I could be mistaken as I'm evaluating these but do not own them, so please confirm or deny - I think there are a couple advantages over standard BT portable speakers such as the JBL: Precision-engineered acoustics deliver clarity, depth, and fullness, such as you would expect from a much larger speaker. Using Trueplay tuning, the sound adapts, both to the environment, and to what you're listening to, for always-optimised audio. The Roam works with Qi-certified wireless chargers, or with Sonos' own custom wireless charger to maintain its low profile. Wireless chargers are optional and sold separately.

Lights on the product indicate connection, charge status, mute status, microphone activation, and errors.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing when you consider how the Roam might be used. There’s nothing worse than coarse hi-hats cutting through the chatter at a party when the speaker is turned up too loud. A clear high-end would be even better, but sometimes we can understand playing things a bit safe. Use the buttons to play, pause, skip, replay, adjust the volume, turn off the microphones, manually switch to Bluetooth, and more. As we’ve said, if you aren’t already invested in the Sonos multi-room family then you might be better off looking elsewhere for your portable wireless speaker needs. The second benefit is Bluetooth, one of the major omissions to Sonos’ line. But a connected Home Nest Mini or Echo Dot speaker (through the line-in port) means you can blast music from your phone over Bluetooth to your multi-room system easily. Given the whole idea of the Roam is that it moves around with you, it’s handy you can leave the Trueplay function on and it’ll do this automatically every time you place it down. How much of a difference that’ll make when battling outside noise and weather is another thing entirely, but it can do little harm. What does the Loudness function do?

Unlike other Sonos speakers, Roam cannot be paired with a sub or used as surrounds in a home cinema setup. A listen to other portable Bluetooth speakers around this price also confirms that we could be expecting more in terms of timing and dynamics. There is plenty of punch to the Roam’s performance, but it is far less expressive than the competition here, and can also seem quite sluggish. VerdictYes. The Roam charges either via USB-C, using the optional Sonos Wireless Charger, or with any Qi wireless charger – and during charging, the Sonos Roam can play music. Just like the Move can. Can Sonos Roam be used as surround sound speakers? Easily connect compatible Sonos speakers in different rooms over Wi-Fi to create a home sound system that plays music in any or every room. This Sonos product is compatible with the Sonos app S2 only. Most Sonos products are compatible with the Sonos app S2. The following historical Sonos products are compatible with the earlier Sonos app S1 only: Bridge, CR200, Connect (Gen 1), Connect:Amp (Gen 1), Play:5 (Gen 1), and ZonePlayer products.