I recently came into possession of this wonderful wee speaker and would like to share why I believe it’s better value for money than the ever-present Logitech UE Boom series.
What does it look like?
Triangular in shape, hard plastic grill, rubberised plastic endcaps. On the left end cap there is a mic hole, mic button, play/pause vol up and vol down buttons. The right end cap does not have any buttons. Small rubber feet on bottom.
The Sonos Roam feels sturdy and well made in the hand.
Why would you buy this over a regular Bluetooth speaker?
The biggest benefit I feel is definitely the DLNA speaker functionality, which ties in nicely with the smart speaker aspect. I can say “Alexa, play liked songs playlist” and it’ll start playing.
I can open Spotify and control the music manually and I can then use my phone to watch something else without the audio taking over the music as well.
Functionality
Very simple and easy to use. A single button press will turn the device on with a white status LED and initiate the assistant feature. You can then either press the button once to turn it on to standby or press and hold the button to activate Bluetooth mode, which is indicated by a blue LED.
Holding the button in Bluetooth mode will initiate its pairing feature.
Press the button once more to turn the device off.
Pros:
Excellent presence
Very portable
Alexa, Google and Siri integration
Music streaming (Spotify, Apple etc) integration
DLNA and Apple Airplay support
Bluetooth and wifi connection
IP67 rated (bathroom friendly)
Cons:
Directed soundstage
Smaller stature impacts bass production
Nonreplaceable battery
Shorter battery life at eight hours (vs 13 hours than the UE Megaboom)
Smart features require Sonos account
Battery level only visible through Sonos app
Overall impression:
4.5 out of 5 - a smart speaker that could be a welcome addition to any household.
