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Sonos Roam 2 gets a surprise release alongside an app update

By Derek Malcolm May 21, 2024

The Sonos Roam 2. — Sonos

Alongside today’s launch of its first headphones, the Sonos Ace, Sonos has also quietly unveiled the second generation of its popular portable wireless speaker, the Sonos 2.

The Sonos Roam 1 launched in 2021 and has been a mainstay on out best best Bluetooth speakers list ever since for its portability, excellent sound, and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, which allows it to connect to your Sonos network system. The second generation of the Sonos Roam remains largely the same (which isn’t a bad thing), except for a couple of key features.

Starting with the minor design changes, the Sonos Roam 2 front logo goes from the Roam 1’s white to now matching the color of the speaker you choose. Color options are Olive, Sunset, Wave, black, and white (usurping its Lunar White color).

Additionally, on the back of the Roam 2 you’ll now find a dedicated Bluetooth button instead of the single power/pairing button, which owners of the first generation will appreciate as it’s sometimes been a source of frustration to hold the button down just right to get it to enter pairing mode.

The buttons on the Sonos Roam 2. — Sonos

Speaking of Bluetooth pairing, the other significant change to the Roam 2 now allows users to more easily pair the speaker using Bluetooth directly, out of the box — no more need to setup and connect the speaker with the Sonos app first.

Everything else is exactly the same — IP67 dust and waterproofing, 10-hour battery, AirPlay 2 support, and automatic Trueplay. There is, however, one big but: the Sonos Roam 1 features Google Assistant, but the Sonos 2 does not, due to the two companies’ long legal dispute. It does, however, support Alexa and its own Sonos Voice assistant.

Finally, as a footnote to today’s Sonos Ace and Sonos Roam 2 launches, Sonos is also rolling out an update to its much-scrutinized Sonos app. The update brings an improvement to its Screen reader and VoiceOver features, as well as now giving users the ability to add and edit alarms, which was a missing feature many people complained about.

The Sonos Roam 2 is available now for $179

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Contributing Editor, A/V

Derek Malcolm is a Toronto-based technology journalist, editor, and content specialist whose work has appeared in…

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