Sonos has a new addition to its diverse family of audio equipment. It's the Roam, a portable speaker that joins the lineup with several interesting features, including a compelling price point of under €200. This is the brand's latest offering.
The portable speaker, a niche on the rise
Portable speakers undoubtedly remain one of the star products in the audio sector, especially as the weather warms up. This is because we're more active, participating in more activities of all kinds, and many of these situations are much better accompanied by music.
There are certainly many models and alternatives (and more all the time), and although Sonos already has wireless options in its family, it didn't yet have one as light and easy to transport as Roam, a very compact, durable device that doesn't lose an ounce of elegance, while offering sound worthy of a brand like the one from Santa Barbara.
Sonos Roam design
Roam has a rather particular appearance in the shape of a triangular tube (you can use it both vertically and horizontally), which, thanks to its very compact size, goes quite unnoticed, making it discreet to carry around -at least from what we can judge on their official images.
Available in two colors, Shadow Black or Lunar White, it guarantees high resistance , offering a completely waterproof body that easily handles dust and boasts IP67 protection. It will also survive many drops, thanks to the silicone bumpers that protect it from impacts.
The wireless charging base (Qi compatible) has also been carefully designed; it's very thin and can be placed anywhere. Unfortunately, however, it's an "extra accessory" that must be purchased separately, so the box only includes a USB-C cable, which can also be used to power the device.
Key features
Getting into its technical features, it's worth noting that this Roam boasts simultaneous WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity . When you're using it at home, Roam is connected to your system via WiFi, and if you pick it up and go outside, it automatically switches to Bluetooth to connect to your mobile device, without you having to do anything else.
Enjoy a new feature called Sound Swap, which lets you switch the sound from your Roam to another Sonos speaker in your home, or vice versa. Simply press and hold the play/pause button on the speaker, and playback will begin on the nearest speaker in the system. With the mobile app, you can group/pair your speakers with Roam and configure it however you like.
It offers up to ten hours of continuous playback on a single charge and up to ten days when not in use - in fact, it automatically enters "sleep" mode every time you stop the music, to better manage its resources, as Sonos explained to us.
https://youtu.be/F3PKdtBOYK8
As for compatible services and technologies, you should know that Roam works with more than 70 streaming services and can be easily controlled both from the Sonos app, obviously, and from Amazon Alexa or the Google Assistant, Apple AirPlay 2 or directly from the music service app you're using.
We do not have data on power, so for the moment we must be satisfied with the words of the manufacturer, which ensures that the acoustic architecture has been designed and adjusted "precisely" by professionals to offer sound with "clarity, depth and breadth, typical of a much larger speaker.”
Price and Availability
One of the things that has surprised us the most (short of trying it and being able to make a better assessment of its user experience, of course) is its price. It is not that Sonos is a particularly expensive brand, but it is not an economic firm either: let's say that its costs are in line with the good quality of its equipment the vast majority of the time.
Even so, we didn't expect Roam to be priced below €200, as the device has an official price tag of €179 . That said, we'll have to test it to fully determine if it's a fair price, but at first glance, it sounds appealing.
As for distribution, it will be available from April 20th both on the Sonos website and at authorized distributors.