in price and features . If not , you’re able to read ourfull follow-up of the original Roamfor all the detail .
Sonos ’ small speaker keep its oblong , 6.6 - inch by 2.4 - in by 2.3 - column inch shape and free weight that ’s just shy of a pound . It can stand both horizontally ( with four rubber feet along its long side ) and good , with its rubberized strong-arm controls ( intensity up / down , caper / pause , and mic mute / unmute ) unaltered and still on top of the equipment . Pool partiers and beach bums will still bask the Roam 2 ’s IP67 dust and waterproof evaluation , too ,
charge is still handled a couple of way : from its include USB - C cable ( you ’ll need your own brick , though ) and port , and via wireless charging with the$49 Sonos Roam Wireless Chargeraccessory or a Qi - certified wireless charger .
Battery life hold steady at 10 hour , which is n’t great by today ’s standards , particularly when you consider that thenew Beats Pill($150 ) boast up to 24 hours . It would have been nice for Sonos to bump this up a piece at least . Another thing that would have been nice to see Sonos do is tot speakerphone functionality to the Roam 2 . We ’re begin to see this more and more in comparable Bluetooth speaker unit such as the Beats Pill andSony ’s ULT Field 1 , and their compact size of it makes them great speaker unit for workstations , too .
Connectivity - wise , the Roam 2 ’s upgrade Bluetooth 5.2 standard still only abide SBC and AAC codecs , but its Wi - Fi connectivity is compatible with both 2.5 and 5 GHz set , as well as AirPlay 2 . While Sonos stay to reclaim from itsmess of an app redesign , connecting the Roam 2 to the app and your Sonos internet is still more or less a childlike outgrowth — the app still allow for control of loudness , basic bass and treble EQ , stamp battery management features , speaker grouping , and stereo coupling .
Sounds familiar
Since the Roam 2 has the same power and elaboration , exclusive midwoofer , and single tweeter as the original , I was n’t surprised tonothear a pronounced difference in audio quality compared to my first gen Roam . Save for perhaps a slightly crisper sound that you could chalk up to its newness , the Roam 2 sounds almost identical to the Roam .
The Roam 2 still plug above its weight with a clear , balanced sound key signature , punchy low - death frequency reception , supportive mids , and frizzy , clean highs . Sure , if you force back it to the boundary , things can get a bit sloppy and the digital signaling processing ( DSP ) will take effect to keep it in impediment , but if it ’s bass part you ’re after , you might desire to set your pot a flake higher , like with theSonos Move 2($449 ) .
Alternately , you could make a stereo pair with another Roam ( first- or 2nd - coevals ) to widen the soundstage and tot a decent volume boost . I did this with the Roam 2 and my older first - gen Roam , and it voice gravid , with apparently good intelligent separation and height , regardless of me using two different generations of the speaker ( you do n’t involve two of the same generation to do this to have it sound good ) . Plus , even if one of the Roams you ’re using is old , with the Sonos app ’s EQ sliders , you could do a little tweaking to get them to match substantially , if want be .
What ’s peachy is that you may also get creative with Sonos ’ multi - speaker connectivity . Out of peculiarity , I grouped my Era 300 to a stereo system twosome of a Roam and Roam 2 placed about six feet apart on either side and balanced the loudness and EQs so the Era 3 act as sort of a subwoofer and support boost . It sounded crowing and full , while the Roams render a strong-arm stereo separation .
The Sonos Roam 2 is an first-class - sound speaker that does n’t improve on the speech sound of its predecessor , but that ’s not a big thing . Again , for our full impressions of how the Roam 2 fathom , cite to our original Roam reappraisal — it all holds true .
It’s the little differences
There are only a couple of things you ’ll rule different on the Sonos Roam 2 , and look on how you use the speaker , they may or may not matter .
The first and independent difference is the addition of a consecrate Bluetooth button on the back of the speaker . antecedently , the main power push button was the only way to turn the speaker on and off and put it in Bluetooth pairing modality . It call for you to hold the power push down for two seconds , and while this sounds extremely straight , if I had a dollar for every fourth dimension I leave how to do it and ended up just end the speaker down while trying , I ’d have enough to pay for a stereo pair of them . And because the Roam 2 is a dualBluetooth / Wi - Fi connectable utterer , you may have the need to switch back and away if , like me , you ’re prostrate to bringing it with you to place where Wi - Fi is n’t available .
The raw button is a godsend . All it take is a single press to sour Bluetooth on , and another single pressing to put it back in Wi - Fi mode . And you no longer have to setup the Roam 2 with with your Sonos meshing through the app first — out of the box , you’re able to connect via Bluetooth and off you go . If you like , you’re able to also apply the Roam 2 as a pure Bluetooth speaker , meaning you do n’t have to use the Sonos app at all .
However , whatisn’ta bunce is the Roam 2 ’s lack of Google Assistant . For those who do n’t know , due to alegal conflict between Sonos and Google , Sonos stopped including the vocalism assistant in its speakers — beginning with theEra 300 and Era 100last class and continue with the Move 2 and Roam 2 this yr .
Again , whether this is a deal ledgeman for how you use the speaker is your call , but for this particular verbaliser , it is for me . I use Google Assistant every daylight in my house , to control lights , aviation purifiers , my AC , and other IoT machine . And with a Sonos Roam baby-sit on my bedside table , it ’s the first voice assistant hub I interact with when I arouse up and the last I babble out to when I go to bottom . Sure , Alexa and Sonos Voice are still present , but add another voice assistant to my intermixture is a dogfight I just do n’t desire to deal with .
Not broken, please don’t fix
With the Sonos Roam 2 , it ’s nice to see Sonos practiing some constraint when it occur to updating one of its good portable speakers . And considering the mess that it ’s still recovering from with the overhaul of the Sonos app , restraint is a valuable good .
Apart from some minor raise , including a welcome dedicated Bluetooth button for easier coupling , a slightly updated Bluetooth version ( 5.2 from 5.0 ) , and some new color pick and styling , the Roam 2 remains unchanged and is still the cheap ( $ 179 ) and best way to expand your Sonos web of speakers , inside and outdoors .
Its sound is still great for its size , particularly when made into a stereo pair , and while we were hoping for extended battery living , its 10 hours of playback is probably hunky-dory for most people .
But should you buy one ? For me personally , because of my need for Google Assistant , I ’d be apt to hunt down around online for another original Roam first . But if not for that , the Roam 2 is an fantabulous move ( slightly ) forward for the humble , but mighty Roam .
