Described as Sonos’ smartest and most versatile speaker, Roam is also dubbed as sounding incredible for its size, effortless in set up and control packing new innovation into a premium, lightweight and durable design.
Sonos has introduced its latest product, Sonos Roam, an ultra-portable smart speaker built to deliver great sound at home and away from home too. Fully connected to a Sonos system on Wi-Fi at home and automatically switching to Bluetooth when outside, Sonos says Roam’s powerful, adaptable sound defies expectations for a speaker of its size. Weighing less than a pound, Roam’s durable design is designed for the home, garden or trips away from home.
Roam is going to be available starting April 20 for GBP £159.
“We built Roam to give customers a way to bring the Sonos experience with them wherever they go,” says Patrick Spence, Sonos CEO. “It’s not only our smartest and most versatile speaker, it’s also our most affordable. Roam provides the opportunity for millions of new customers to get started with Sonos and is the right product at the right time as we begin to gather again with friends and family.”
Notable features
With an all-new feature called Sound Swap, users can hold the play/pause button on the speaker to switch the music to the nearest speaker on their system, making it easy to move music from room to room. Connectivity tech also unlocks Bluetooth streaming for an entire system, with the Sonos app allowing users to group any Sonos speakers to the Roam when streaming with Bluetooth.
Roam works with more than 100 streaming services, including the maker’s own platform Sonos Radio and is controlled with the Sonos app, voice with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, Apple AirPlay 2, or directly from any favourite music service app.
Sonos adds that Roam was created to deliver an incredible sound experience no matter what the location. Like all Sonos products, Roam was tuned by industry leaders across music and film to ensure the speaker reproduces content exactly how the creator intended (music producer and long-time Sonos collaborator Giles Martin makes an appearance in the product promo videos).
Sonos argues a carefully designed acoustic architecture delivers rich, detailed sound with the clarity, depth, and fullness expected from a larger speaker. Interestingly, Automatic Trueplay is now available when streaming via Bluetooth as well as W-iFi and means Roam should always be tuned for the best listening experience in any environment.
“For a small, portable speaker, Roam sounds big and genuine. It doesn’t sound forced or artificial and that’s a testament to its technical design. It’s unique in its class because it actually performs like a finely tuned speaker as opposed to a megaphone,” says Emily Lazar, Grammy award-winning mastering engineer and member of the Sonos sound board.
Available in shadow black or lunar white, Roam has a triangular shape and soft profile designed to be comfortable to pick up. Roam is dust proof and fully waterproof with an IP67 rating and also features silicone end caps and physical buttons to protect against drops or bumps. For an outside speaker battery life is always important and 10 hours is quoted here on continuous playback, with a full charge lasting
10 days when not in use. To recharge, Roam connects to a custom magnetic wireless charger from Sonos sold separately, any Qi wireless charger, or with the USB-C cable included in the box.
Roam’s compact size will fit into any bag or the smallest corner of living space. Listeners can place Roam vertically for a smaller footprint or horizontally to provide added stability on uneven surfaces outdoors.
The audio is delivered by two Class-H Amplifiers tuned to match the drivers and speaker’s acoustic architecture. One mid-woofer offers faithful playback of mid-range frequencies and maximizes low-end output, whilst the single tweeter creates crisp high frequencies. A high efficiency motor increases power and range and there is also an adjustable EQ (bass, treble and loudness).
The speaker also uses beamforming and multi-channel echo cancellation to readily activate voice assistants. Roam’s dimensions are 6.61 x 2.44 x 2.36 inches (168 x 62 x 60 mm). Tactile buttons make it easy to play, pause, skip and adjust volume, protecting against accidental presses. LED lights indicate speaker status, microphone status, battery status, and voice feedback.
Thee packaging also leaves a light footprint, with a structure that is made of 100% sustainably-sourced paper, which also minimises the use of inks and includes no single-use plastics.
