Sonos Roam Review: A Durable and Loud Smart Speaker You'll Want to Take Everywhere
There are a lot of cool things out there that make us wonder — do they really work? In our I Tried It series, we set out to use them in the real world and have determined that, in fact, they really do.
On Trial: Sonos Roam Portable Smart Speaker
Tester: Brandon Carte, a music addict who has a playlist for every situation
The Brief: The Sonos Roam is an ultra portable battery-powered smart speaker that allows you to play music, podcasts, and audiobooks anywhere. Thanks to its rugged design, the speaker can withstand submersion, drops, and the elements.
I’m the type of person who almost always is listening to something. Whether I’m at my desk, in the car, at the gym, taking a shower, in bed, or even swimming laps in the pool, chances are something is playing — be it music, white noise, a podcast, an audiobook, or an article.
As an audio addict, I've collected many speakers, earbuds, and headphones over the years — even some Bluetooth sunglasses — and I'm constantly jumping from speaker to speaker as I go about my day.
I've been testing the Sonos Roam portable speaker over the last 3 weeks and have found myself gravitating toward it more than my usual arsenal of speakers and headphones. It sounds amazing, is highly portable, and it just works.
To test the Roam, I followed the same criteria as our waterproof speakers trial. Besides appreciating its versatility, durability, and portability, here's why I think the Sonos Roam is the best portable speaker for under $200.
It Sports a Stylish, Yet Rugged Design
The Sonos Roam is a nice-looking little speaker that's shaped a bit like a Toblerone chocolate bar. The speaker has a matte finish and it comes in a shadow black or lunar white body. It's only about 6.5 inches tall and it weighs less than a pound. Thanks to its three-sided design, the Roam can fit in corners and tight spaces.
The control buttons are on the left end of the speaker when it’s placed horizontally, but you can also orient the speaker vertically, which places its buttons at the top. There are volume up and down buttons, a play/pause button, and a button that disables the microphone. The play/pause button can be pressed twice to skip a track, or triple-pressed to go back to the previous track.
With its IP67 dust- and water-resistance rating, you won't need to baby the speaker, either. Sonos says the Roam can be submerged in up to three feet of water for 30 minutes. I had no issues using it in the shower and would feel confident taking it to the beach. It's worth mentioning that it does not float, though.
It's Perfectly Portable and Sounds Amazing
The Sonos Roam is thinner and shorter than its competitors, the UE Boom 3 and JBL Flip 5 speakers. It’s about the size of a White Claw, making it easier to hold or stow in your backpack’s water bottle compartment. Despite its small stature, the speaker packs two Class-H amplifiers, a single tweeter for higher frequencies, and a custom “racetrack mid-woofer” for the low end.
Sonos brought its Trueplay tech to the Roam, too, meaning it automatically tunes audio output based on the environment the speaker is in. This feature provides a richer sound that better suits your room's acoustics.
The audio quality for the Roam is absolutely superb. Vocals are crystal-clear, and no matter what genre of music I played or how loud the volume was, things never got muddy or distorted. If you're a basshead, you'd be better off opting for a larger speaker like the UE MEGABOOM 3 or the Roam's older sibling, the Sonos Move, which both deliver more aggressive bass.
It Works as a Multiroom Speaker
Not only does the Sonos Roam act as a go-anywhere speaker, but it’s also an excellent smart speaker that’s perfect for home use. That’s because it uses both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It conveniently switches automatically between the two, but it prioritizes Wi-Fi when you’re within range of your home network. Wi-Fi provides more reliable connectivity at a longer range with higher fidelity audio compared to Bluetooth.
Since the speaker has Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa on board, you can skip tracks with your voice, get info like the weather, and control your smart home gear from it.
As you'd expect, the Sonos Roam integrates with your existing Sonos multiroom system when connected to your home network. So, you can listen to the same track throughout your entire home. You also have the option of pairing two Roam speakers together to create a stereo soundstage. Unfortunately, the Roam can only be grouped with the rest of your system or stereo-paired when you’re connected to Wi-Fi. At the time of publishing, there is no way to pair multiple speakers together over Bluetooth.
The Roam even has a convenient new feature called “Sound Swap,” which lets you pass off audio from the Roam to whichever of your other Sonos speakers is closest. All you do is just long-press the play/pause button for a few seconds and the currently playing music hops over like magic. This feature worked wonderfully when I handed off the audio from my Roam to the Sonos One speaker in my bedroom.
Not Without Flaws
Although I was a bit disappointed to learn that you can't pair two Sonos Roam speakers together over Bluetooth like you can with Logitech's Ultimate Ears speakers, I find this to be a forgivable fault. Where I think the Roam falls short the most is its battery life.
Sonos says you can expect 10 hours of battery life for continuous music playback and 10 days of standby. However, pausing, volume level, connection type, temperature, and other factors like whether or not the microphone is on or off will cause battery life to fluctuate. While testing the Roam, it seemed like I was reaching for a USB-C power cable more often than I had to with other Bluetooth speakers I've used in the past.
It's not uncommon for a Bluetooth speaker battery to get 12-18 hours of power. With the Roam, on average, I got 8.5 hours from mixed use. Fortunately, the Roam can be charged wirelessly, which is an easy way to keep its battery topped off. Given the Roam's expensive price point, I would have liked to have seen the magnetic wireless charger included, but alas, Sonos sells it separately for an additional $49.
Wrap-Up
There's a lot to love about the Sonos Roam Portable Smart Speaker. It has AirPlay 2, the Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa on board. It can be synced up with other Sonos speakers, plus, it's durable and highly portable. Although it delivers so-so battery life and a steep price point, the Sonos offers robust sound quality that's better and louder than the competition, making it worthy of your hard-earned dollars.
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