I favored the unique Sonos Roam sufficient to provide it a 9/10, WIRED Recommends. And now, I fall on my sword in entrance of everybody who purchased one based mostly on my recommendation. I had one grievance, which was that my evaluate unit’s battery—together with the batteries of many different items belonging to folks I do know and work with—had bizarre drain points long-term. My first-gen mannequin was unusable by the point I got here again to check it to this new mannequin.
With the Roam 2, quietly launched alongside Sonos’ new Ace over-ear headphones (8/10, WIRED Recommends), Sonos has remedied these battery issues. The corporate additionally added a button to make Bluetooth pairing simpler and extra prompt whenever you’re not at dwelling.
It is not exactly an engineering triumph, however I do prefer to see manufacturers replace merchandise to repair what’s damaged reasonably than reinvent the wheel. Functionally, the Roam 2 appears and acts identically to the primary mannequin. This one simply goals to last more than a pair years, and it comes with a better Bluetooth pairing button. I nonetheless prefer it, and I am going to prefer it much more if long-term testing exhibits that the battery (and the gadget itself) will final.
{Photograph}: Amazon
Roam on the Vary
Sonos’ entire deal was once that you just could not get Bluetooth in its merchandise, however that has changed over the past several years.
The Roam was the primary devoted transportable gadget that Sonos determined ought to get Bluetooth (there not being a lot Wi-Fi in the midst of the woods or at a lake) in order that listeners may snag a single Sonos product for each their kitchen and knapsack.
At dwelling, it connects to Wi-Fi and exhibits up within the Sonos app in your telephone. While you’re on the go—or a good friend needs to play some music actual fast—simply pair to Bluetooth and play. It’s a superb celebration trick for these of us with different Sonos audio system.
I hold my Roam 2 in my lavatory or bed room after I’m not taking it with me exterior. At dwelling, it acts like one other speaker in my Sonos ecosystem. Once I need to come out for some seaside time, or deliver a few of my favourite tunes exterior, I simply seize the speaker and go, then pair it to my telephone (or reconnect it, generally) for straightforward listening the place it in any other case doesn’t have an web connection.
{Photograph}: Amazon
Nonetheless The Greatest
Utilizing the Roam 2 (which appears similar to the primary Roam, save a much-needed Bluetooth pairing button and some totally different colorways) is so simple as it will get. Join telephone, choose music, play stated music. At dwelling, by way of Wi-Fi, issues can get a bit extra difficult, due to a much-maligned new Sonos app and its woes with organising (or typically even seeing) new audio system.
I’ve managed to attach mine to my dwelling system with relative ease, connecting it to the opposite Sonos speaker I’ve paired in my workplace in a indifferent storage, in case I need to play the identical music in and out. It really works flawlessly for this function, and if I had a bigger Sonos system at dwelling I’m certain that I’d get pleasure from it much more.
Functionally, it really works nice, with good beefy bass and balanced treble and midrange that makes the speaker good for each podcasts and pop music. It’s not loud or massive sufficient to gasoline a full-on dance celebration within the woods, nevertheless it does get surprisingly loud for its measurement.
