Sonos just announced its newest and smallest portable smart speaker called the Sonos Roam. Like the Sonos Move, the new wireless speaker will be able to play music over WiFi and Bluetooth, plus you can use it to control your smart home devices with Alexa or the Google Assistant. Here’s everything you need to know about the Sonos Roam, including all the new features, the price, release date, and more.
Sonos Roam’s New Design
During the announcement, Aki Laine, the senior manager of industrial design at Sonos, said that the company went through hundreds of designs before settling on the triangular shape of the Roam. The unique design makes it easy to stand the smart speaker up to save space or lay it down on its side on any surface.
The triangular shape also helps direct the sound upwards, so your music will still sound clear when you lay it on its side. The top and bottom of the Roam have concave endcaps that are designed to increase the speaker’s drop-resistance and prevent accidental button presses.
Unlike other Sonos speakers, the Roam has tactile buttons that are slightly raised, which make it easy for anyone to quickly play or pause music, turn the volume up and down, and mute or unmute the microphone for privacy.
Sonos Roam New Features
Weighing just under a pound, the Sonos Roam is about one-sixth the size of the Move, the audio company’s previous portable smart speaker. But the Roam was designed with tons of great features that make it different from any other smart speaker on the market.
Automatic Switching
You can stream music to the Roam from your WiFi network or from your devices using Bluetooth. But, unlike other smart speakers, the Sonos Roam will automatically connect to your WiFi network when you’re home and switch to Bluetooth when you leave.
With Automatic Switching, you won’t have to worry about pairing your portable speaker or connecting it to your network again. Sonos claims that there is no other portable speaker that has this feature, which makes the Roam “the first ultra-portable speaker you actually want to bring with you.”
Sound Swap
If you have other Sonos speakers, you can also group the Roam with your other speakers in your home by pressing and holding the play button or by using the Sonos app – no matter if you are streaming via Bluetooth or WiFi.
Then you can “throw” the music to the nearest Sonos speaker in your house by simply pressing and holding the Roam’s play button. The Roam will automatically detect the nearest Sonos speaker and your music will follow you from room to room.
Automatic Trueplay
Finally, the Sonos Roam comes with a new feature call Automatic Trueplay, which constantly monitors the acoustics of the space around you and adjusts the sound to fit the space. That means you won’t have to change any settings to make your music sound its best.
Size-Defying Sound Quality
Despite its size, the Roam still delivers high-quality sound with two amplifiers, a custom racetrack mid-woofer for deep bass, and one tweeter for high-frequency audio. Like all Sonos speakers, the Roam was tuned by industry leaders in music and film to ensure that it sounds exactly how content creators intended.
The Sonos Roam lets you play music from hundreds of streaming services or you can connect via WiFi, Bluetooth, or AirPlay2. Then you can control the portable speaker with the app on your phone, voice commands with Amazon Alexa or the Google Assistant, or use the touch controls.
Fully Waterproof
The new Sonos Roam has an IP67 rating, which means that it is fully dust- and water-proof. According to the company, you can hold the Roam under three feet of water for 30 minutes without causing any damage. That means you won’t have to worry about taking it to the beach or listening to music pool-side.
Longer Battery Life
Sonos claims the Roam allows you to listen to music for 10 hours on a single charge. Then the smart speaker is supposed to last 10 days in sleep mode, which Sonos says will turn on automatically when you stop playing music to increase the battery life as much as possible.
The Roam can be charged with any Qi-certified wireless charging device, or you can use the USB-C cable included in the box. If you want to charge the Roam faster, you can use the custom charging station that snaps magnetically to the base to create a seamless connection. However, the Sonos Roam Wireless Charger is sold separately for $49.
Sonos Roam Price and Release Date
The Sonos Roam will be available starting on April 20 for $169. If you can’t wait until then, you can also pre-order the Sonos Roam starting now at Sonos.com. The smart speaker will be released in shadow black and lunar white.
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