For me, discovering the world of Sonos acoustics was a new and interesting experience. I heard a lot of good things about the manufacturer, but until I got hold of the wonderful IKEA × Sonos lamp and the Sonos Move speaker, I had no idea how convenient these things are. I became a fan of systems with sound over Wi-Fi – it’s simple, convenient and stable.

Now there will be one more device in the house: this is the Sonos Roam speaker, the smallest and most mobile among the company’s products. It combines all the advantages of a multi-room system, while also working via Bluetooth. In addition, she is not afraid of water and dust – and in the summer she is just drawn to experiments, she wants to go on picnics with musical accompaniment.

Small and neat

Sonos Roam can stand vertically or horizontally, as you like. There are two colors to choose from: black or white, everything is extremely minimalistic and unobtrusive. The column easily merges with the interior, it does not stand out from other things and does not try to attract attention. I like this style – simple and functional, albeit low-key. And its triangular shape is reminiscent of delicious Toblerone chocolates.

The body of the speaker is plastic, the grille is metal, and the ends are made of rubberized material so that it stands confidently on the surface. But the column is also not afraid of falls: despite the absence of noticeable “brutal” design elements, it has shockproof properties.

Sonos Roam is small, weighs moderately, and is suitable for travel and mobile. No carrying handles or loops are provided here – you can’t hang a Sonos Roam on a branch, look for a suitable stump during a picnic, or just put the speaker on the ground. Another thing is that I never took my Sonos Move with a handle out of the house at all, only occasionally I transfer it from one room to another. But most often the column is on the windowsill in the kitchen. And if the Sonos Move is mobile in quotes due to its large size and weight, then you can not part with the Sonos Roam at all, the weight is moderate.

The Sonos Roam also has an IP67 waterproof rating, which means it can withstand a half-hour dive to a depth of one and a half meters. We know that anything can happen by the pool in the summer.

It’s great that they did not pursue fashion and made physical music control keys. Therefore, there are no errors or random triggers when the column is near water.

Sound settings

As with more expensive Sonos devices, Roam has a built-in Trueplay function, where the sound adapts to the surrounding conditions. And it works not only when connected via Wi-Fi, as in the Move column, but also via Bluetooth.

For a small speaker, the Sonos Roam turned out to be very vociferous; in a room, turning the volume up to the maximum is even scary. Like the Sonos Move, the smaller Roam doesn’t play very clean at maximum volume. But this is already excessive volume – I can’t imagine why, in real use, cut the sound to full, unless you want to arrange an audio attack on your neighbors.

As for specific tracks, the good old track with a straight kick Gesaffelstein – Opr sounds energetic and bassy, Tenebrax – Impulse 101 comes in no less inspiring. In general, I advise the playlist from Yandex.Music , there are a lot of interesting things. The speaker plays brightly, bass-wise, with clear vocals and clean stringed instruments – it also suits classical music or jazz well. The bass is moderate, I’m not a big fan of bass, but if you’re into JBL-style audio setups, the Flip 5 will please you more.

In terms of dry performance, the Sonos Roam has two class-H amplifiers, one tweeter and a midrange driver. There is also a microphone, but it is used to activate the voice assistants of Google or Amazon, and also helps to adjust the sound depending on the situation. At the same time, you cannot use the speaker as a hands-free device.

Convenient connection

It is no longer possible to surprise with a Bluetooth speaker, so Sonos went further. So far, there are no such small systems on sale that support Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and AirPlay 2. That is, you can send music from your phone to the speaker in any way that suits you. At home or in the office in a familiar Wi-Fi network, the sound will be broadcast over Wi-Fi, and if it is not there, then the sound will go via Bluetooth.

Moreover, the connection from Wi-Fi to Bluetooth and vice versa occurs automatically, the sound will not be interrupted if the speaker was previously paired via Bluetooth with a phone. It seems like a trifle, but in such pleasant things lies the joy of using a convenient thing.

The speaker does not work with domestic voice assistants, if you wish, you can use Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, but they are not supported in Russia.

Sonos Roam has a sound transfer function: you need to bring the Roam to another Sonos device while holding the play button, after which music will play on the second speaker. The reverse process also works: you can make Roam play a track from another speaker.

Appendix

The Sonos S2 speaker setup app is helpful and I use it regularly. It combines popular music services, including Sonos’ own audio collections, to form a sort of music hub. In addition to audio services like Yandex.Music, Spotify, YouTube Music and others, there is Sonos Radio – the list of radio stations is large, you can find something new.

I note that for the initial setup of the column, you will need to connect to a Wi-Fi network. Then you can already use the Bluetooth connection. That’s the nature of Sonos.

Nutrition problems

The column is charged via USB Type-C, the connector is open and without a plug. There is no power adapter included, only a USB Type-A to USB Type-C cable in the box. Cable with L-shaped connector, so you can charge the speaker in both horizontal and vertical position.

Moreover, if Sonos Move with the same USB Type-C via a cable from Roam does not charge at all – in any case, I could not find a suitable power adapter, which just infuriates, then Sonos Roam has no problems with this. Almost any power supply is suitable – I tried 10 pieces, and everything is in order. But the older Sonos Move, alas, has trouble with this, as the discussion in the thematic community speaks eloquently.

A full charge takes one hour, and the Sonos Roam has a battery life of about ten hours. The speaker can automatically go to sleep when not in use. By the way, in the background, it is discharged in the same way as the older brother Sonos Move: you leave the column fully charged in the morning, and the power is at zero the next evening. Judging by the comments of users, the problem is not with me alone.

Operating time, according to Sonos, is up to 10 hours. According to my feelings, the speaker holds a charge for about 7 hours of continuous use, maybe 8 – it all depends on the volume level.

Of the nice bonuses – support for wireless Qi-charging. To do this, you can use any charger suitable for the standard or buy a Sonos triangular stand for the speaker.

Price

The column is sold for 16,990 rubles in Russia. And here comes a difficult choice: buy Sonos Roam, which is inferior in sound power to the much cheaper JBL Flip 5, or take JBL Charge 5 if the dimensions are not so critical?

I think it all comes down to your preferences. Sonos Roam has a lot of features and capabilities, but you have to pay for all this, but only you yourself know whether you need it or not.

Conclusion

You can say that this is a lot for such a small device and you can buy several JBL Flip 5 for the same money. This is a fact.

In the case of Sonos Roam, we get not just a mobile speaker, but an addition to the home system. There are a lot of bells and whistles here: wireless charging, support for AirPlay 2, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, various useful features, but I did not like the situation with the self-discharge of the speaker in standby mode, the same trouble with the older Sonos Move model. Devices seem to be mobile, but in fact you get chained to a power outlet. I hope that this will be fixed with future software updates.

In general, I really like the Sonos approach to sound, but with mobile devices, unlike stationary systems, somehow everything is not going smoothly. Run time issues spoil the experience, and it’s not quite the user experience you want to get.