Sonos has had a big year. It’s not a small task to rebuild your app, introduce an entirely new product category in the form of the Sonos Ace headphones, and update the Sonos Roam to the Sonos Roam 2. And that’s just the first half of the year. Some changes have been more successful than others — the Ace headphones are fantastic — but when you look past the flashy new products, how good of a job is Sonos actually doing maintaining the products people already love?
Related
Best Sonos speakers: Audiophile tested and reviewed
From the portable Sonos Roam to the impressive Sonos Arc, this is an audiophile’s guide to the best Sonos speakers.
Take the Sonos Roam, for example. I’ve long loved how surprisingly flexible the Bluetooth speaker is. It’s just as helpful for playing music off your phone in the park as it is integrated into a bigger Sonos speaker system at home. It’s really as full of features as any other Sonos device, while still being a perfect fit for specific, unexpected jobs around the house, like acting as an alarm clock.
The first Roam wasn’t perfect, but all Sonos had to do was polish some of the rough edges. The Sonos Roam 2 is more or less just that. A version of Sonos’ first portable speaker with even fewer drawbacks. Here’s why I’d buy the Sonos Roam 2 over the Sonos Roam.
Related
How we test and review products at Pocket-lint
We don’t do arm-chair research. We buy and test our own products, and we only publish buyer’s guides with products we’ve actually reviewed.
Price, availability, and specs
The original Sonos Roam went on sale in April 2021 for $169. It’s no longer available directly from Sonos, but you can get it from third-party retailers like Amazon or Best Buy for less than its original price. The Sono Roam 2 went on sale in May 2024 for $179, $10 more than the original Roam. You can purchase it from Sonos, Amazon, Best Buy, and other online stores. The speakers have a lot in common, as you can see from the chart below, but the minor differences are worth considering.
-
Sonos Roam 2 Sonos Roam Dimensions 6.6 x 2.4 x 2.3in 2.44″D x 2.32″W x 6.61″H Brand Sonos Sonos Connectivity Wi-Fi 5.0, Bluetooth, Apple AirPlay 2 Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Voice Assistant Sonos Voice Control, Alexa Sonos Voice Control, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant Colors Black, White, Sunset, Wave, and Olive Black, White, Green, Orange, and Blue Buttons Tactile controls, Power button, Bluetooth pairing button Playback controls, power button, Bluetooth pairing button Others Sonos features, Automatic Trueplay Tuning, Sonos Sound Swap Automatic Trueplay, Sound Swap Battery 10 hours 10 hours Waterproof Rating IP67 IP67
The design remained largely the same
Tweaks are small, but meaningful
If you don’t know what you are looking for, it would be pretty easy to mix up the Sonos Roam 2 and Sonos Roam. Both speakers are about the size of a water bottle, and shaped like a triangular wedge with rounded corners. With Automatic Trueplay onboard, you can lay them down or stand them up, and they’ll sound just about the same — which is to say, good.
Sonos sold the Roam in black, white, orange, green, and blue finishes and now offers the Sonos Roam 2 in the same. The only easily noticeable difference between the two is that the second-generation model has logos and labels that are color-matched to its body. So instead of “Sonos” being printed in bright white on the side, it’ll fade into the background in white, black, orange, green.
Related
The 7 best outdoor Bluetooth speakers for epic summer parties
Portable, water-resistant, and bass-heavy, these tried and tested speakers pass the ultimate summer vibe check.
The other difference is a new button on the back of the speaker that acts as a dedicated Bluetooth pairing button. On the original Roam, you’d have to long-press the power button to put it into Bluetooth pairing mode, but on the Roam 2 the process is a lot simpler.
The Sonos Roam 2 has the same battery life of 10 hours as the Roam, but Sonos claims its reworked the battery so it’ll last a bit longer. “We’ve optimized the battery; there’s a little bit better battery life,” Sonos CEO Patrick Spence tells The Verge. That could lead to a longer lasting Roam 2 over time.
The sound is as great as ever
Both the Roam and Roam 2 pack a punch
I’ve never been disappointed with how my own Sonos Roam sounds. It offers a surprising amount of depth for a small speaker, and even if it won’t rumble the floor with bass, it does reproduce songs in a way that makes them sound uneven, or like they’re missing anything. On top of that, it’s pretty consistently loud.
The Sonos Roam 2 is equally impressive. Our reviewer noted that it had a “well-rounded soundstage” and was able to fill a room with music without distortion. The Sonos Roam 2, like the Sonos Roam, is just able to move a surprising amount of air for a speaker it’s size. You’re not going to DJ a wedding with it, but you’ll be happy with how it sounds and holds its own in a larger group of Sonos speakers.
Related
Auracast is the Bluetooth broadcast feature you never knew you needed
The ability to broadcast and receive Bluetooth audio has been around for a while, but it’s finally taking off.
The reason why both speakers still sound great is that Sonos didn’t really change anything about the structure on the inside of the Sonos Roam 2. It uses the same single tweeter and midwoofer structure as the original Roam. Sonos hasn’t shared specific details about the tweeters and midwoofers it uses in the Roam 2 or the Roam, so there’s a good chance they’re the same.
Connectivity improvements make listening easier
The Roam 2 works with Bluetooth just as well as Wi-Fi
Sonos has designed its portable speakers to work with both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi from the beginning. The company’s commitment to Wi-Fi music streaming offers better audio quality and enables some of it’s neater speaker group skills, but it’s just not practical when you’re trying to take your music on the go.
Even though the original Sonos Roam supported Bluetooth, when you first took the speaker out of its box, you still needed to connect it to Wi-Fi and Sonos’ app before it was able to use a Bluetooth connection to play music. That makes the process of actually using the speaker on the go a lot longer. A key advantage the Roam 2 has over the Roam is that it can use Bluetooth as soon as you turn it on. You just turn it on, press the Bluetooth pairing button and connect to it on whatever device you want to play music on.
Related
Best multi-room audio speakers
Multi-room audio allows for easy simultaneous listening, and these 8 speakers deliver smarts, big sound, and sleek designs.
That makes the overall process of using the Roam 2 a lot easier and gets you listening to music faster than you ever could on the Sonos Roam, which is the ultimate goal of a good portable speaker.
The competition is close, but you should buy the Sonos Roam 2
Easier Bluetooth goes a long way
When you’re comparing speakers that are as similar to each other as the Sonos Roam and Sonos Roam 2 are, even the smallest differences matter. Normally, I’d say wait for a sale, buy the Sonos Roam at discount and be happy with the experience you get, but I think the Sonos Roam 2 is worth the upgrade.
Sonos Roam 2
The Bluetooth pairing button and more equal treatment of Bluetooth connections in general means you’re going to get a better speaker experience from minute one of owning the Sonos Roam 2 in comparison to the Sonos Roam. Combine that with a potentially healthier battery with a longer life and what I suspect will be longterm support from Sonos and it’s the better investment.
Trending Products
