NTIS 2019, Sonos only made speakers who live on the shelf or table, tethered to the outlet. It changed 18 months ago with that step, a hard, rough and portable speaker that you can interrupt around the house or bring it to the backyard. It sounds good, it can survive the temperature of rain or sub-zero, and lasts 11 hours before it needs to be charged. But some things distance them from being direct recommendations: the price is $ 400 and too big to just throw the bag and take you anywhere.
Enter Sonos Roam, Slim Speaker, Light, $ 170 that competes directly with Bluetooth enabled devices such as the ultimate boom and megaboom ear options. Despite its small size and lower prices, Roam has more features on the board than the average Bluetooth speaker. And that might make it interesting – especially if you already have other Sonos devices.
I hope roaming is small, but I am still surprised by how small it feels. The triangular speaker is more than six and a half inches and weighs less than one pound. If Sonos wants to make something that people can be brought wherever without thinking about it, they succeed. I had brought everything to the house and came out (on several occasions I could leave the house lately).
Like most Sonos speakers, rooms are mainly made of hard plastic, with a front grille that drills and rubber caps at the top and bottom. The top has a button for volume up and down, rotate / pause and muting the microphone. Unlike Sonos speakers recently, this is a physical button than the touch surface, something that company said to avoid accidental suppressors. They are clicked and responsive, and I agree that having a reasonable physical button for something you will move a lot or throw it into the bag.
There are not many other physical characteristics other than the four “nubs” that tell you how to put the speaker if you want to position it horizontally. I found myself most of the default to the vertical position of the speaker because it’s easier to access the button like that. But if you prefer horizontally, the speaker is smart enough to adjust the audio output accordingly. The speaker also has three LED lights: the top indicates whether the microphone is active or not, while the one near the Sonos logo is white when connected to WiFi and blue when you use Bluetooth. There is also one near the bottom that shines orange when you install a roam to charge, or when the battery is below 10 percent.
While Roam has a USB-C port, it also supports wireless charging. You can stand the wireless charger compatible with Qi or Shell Out $ 50 for the Sonos magnetic charging dock. I can’t try it, but I definitely like the idea to get it and leave without messing up the rope. I hope it’s included in the box, like a wireless charging dock step, but it’s not a big surprise given a lower roam price point.
Roam is intended to be used while traveling; Thus, the speaker can withstand abuse. This is rated IP67, which means it can sink up to three feet of water for up to 30 minutes. It also resisted drops and dust. When Sonos released the move, they made a big problem showing off the abuse that could be detained. We cannot get a demo directly now, but I did put a speaker in a bucket of water, and still play. I also threw it across the room several times – not with a full left, but with enough strength that I didn’t feel very comfortable. Roam continues to play, makes me sure it must handle drops and fall from medium height without problems.
