Roam, the nomadic speaker of Sonos arrives in April -

20 Minutes

  • A specialist in multiroom sound, the Californian brand Sonos completes its ecosystem with Roam, the manufacturer's first 100% nomadic speaker.

  • After the Move, which was transportable but heavy, the Roam and its 430 grams will be able to follow us everywhere.

  • Wifi and Bluetooth, it will be marketed from April 20 at 179 euros and can integrate existing Sonos installations.

"It is not a connected speaker, it is The Connected Speaker"!

According to Sonos, the small portable speaker Roam unveiled this Tuesday by the American manufacturer would be the best on the market.

With the arrival of sunny days and that - we hope - of an improved sanitary situation, the temptation will be great for many to equip themselves with this type of device.

Here's what Sonos, the brand that democratized multiroom sound, promises us.

The Roam enclosure, first designed for the outdoors.

- HIS BONE

Small and light

Measuring 168 x 62 x 60mm, the Roam speaker ("wander" in French) is quite small and light (430g).

Sonos makes the promise: "With Roam, you won't be carrying a brick, nor have pairing or battery problems".

As for transport, the cause seems to have been heard.

The tubular shape of the speaker also seems particularly well thought out for a good grip.

On one side, small pins allow the device to be perfectly stabilized when placed horizontally.

Convenient if you want to place it on a dashboard during a road trip.

In terms of pairing, going through the Sonos application is first of all essential, with the creation of an account, but also direct access to all music streaming platforms as well as to Sonos Radio channels.

A Bluetooth AND Wifi speaker

Operating in Wifi and Bluetooth, Roam is versatile, like its big sister the Move speaker, launched in 2019. This has an obvious interest: at home, the new speaker takes advantage of the home network but can also be integrated into the Sonos ecosystem with its One or Five indoor speakers, and with soundbars from the Californian brand, the Beam and Arc.

Like its predecessors, it has the constructor's True Play function.

Thanks to a microphone, the speaker analyzes the external environment and adapts its audio reproduction according to the nature of the song.

We are waiting to see what it can give with such a small device!

In Wifi, it is also compatible with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

We can easily imagine that with the little Roam, Sonos intends to evangelize the crowds and convert them to its system of products.

The Roam speaker from Sonos is Bluetooth and Wifi.

- HIS BONE

In addition to their sound quality, these have the merit of possibly being able to be added together and to work together, in battery mode, or to broadcast different sounds in the different rooms of the house from an application.

Sonos is also announcing a feature that allows you to switch to the home Sonos network and vice versa at the push of a button on Roam.

A bit like when you want to transfer listening to music from your iPhone to an Apple HomePod mini speaker ...

We can imagine listening to music in Bluetooth at the bottom of his garden, then continue listening on other Sonos speakers once inside, without further manipulation.

To the IP67 standard, the Roam enclosure is resistant to dust and water.

- HIS BONE

For the exterior, Roam was designed as a

warrior

.

It has the IP67 standard and is resistant to water and dust.

But Sonos does not give too many explanations on its possible resistance to shocks affirming that the product has also been tested in this type of situation ... The manufacturer had emphasized this point for his Move and had made it one of its differentiating arguments.

Autonomy that remains modest

What about the autonomy of Roam, finally?

Announced until 10 hours, it seems very modest compared to that of competing speakers, such as the LG XBoom Go PL7 or the Sony SRS-XB33 whose autonomy is announced at about twenty hours.

The Move and its 10 hours of autonomy was also a little disappointed on this point.

Can be recharged by USB-C (cable supplied), Roam can also benefit from an induction charger on which the speaker will rest vertically.

Not supplied, it will be sold for around fifty euros.

The Roam speaker induction charger is optional.

- HIS BONE

There remains the crucial question of audio quality, which only a proper test will be able to answer.

Until then, Sonos' Roam speaker is up for pre-order.

Available on April 20, it will be sold for 179 euros.

Otherwise the aficionados of the brand who will be the first to be seduced by the idea of ​​adding a stone to their Sonos building, Roam will have to convince as many people as possible.

The game is not necessarily won: many Bluetooth speakers and resistant, like the Charge 5 from JBL sold at the same price, already equip a very crowded field.

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