Following on from the Move, the first portable Sonos speaker with Bluetooth, the Roam takes things to the next level with a dramatically more compact and travel-friendly design. Now the firm is really taking on rivals in a wider market including Sony, Bose and UE. Although the Roam can be used as a normal multi-room speaker in the home, it’s no wonder that Sonos is marketing it as a device to be used anywhere you go. It’s 1/6th the size of Sonos Move and weighs less than 500g. “We built Roam to give customers a way to bring the Sonos experience with them wherever they go,” said 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.” The Roam has both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity and will automatically change between the two when you move the speaker. It also, for the first time on a Sonos speaker, supports Auto Trueplay tuning on Bluetooth. That’s great news for a speaker than can be used in any location and in either vertical or horizontal orientations. A new feature called Sound Swap means you can group or move the audio to the nearest Sonos speaker by holding play. The design of the Roam is not only compact but durable, too, with an IP67 rating making it fully dust and waterproof. It offers up to 10 hours of playback and supports Qi wireless charging. The Sonos magnetic charging base will be sold separately. The speaker will go on sale 20 April priced at £159 or US$159. Find out more details on the Sonos Roam. Tech Advisor’s Reviews Editor, Chris has been reviewing all kinds of tech for over 10 years and specialises in audio. He also covers a range of topics including home entertainment, phones, laptops, tablets and more.
