Sonos Roam – “Really” portable smart speaker from Sonos

Sonos Roam Smart Speaker (Sonos Source)

Audio company Sonos has announced its first smart, wireless and portable speaker, theSonos Roam. Sonos’ new smart speaker is intended for use primarily outdoors, as it supports streaming music via the Bluetooth from a cellular connection or one of the multiple online music services via the built-in WiFi connection. In addition, Roam will offer support for Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple’s AirPlay 2 with a usage time of up to 10 hours.

Sonos’ new Sonos Roam speaker is designed to be the company’s first solution for road users looking for a truly portable speaker to take with them, while maintaining a sound quality similar to the one they have at home from Sonos speakers. While the company introduced a “portable” speaker even earlier under the name Sonos Move which we reviewed on the site, it was not a truly portable solution like the new Roam. The Sonos Roam shares one important feature with the Sonos Move, as similarly it comes with Bluetooth connectivity in addition to the standard WiFi connection of the company speakers.

The Roam tags an elongated “triangle” design and weighs in at 430 grams, when it will be available in Shadow Black or Lunar White. As a speaker designed for outdoor use, the Roam comes with IP67 water and dust resistance and silicone covers at the edges for increased durability.

On the audio side, besides broadcasting wireless music from the phone or through one of the supported music services, Roam also supports voice activation of Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant in addition to supporting Apple’s AirPlay 2 audio streaming technology. According to the company, the Roam speaker battery will last for up to 10 hours of music playing, and in addition to the normal charging with the USB-C connector, the speaker also supports wireless Qi charging.

>> Join Gadgeti’s Telegram Channel

Patrick Spence, CEO of Sonos, Message:

We created Roam to allow customers to take the SONOS experience with them everywhere. Not only is it our smartest and most versatile speaker, it is also the most affordable speaker we offer. Roam gives millions of new customers a chance to get to know SONOS, and it’s the right product at the right time, just as we’re reuniting with family and friends.

The new Sonos Roam speaker will be available for sale in Israel starting April 20 at a price of 699 NIS.

While the wireless speaker market has been blessed with quite a few different and quirky manufacturers, the Sonos Roam stands out above all in light of the simple fact that this is not “another wireless speaker”, but a smart and wireless speaker that offers voice assistant support and audio streaming to the speaker via WiFi One of dozens of online music streaming services.