Sonos Roam review: Small in size and minimalistic, mighty in performance

Sonos Roam is an excellent albeit costly portable speaker. However, having to do everything through the app is a headache--at least for Android users

Sonos recently entered India with Sonos Move (review), its premium portable Bluetooth speaker, and within months of its debut, Sonos has come up with an ultra-portable Bluetooth speaker, Sonos Roam

I used Sonos Roam for some days to see what's on offer, here's the review:

Sonos Roam: Design and build

 

As is the case with Sonos products, the design language in Sonos Roam is simple as the speaker looks minimal with a triangular body with a front grille featuring the Sonos logo, and rubber buttons on one side.

There are four buttons--a mute button for the microphone, a play/pause, a volume up, and a volume down. The end caps are rubberized for shock resistance. There’s a single USB-C port and power button on the backside.

Available in two colours--black and white--the speaker is sleek, portable, and lightweight at 6.61 inches and 430 grams.

The Sonos Roam has an IPX67 rating which means it can be fully submerged underwater for up to 30 minutes.

Sonos Roam: Sound quality

 

Sonos Roam may look tiny, but has powerful sound output. What's even more impressive is the rich sound quality.

Play any music and you can feel the neat sound output and the depth. The vocals sound crisp, there is a noticeable instrument separation, and the sound is natural, to say the least.

That said, Sonos Roam may not offer you the bass you usually get in the portable speakers of this size from JBL and other brands, but it has quality bass that sounds smooth and is not intrusive at all.

The dual-driver system and a dedicated subwoofer and tweeter make everything sound clean and rich.

 

So be it a smooth melody or heavy riffs, you will have a fine experience.

From Amit Trivedi's peppy numbers to A R Rahman's soulful music, it's a delight for any audiophile.

I played Peter Cat Recording Co on a loop using Sonos Roam and the output was just what I needed to justify the Reggae Jazz/Funk-ish genre.

Even the Pop songs from the last decade sound pleasant on Roam.

There are additional features such as Automatic TruePlay that gauges the ambiance and adjusts the sound output accordingly.

The Roam supports hands-free voice commands, unfortunately, it doesn't work in India.

 

You can also pair two Roam speakers for an enhanced sound output, but I wonder if anyone would spend so much on small speakers.

What's really frustrating is you will have to use the Sonos app to play music or do anything with the speaker. The app lags a lot when you listen to music using Apple Music or Spotify.

Secondly, it restricts a user as you can't enjoy YouTube or any other app. So, even after spending a fortune on a portable speaker, you will end up with these issues.

Moreover, setting up the speaker is such a task if you use a new wifi network. So, all in all, it ends up becoming your personal speaker.

Sonos Roam: Battery life

 

Sonos Roam can easily last 7-8 hours on a full charge. This is decent output for a portable speaker of this size. The speaker, however, takes its own sweet time to charge fully. It also supports wireless charging through any Qi wireless charger.

Sonos Roam: Verdict

Priced at Rs 19,999, Sonos Roam is an excellent albeit costly portable speaker. If portability is the factor, I'd any day suggest Marshall Emberton, which costs around Rs 14,000 but has everything a premium portable speaker can offer.

From looks to performance, Sonos Roam has pretty much everything covered and it's one of the finest portable speakers I have used. However, the fact that you will have to do everything through the app is really a headache.

Talking about headaches, iPhone users still do not mind it, but Android users may not be too pleased with such restrictions.