A few days after a massive leak, the Sonos Roam has been officially unveiled as the Sonos' latest speaker. Following 2020's Sonos Move — the first wireless Sonos speaker — Roam aims to further that mission by being even more compact and versatile than the Move ever was. That does come at the cost of what Sonos can do with sound quality given the smaller physical size of the Roam, but if it ends up being as good as the company is touting, Sonos Roam could flip the Bluetooth speaker world on its head.
With the Roam, Sonos is entering a market that's dominated by the likes of UE Boom and countless no-name Bluetooth speakers selling on Amazon for $100 or less. People are always on the hunt for small and affordable speakers to take with them wherever they go, and in the Sonos Roam, Sonos thinks it has what it takes to go head-on with that endless competition.
For people that weren't impressed with the Sonos Move's large and cumbersome design, Sonos Roam addresses this head-on. Measuring in at 6.61 x 2.44 x 2.36-inches and with a weight of 0.95 pounds, the speaker should be plenty easy to throw in a backpack or carry around on any adventure. It's also backed by an IP67 rating for dust and water-resistance, meaning users won't have to worry about taking it on a hike or near the pool. Battery life is rated for up to ten hours per charge, a USB-C charging cable comes included in the box, and there's an optional magnetic charging dock for easier refueling. The Sonos Roam can also use any Qi charger that it's able to stand up on, meaning there are ample ways to refuel the Roam when it runs out of juice.
Sonos Roam Costs $169 And Launches April 20
One of the biggest questions surrounding the Sonos Roam is whether or not it'll be able to live up to Sonos' high standard for sound quality. It's difficult to say without having actually heard the Roam, but the spec sheet does sound pretty impressive. The Sonos Roam consists of two Class-H amplifiers, a tweeter, and a mid-woofer. According to Sonos, it's the "best-sounding ultraportable speaker ever made." Sonos is adding a couple of software features to flesh-out the audio experience as much as possible, one of which is Automatic Trueplay. Just like Sonos Move, the Sonos Roam uses its microphones to automatically adjust its speaker output according to the environment it's in.
Also present is an all-new feature called Sound Swap, which allows users to hold down the play/pause button for three seconds to automatically send whatever is playing on the Roam to the nearest Sonos speaker in their system. In addition to using the Roam as a Bluetooth speaker connected to a phone, it can also connect to a user's Wi-Fi network and act like any non-wireless Sonos speaker. Two Roams can be paired together for stereo playback when connected via Wi-Fi, but unfortunately, this feature does not work when in Bluetooth mode.
The Sonos Roam sounds has all the makings of one of the best Bluetooth speakers the market has ever seen, and making it even more exciting is the price. Sonos Roam retails for $169 in the U.S., and while that is more expensive than some competing speakers, it makes Roam the cheapest speaker Sonos has ever released. Pre-orders are available right now with official sales beginning April 20.
Source: Sonos