Sonos Roam 2 review: size-defying sound from the only Wi-Fi-enabled Bluetooth speaker
Great sound comes in small packages
Pros:
✅ 📻 Compact, portable speaker with size-defying audio quality
✅ 🔊 Versatile sound with clear instruments and vocals, balanced treble, and present bass
✅ ➕ Perfect add-on speaker for those heavily bought into a Sonos system already
✅ 🪄 Automatic TruePlay tuning ensures you get the best sound in any space
✅ 💵 Competitively priced
Cons
❌ 📶 Connects over the outdated Bluetooth 5.0 standard only
❌ 👨💻 Only supports AAC and SBC codecs
❌ 🪫 Max 10-hour battery life is too short
❌ 📵 TruePlay still not available to Android users
🏆 Review score: 4.0 out of 5
Shortcut Review
The Sonos Roam 2 is one of the best-sounding Bluetooth speakers I’ve ever heard and that’s astounding when you feel how small it is. This speaker only sounds better when connected over Wi-Fi and to a full Sonos sound system. It offers a rich and clear sound that works with a variety of music and podcasts, and it’s rugged enough to take to the beach or a picnic if you like to take your tunes outdoors.
It’s not without its fault. For how well engineered this speaker is, it’s behind the times with its Bluetooth 5.0 connection and only two AAC and SBC codecs. Android users also still miss out on TruePlay. But this Wi-Fi and Bluetooth speaker is unique and it also comes at a surprisingly nice value of $179, which undercuts the higher prices of other Bluetooth speakers.
Full Review
🤏 Small package. The Roam 2 is easily Sonos’ most portable speaker. It’s much smaller than the Sonos Roam 2 and many competing Bluetooth speakers with compact dimensions of 6.61 x 2.44 x 2.36 inches. You can easily throw it into any bag, cup holder, jacket pocket, or anything you have and get great sound anywhere you go.
The Sonos Roam 2 might be small, but it puts out size-defying sound.
🔊 Big sound. The Sonos Roam 2 might be small, but it puts out size-defying sound. Inside its triangular case, there’s one tweeter, a custom Racetrack Mid-Woofer, and a high-efficiency motor. Thanks to all this sound engineering, the Roam 2 sounds fantastic, with very clear acoustics and vocals. The bass is present but not terribly strong, and it only gets loud enough to fill a single room with sound – though, I wouldn’t expect much in either respect from a speaker this small.
🔘 Easy Bluetooth Button. The design of the Sonos Roam 2 is exactly the same as the original with the exception of a new Bluetooth pairing button on the back of the speaker. It makes pairing much easier whenever you need to quickly connect the speaker. The Bluetooth connection itself is rock solid, but I wish Sonos could have packed in a newer Bluetooth 5.2 or 5.3 radio.
🛜 Wi-Fi too. One advantage the Sonos Roam 2 easily has over all other Bluetooth speakers is it can support Wi-Fi as well. Connecting over Wi-Fi makes it easier to bring around any room in your house, and it also allows it to stream higher-quality audio. Of course, to take advantage of the Wi-Fi streaming, you’ll need to control the speaker through the Sonos app or connect to it over AirPlay 2.
🎛️ Automatic TruePlay. If you’ve ever hated how your Bluetooth speaker only sounds good when placed in one stop, you’ll love the Roam 2’s Automatic TruePlay feature. This feature allows the speaker to use its onboard mics to automatically adjust the EQ for the best playback. It worked as promised; the speaker sounded as good on top of my bookshelf as it did in the corner of the room or wherever I placed it. Unfortunately, TruePlay is still not supported for Android users, so you’ll need an iPhone to use it.
➕ Add-on for bigger Sonos systems. If you’ve bought into a full Sonos system like me, the Roam 2 extension of it. I can get all my Sonos speakers playing the same audio, and the Roam 2 is the perfect portable extension I can take to any room (i.e. the bathroom) where I don’t have a dedicated speaker set up. Alternatively, I could take the speaker out to my fire escape if I wanted to relax outside while my girlfriend enjoyed the same music indoors.
🪫 Short battery life. The Sonos Roam has roughly 10 hours of battery life, which is exactly what’s prescribed on the box. Unfortunately, that feels a bit too short from a Bluetooth speaker these days. By comparison, the Sony LinkBuds Speaker lasts for 25 hours, and the Beats Pill has up to 24 hours of battery life. The original Sonos Roam was also plagued with a quickly deteriorating battery, but after a few months with the Roam 2, I’m still seeing the same level of battery life from the speaker, even when it was new.
💵 Same OG $179 price. In an age of ever-increasing inflation, the Sonos shockingly announced the Roam 2 at the same $179 price as the original Roam speaker. The Roam 2 is a straightforward upgrade with a new Bluetooth pairing button and improved battery lifetime over the original speaker. The Sonos Roam 2 is also a bit cheaper than the competing $189 Sony LinkBuds Speaker and $219 Bose SoundLink Home.
Should you buy the Sonos Roam 2?
Yes, if…
✅ 📻 You already have a bunch of other Sonos speakers
✅ 😌 You listen to a variety of music genres and podcasts
✅ 💸 You don’t want to spend a fortune on a Bluetooth speaker
No, if…
❌👂 You want higher quality audio than SBC and AAC codecs can deliver (get the Sony Ult Field 1 instead)
❌🔋 You want a long-lasting Bluetooth speaker (get the Sony LinkBuds Speaker instead)
Up next: Soundcore Space One Pro review: these $200 headphones with ANC are Anker’s best
Kevin Lee is The Shortcut’s Creative Director. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam.