Sonos Roam Review UK | This is not like the others!
/This is the Roam and it's a world's first from Sonos... And it wasn't built in a day...but is built for your day. Whether be sitting at your desk working from home. Or if you're out n about & on the roam... Or even you're chilling by the pool, sipping on n a long Island ice tea.
So Sonos changed the game when it came to Multiroom speakers in the early 2000s
...have they done it again when it comes to their new ultra-portable BT / WiFi / Virtual assistant / Multiroom speaker? I'll let you be the judge of that...so make sure you let me know what you think at the end of this video.
But here's a quick question. Are you subscribed to WhatGear on Youtube? If the answer is no then. Just do it! Especially if you like smartphone reviews, headphones & audio tech reviews...so let's take a look at its design.
DESIGN
The Sonos Roam is small in stature, smaller than the UE boom equivalent & JBL flip and weighs in at just 430 grams & don't be deceived by its size. This thing packs some power, and I consider it to be like the Floyd Mayweather in the ultra-portable speaker category.
It's durable, it's shock-resistant & it is technically sound in all areas of its game...but it also has some unique skills that the others just don't have...and we're gonna get into those in the awesome features part of the video. So stick around for that.
The Sonos Roam has a unique shape. It's best described as a rounded triangular-shaped cylinder. Which is unique & separates itself from its opposition...and I believe this shape is a great design choice, because it can stand tall and fire sound straight at you, or it can be placed horizontally with the driver firing at an upwards angle...
And check this out. This speaker supports Sonos's true play. To put it simply it can use its onboard long-range beam-forming microphones to fine-tune its sound signature..based on its orientation in its environment...so it will adapt on the fly...whether you are indoors, outdoors, in a small space or large space. That sounds good, right?
Anyway back to the design.
On the back we have its USB C 15w charging port and the charging cable that comes with it pretty cool, because it has a 90degree angle it doesn't stick out too far from the speaker when plugged in. However, you will need to use one of your power plugs as there isn't one in the box... anything above 7.5watts should do the trick.
There is also a very important multifunction button on the back. A single push will power up, a 2-second push will enter BT mode, and hold to power down.
Now, back to the front. The Roam 2 class H amps, race track mid-woofer & tweeter which are protected by its shock-resistant cage & metal mesh grill...
there are also LED light indicators on the left and right sides...the left one indicates what mode your in BT / wif ect, and the right-hand LED shows when your charging or when the batteries are running low.
And there is a 3rd LED on the right side of the Roam, where its physical buttons are house. This indicates when the onboard mic is active. Privacy is a big deal for most people... I'm sure some won't want a live mic listening to you 24/7. With a single push, you can mute the mic... This is a great privacy feature.
The buttons are slightly recessed. This should help prevent accidental button pushes when you're roaming around....the buttons are protected by a hard-wearing rubber cap.
You've got the usual volume controls & multifunctional play pause skip track button...this also has another function that I'll explain later.
At the base or left side of the Roam is another rubber surface...and right here below this surface is its conductive charging plate... So yes the Roam supports Qi wireless charging. How about that?
Any 10 watts charging Matt will do the job.. although the official Sonos wireless charger is the right shape and does have magnets... So if you want to wirelessly charge in its horizontal position...you can.
The Sonos Roam speaker in its entirety has a nice soft-touch finish to it...which gives off that premium vibe & Its shape makes it so easy to grab...more so than any other portable speaker I've tested before.
There are 2 colours of the Sonos Roam available. Shadow black & lunar white. My advice to you is...if you're planning on using this mainly outdoors on your adventures...go for the black one... The wear n tear won't show up as bad.
if you're mainly going to be using the roam in or around the house..the white speaker has a really clean look.
Usability
So here's some stuff you need to know about the Roam. The playback time is 10hrs...this can vary based on different factors like volume, whether your using BT or WiFi these kinds of things...but 10hrs is realistic
The Roam supports WiFi 2.4 & 5Ghz bands & Bluetooth 5.0 simultaneously & can auto switch when in range of your WiFi network. More on that in a bit. Over WiFi, you can utilize Amazon Alexa, The Google Assistant, or Airplay 2 which means Siri also... But this is important... There can be only one. However, you can change it on the Sonos app at any time.
The Sonos app adds a couple of extra feathers to their Sono cap. As it opens the door to a lot of options when it comes to listening experiences.
I use Deezer the majority of the time... And it was super easy to link Deezer to the Sonos app. It's just as easy for all the popular streaming services out there as well.
But check this out. When I was playing around with this I discovered the Sonos radio service...now there is a premium paid HD version of this on here...I was just testing out the free one.
It's quite awesome...there's a ton of on-demand content that is really entertaining.
Sometimes it's nice to hear the artists talking about their tracks & not just continuous music 24/7...and I was listening to Sonos radio & discovered some Ghostface Killah tracks that I didn't know about... So Sonos radio is a great & unique service here on the Roam.
Sound Quality
So listen here. Remember when I said that the Roam wasn't built in a day. Here's what I meant by that.
Sonos fine-tune their sound in this crazy sound room in Santa Barbara. They Collab with numerous sound engineering experts to critique & improve the sound signature.
It is insane the extremes that Sonos go to get their sound right...but of course, Sound is subjective, and these opinions are my own.
So first I listened to some bass-heavy hip hop tracks. The clarity is what seems to stand out. You've I got this kind of really clear audio feeling.. the little details in the vocals and snares are very present. The mids are perfect & the low frequencies are very good...you get a very full sound... the only area for improvement for me is in the low ends...Link this up to a Sonos sub and problem sorted.
Ok, now my favorite section... let's get into the awesomeness.
Awesome Features
This is a Sonos speaker. This means it fits right into the Sonos ecosystem...but in a very unique way. This is thanks to its ability to be able to swap back and forth between BT and WiFi.
So if you're outside playing music to the roam over BT you and walk indoors and immediately share that track to the nearest speaker... Just by holding the play button.
The Roam can also do this is and hijack audio from another Sonos speaker. Of course, you can add the roam to a group of speakers just like the rest of the Sonos lineup... But at this point, you cannot use these are rear speakers for a 5.1 setup...
Keep in mind this is a mono speaker. However, if you have two of these that can be linked to create a stereo pair.
Now, I know this isn't built to be used like this...but I've been using this a lot as an always-on Alexa on my computer desk... Now having this plugged in for 24hrs is probably not advisable as it could kill the battery in the long run...but I like using it in this way. Maybe Sonos could do a software update to enable a battery bypass mode... For people who want it to be in one place most of the time.
Now, this is truly awesome. Remember who I said this supports BT and WiFi simultaneously....the Roam can be used as a bridge between and BT audio device & the rest of your Sonos speakers...that is awesome if you ask me & cheaper than buying a Sonos port.
And did I mention this is a waterproof speaker... So if you're already part of the Sonos ecosystem...this is the bathroom speaker you've been looking for.
