The new Sonos Roam is an ultra-portable smart speaker that is focused on taking the home quality experience that users appreciated from the brand's products everywhere they go. The lightweight, compact but powerful design is Sonos’ smartest and most versatile speaker and packs lots of innovation into a premium, durable design.
"We built Roam to give customers a way to bring the Sonos experience with them wherever they go," says 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, and is the right product at the right time as we begin to gather again with friends and family."
As a big differentiator with all the many portable Bluetooth speakers that have flooded the market in the past years, the new Sonos Roam is effectively an extension of the company's ecosystem and not really an attempt to compete with the voice-assistant focused smart speakers from the tech giants. Combining a simultaneous connection to both Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n/ac 2.4 or 5 GHz) and Bluetooth 5 makes the Sonos Roam an effective streaming-end-point that enables users to be connected to their audio content, music, podcasts, calls, etc.
When users are listening at home Roam connects to their system and streams on Wi-Fi, and when they leave home it intuitively switches to Bluetooth and automatically re-pairs with the user's mobile device. With an all-new feature called Sound Swap, the user can hold the play/pause button on the speaker to switch the music to the nearest speaker on the home system, making it easy to move music from room to room. Seamless connectivity also unlocks Bluetooth streaming for an entire system, with the Sonos app allowing users to group any of their Sonos speakers to Roam when streaming with Bluetooth.
Internally, the Sonos Roam generates its powerful response from a combination of two amplifiers operating in Class-H mode, and tuned to the custom drivers and the speaker's design. The choice of drivers combines a custom racetrack midwoofer that ensures faithful playback of mid-range frequencies and maximizes low-end output, reinforced by a dedicated woofer with high-efficiency motor for increased power, and a tweeter to generate the crisp, detailed high frequencies. It also combines a custom-designed far-field microphone array with advanced beamforming and multi-channel echo cancellation to readily activate voice assistants, or support the sound tuning features.
The Sonos Roam is ready to work with more than 100 streaming services, including Sonos Radio, and is easily controlled with the Sonos app, voice using Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant services, any Apple AirPlay 2 connected source, or directly from music service apps.
But the smart features are also tightly focused on the sound experience. Like all Sonos products, Roam was tuned to ensure the speaker reproduces content in the most accurate way possible - for a compact system - recognizing music or a movie soundtrack. Its carefully designed acoustic architecture delivers sound that is similar to what we would expect from a much larger speaker.
And it uses Sonos automatic Trueplay tuning technology with spatial awareness to smartly adjust the sound for the speaker's orientation, location, and content - both with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth sources. Users can also tune the sound to their preference with the Adjustable EQ settings that include bass, treble, and loudness.
Available in shadow black or lunar white, Roam’s tactile triangular shape and soft profile is comfortable to pick up and looks great inside the home. Combining elegance and durability, the Sonos Roam is dust proof and fully waterproof with a rigorously tested IP67 rating, and features silicone end caps and physical buttons to protect against drops or bumps.
The Roam is also ready for any adventure with up to 10 hours of continuous playback on a single charge and up to 10 days of battery life when not in use. To recharge, Roam connects to a custom magnetic wireless charger from Sonos - sold separately - any Qi wireless charger, or using with the USB-C cable included in the box and any USB power adapter.
Users can place a Sonos Roam vertically for a smaller footprint or horizontally to provide added stability on uneven surfaces outdoors. Even the packaging leaves a light footprint, with a structure that is made of 100% sustainably sourced paper, minimizes the use of inks, and includes no single-use plastics. Representing a new versatile addition to the Sonos lineup, Roam is available in Shadow Black and Lunar White matte finish, starting April 20 for $169 (EUR €179) on sonos.com and through participating retailers.
www.sonos.com
