Not everyone wants to wear a pair of headphones or earbuds to listen to their music, radio stations or podcasts but sometimes speakers can be such a pain. They’re often bulky, cumbersome with using them with multiple devices and typically susceptible to the elements so they’re not great for the outdoors.
Unless of course you have the Sonos Roam.
Roam is a high quality ultraportable truly smart speaker so convenient to use, you’ll want to use around the house and never leave home without it.
It’s almost triangular shaped and designed to stand in both horizontal or vertical positions.
Weighing in at less than 1 lb., it measures a mere 6.61 inches long x 2.44 inches wide x 2.26 inches tall and small enough to slip into a jacket pocket.
Don’t be fooled purely by its diminutive size. Its durable construction can withstand falls and its IP67 rated. This means it’s fully dustproof and waterproof, so you can’t hurt it if you accidentally spill coffee or pop it or if it ends up submerged in one meter of water even up to half an hour.
Precision engineered acoustics produce a crisp clear and full body sound, something you’d expect from a larger speaker. In fact, to ensure great sound even in a less than ideal environment, Roam uses Sonos’ patented automatic Trueplay tuning. It uses Roam’s built-in microphone to smartly adjust the sound to compensate for the surroundings.
3-Way Control
You can control your Sonos Roam three ways; by touch via on-board controls, by voice using Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa or Apple’s Siri, and also by downloading the Sonos Android or iOS companion app.
Acting like a control panel, the app will help you get the most from your Roam and help take advantage of its smart features.
Most smart speakers connect wirelessly only via Bluetooth. Roam also connects via Bluetooth but also over Wi-Fi. With Wi-Fi you’ll be able to stream your sound over a much longer range – anywhere the Wi-Fi reaches rather than the 10m limit for Bluetooth. Wi-Fi also yields a higher fidelity audio as the sound is less compressed as it is with Bluetooth.
Auto-switch between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Once set up, your Roam can also switch between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth automatically. This smart feature also gives you added convenience. For example, if you use Roam at the cottage it will connect to your phone via Bluetooth but will automatically connect to your home system when you get back.
The My Sonos feature, accessible via the app gives you access to thousands upon thousands of songs, audio books and podcasts. Another feature, Sonos Radio can help you curate a selection of radio stations by genre including a number exclusive to Sonos.
And if you have another Sonos speaker you can match them together to make a stereo pair or use Sound Swap to send sound to and from the nearest speaker.
Sonos Roam has a built-in rechargeable battery rated at up to 10 hours of play. It can also be put into sleep mode to conserve battery. It comes with a USB-C cable so it can be charged with any USB-C charger but it also has built wireless charging so it can be used with any Qi compatible wireless charger. This can be very handy so you don’t have to worry about needing any proprietary cables, chargers or adapters if you find you left yours at home.
Sonos Roam makes for a great gift idea for the upcoming holiday season.
It comes in two matte finish colours – Shadow Black or Lunar White. It retails in Canada for $229.00. It’s available directly from Sonos. You can also find it on Amazon and others like Best Buy Canada, Visions Electronics and The Source.
The syndicated edition of the article also appears at Troy Media and affiliated syndicated sites.
Greg Gazin, also known as the Gadget Guy and Gadget Greg, is a syndicated veteran tech columnist, communication, leadership and technology speaker, facilitator at Crestcom International, blogger, podcaster and author. Reach him @gadgetgreg or at GadgetGuy.ca.
Speak Your Mind