Sonos surprised the industry earlier this week by launching its Roam 2 portable Bluetooth speaker earlier than expected. Priced at $179, the follow up to the 2021 Roam speaker mainly focuses on a suite of quality-of-life upgrades, as the actual audio remains mostly unchanged.
When the original Roam released, reviewers and consumers had some gripes about its functionality and design, issues that the Roam 2 looks to address. Chief among these is a dedicated Bluetooth button, as the old model’s power button worked double-duty as a Bluetooth pairing button. Gone now is the hassle of a setup process requiring the Sonos app and Wi-Fi connectivity, letting the Roam 2 power up and function hassle-free right out of the box. While the Roam 2 is advertised at having the same 10-hour battery life as the original, the company has hinted that tweaks have been made to keep the battery operating at maximum efficiency, as some consumers complained that their Roam speaker held less of a charge over time.
Over all, if you’ve heard the 2021 Roam speaker and enjoyed its sound, but held off until some of the bugs were worked out, then the Roam 2 might be for you. The Roam 2 is available now in black, green, blue, orange, or white colorways. Keep your eyes to SVConline for a review roundup on the Roam 2 coming soon.
The following was originally published May 8, 2024:
Rumors have been circulating for several months now that Sonos is looking to release a follow up to the Roam, their portable smart Bluetooth speaker. While it’s been praised as being one of the best portable speakers on the market, users have reported a number of things they would like improved, such as battery life and finnicky Bluetooth pairing. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has reported that not only is a new product for the Roam line in the works, it will launch soon and with several upgrades.
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Gurman claims that the new Roam will improve on the 2021 model’s 10-hour battery life, though no specific metric was given. Other improvements reported by Gurman include compatibility with a soon-to-be-released Sonos app to handle the device’s multiple connectivity options, as well as new touch controls similar to those found in the Sonos Move 2. This change would see the new Roam have touch capacitive controls for volume, pause/play, as well as track skipping. For what its worth, Chris Welch over at The Verge claims to have received prerelease images of the Roam 2, and that touch controls are absent. Welch claims that touch controls wouldn’t mesh well with some use cases of the Roam 2, such as using it in the shower.
The Sonos Roam 2 is rumored to launch next month alongside the Sonos Ace headphones. For our review roundup of the original Sonos Roam, click here.
