Sonos Roam Review

The Roam is optimally connected, utilizing Bluetooth and WiFi to transition from a network of Sonos speakers in your home to a stand-alone unit paired with only your phone. It charges wirelessly on a wireless charging pad (purchased at an additional charge, or you can use an aftermarket wireless charging pad). When it's time to leave the nest, the Roam is prepared with IP67 waterproof capabilities (30 minutes submerged to 3 feet) and a feature called “Trueplay” that uses internal microphones to automatically fine-tune speaker settings based on your surroundings. Bring it back home and the speaker will connect back to your WiFi and re-integrate with the other Sonos speakers in your home. The Roam also has full support for Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant.

Performance Comparison

Sound Quality

Like the Roam's larger brethren, it's well-engineered and projects a balanced sound where (unlike some of the competition) the bass is tight and clear, without overwhelming the mids or highs. Acoustic guitars sound rich and clear, with fret noises and other quiet flourishes sounding as nuanced and detailed as full-on bluegrass chopping. Highs are well-represented here, are crisp and clear, not thin or tinny like other small speakers.

The Roam sounds great even before you consider its diminutive stature. Listening while looking at this little speaker ups our amazement considerably.

Portability

This speaker is small and very portable, weighing 15.2oz, less than half the weight of its closest competitor in sound quality. It measures 6.61" x 2.44" x 2.36", taking up roughly the same amount of space as a tallboy in a backpack. We wouldn't hesitate to bring it on day hiking or biking adventures, and its IP67 assures us that it can survive a brief submersion up to three feet. If it does get wet, Sonos even recommends blasting some tunes to assist with draining the speaker.

Sonos also says the Roam is impact resistant, though there are no specified impact ratings. After weeks of use during the testing period, we didn't find any wear or tear on this speaker.

Volume

We measured a maximum volume of 86.6 decibels from the distance of a meter. The Roam can blast out the beats with the best of them. What distinguishes this speaker from much of the competition is how well it handles high volume without an overall degradation of sound quality. Many small speakers start to break up once they're running hot, with bass becoming rattle-y or boomy, and overwhelming other frequencies. The Roam sounds almost as good at the upper end of its volume capabilities as it does at 50% of max volume.

Battery Life

The definitive weakest aspect of the Sonos Roam is its short 10-hour battery life. Our independent testing shows that it does operate to the manufacturer's stated 10 hours (even exceeding it by a few minutes) but 10 hours isn't very long, considering some of the competition can go over 30 hours between charges. 10 hours is plenty for a day out or two afternoons away from the charger, but if you often go off the grid for a few days, you'll need a speaker with longer battery life or have some way to charge the Roam.

When it is time to charge, the Roam draws power quickly via a USB-C cable and it also works on Qi-certified wireless chargers, so you merely need to set it down for a few hours before you're ready to go again. At the time of testing, this was the only model we tested that can be charged with a wireless charging pad. We expect other models to eventually follow suit, but the Roam stands at the forefront in this aspect.

Value

This speaker is less expensive than its closest competitors, but its true value is most apparent when integrated into an existing Sonos speaker system. If you're on a tight budget and don't have a Sonos system, there are other options that are just as loud, sound decent, and cost a lot less.

Conclusion