Roam is the second Sonos speaker with Bluetooth, and it’s the second battery-powered. For the American company, which has always focused on wifi for its devices, Bluetooth therefore equates to mobility. But if the Move was transportable and if anything suitable for the garden or the poolside, the Roam, presented a few weeks ago, is really portable. For the price, the size, and even for the appearance, it enters a very large and aggressive sector, with names like Bose, JBL, Logitech holding a very large part of the market.
The Sonos Roam also works vertically
As did
The Roam measures 168 x 62 x 60 mm and weighs 430 grams; the design cannot be defined as particularly innovative, but the triangular section of the Roam is already a small novelty compared to the usual parallelepipeds or cylinders. A prism with very rounded edges, homogeneous in color (greyish-white or anthracite) but made of different materials: metal for the perforated grille covering the speakers, rigid plastic for the body, soft touch effect plastic for the upper side and inferior. Or right and left: the Roam, in fact, can be used both vertically and horizontally, and for this reason it also has four small rubber feet on one of the long sides. The Sonos logo, which is palindrome, remains perfectly legible (even if it seems a bit large in relation to the size of the speaker). The controls are essential: on the back the power button, next to the Usb-C port for charging, on one of the triangular sides the controls to adjust the volume, start playback or pause it or skip to the next song, in addition to that to turn the microphone on or off.
The controls are covered with soft rubber
Versatile
Yes, because there is a microphone, under the hole in the upper part of the speaker: it is used for the voice assistant (optionally, Google or Alexa) but also to optimize the sound with respect to the environment. Sonos speakers have long included a sound calibration system that works through the app: it’s called TruePlay and allows you to optimize the frequency response in the room, considering different listening points and using the microphone of the iPhone or iPad. In the Roam, as in the Move, it is the speaker itself that includes the microphone for calibration. The clumsy ballet with tablet or smartphone in hand is no longer necessary, and there are no more disturbing sounds to listen to while the process takes place. A processor compares the input signal with that collected by the microphones and compensates for any differences; calibration is immediate and automatic, and is repeated every time the speaker is moved. Here the functioning is even more evident than in the Move: the sound is balanced and pleasant even in impossible situations (in an open drawer, for example). Another advantage is that it is no longer necessary to have an Apple device to be able to use Trueplay, which continues to be a prerogative of the iOS version of the app.
L’app
As always with Sonos, setup is super quick: download the S2 app, search for the new device, and start listening to music in a couple of minutes. You need just as many to configure the voice assistant, while it is good to spend some time to understand everything that the application makes available: today, in fact, the Sonos platform is not only the one compatible with the largest number of streaming, but offers music on its own, and of excellent quality. There are always different radio stations, playlists edited by musicians or divided by musical genres, in addition of course to the numerous broadcasters that broadcast on the web. Lots of free music, in short, as long as you don’t want to choose individual songs. Practical and easy to use, the app also allows you to configure the Roam in a multiroom system, but not as part of a surround setup; two Roams can also be paired and function as a stereo pair.
Music non stop
A small led hidden in the metal grid indicates the connection status: white for wi-fi, blue for bluetooth. The transition from one to the other is immediate: if you are listening to a song at home with the Roam, you will not lose even a second of music by going out and disconnecting from the wi-fi. We have tried it and it really works. With the Sound Swap audio transfer feature, just hold down the speaker’s Play / Pause button to transfer music to the nearest Sonos speaker, so listening continues from room to room without interruption. The Roam is also compatible with AirPlay 2 for Apple devices.
Equipped with a small woofer and a tweeter with separate amplifiers, Roam is able to automatically adapt to the environment in which it is used
How it sounds
Unlike many speakers in this price range, this one uses two different speakers for the high and low frequencies: the woofer is behind the logo, the tweeter takes up the space at the other end of the unit. It is therefore found at the bottom when used vertically, although it is normally required that the high frequencies be emitted in line with the ear. In this case it does not seem to be a problem, since the sound is always clear and balanced, also thanks to the two distinct amplifiers that drive the speakers, a solution usually reserved for much more expensive models. Thus the bass of Herbie Flowers in Walk on the Wild Side by Lou Reed is obviously reproduced to scale, but it is very accurate and loses none of its unique character. Reed’s voice is even more impressive, especially considering the size of the Roam: warm, well intelligible, very natural. Also A New Error some Moderat is rendered in a very pleasant way, at least up to three quarters of the volume; going beyond the lower notes are a bit too much for the microscopic woofer, and the sound hardens even if the distortion remains contained. White Dress, from the latest album by Lana del Rey, shows how the little Sonos correctly reproduces the female voice, following the nuances, the falsettos, the whispers of the American singer. Roam cannot be asked to recreate the impact of a large orchestra, but the result is pleasant and correct even with demanding pieces, such as the sixth movement of Promises, beautiful album by Floating Points and Pharoah Sanders just out.
In fine
The Roam is waterproof and can be immersed in one meter of water for 30 minutes; the battery has a reasonable life, even if we have not reached the ten hours of use or the ten days of standby declared. However, it would be useful to be able to adjust the standby time from the app. The Roam can also be charged without a cable, with a wireless base sold separately or with a compatible Qi charger; we tried Apple’s MagSafe for iPhone and it works. Roam will also be available in Italy from April 20 at a price of 179 euros: it is the smallest and cheapest of the speakers produced by the American company, but it is also the one that has the most intelligent functions. The sound cannot be defined as high fidelity but it will satisfy almost everyone, also considering the size and versatility. And then there is the excellent app, the good availability of free music and the possibility of integrating it into a larger system, with speakers tailored to each environment.