Sonos has added a new version of its smallest portable speaker, called the Roam SL. Much like the company’s One SL and Arc SL, the Roam SL is essentially the same speaker as the Sonos Roam, but without any voice assistant capabilities. The Roam SL will be available starting March 15 for $159, and pre-orders start March 1 on Sonos.com. That’s a $20 saving over the $179 price of the original Sonos Roam.
Other than the absence of the top-mounted microphone (and the two assistants it enabled — Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa), the Roam SL looks identical to its smart speaker cousin. The same easy-to-grip triangular shape remains, as does the choice of black or white colors. You can also use the Roam SL with the optional wireless charger that Sonos sells for the regular Roam.
Sonos
You’ll be able to add the Roam SL to any existing Sonos system that uses the S2 version of the Sonos software, and you can stereo-pair it with either another Roam SL or a regular Roam. Unfortunately, portable speaker pairs can’t be used as a set of rear channel speakers in conjunction with one of the company’s soundbars like the Beam Gen 2 or Arc — for that you’ll need a pair of non-portable models like the One SL, or perhaps a pair of Ikea’s Sonos-powered Symfonisk speakers.
The Roam SL gets up to 10 hours of continuous playback on a single charge and up to 10 days of battery life when in sleep mode. It also benefits from a Battery Saver setting that Sonos introduced shortly after the launch of the Sonos Roam, which powers down the speaker completely when not in use.
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The Roam SL lacks the Roam’s microphone.
Like the Roam, the Roam SL is dustproof and fully waterproof with an IP67 rating. It can be placed vertically or horizontally for more placement options.
So far, Sonos hasn’t chosen to release a mic-free version of its larger portable speaker, the Sonos Move.
It’s been a quiet 2022 so far for Sonos, but that could change if the company decides to finally release the wireless headphones that it has been working on. Sonos CEO, Patrick Spence, has previously hinted that the company will be aggressively rolling out new products over the coming months. The company has also recently committed to a sweeping campaign to make its products more environmentally friendly as it looks at ways to reduce its overall carbon footprint.
Android users are about to lose a handy Sonos feature
Sonos customers who use Android devices to control their wireless speakers are about to lose the ability to play music files that are stored locally on their phones or tablets. As spotted by The Verge, Sonos recently (and quietly) announced that as of May 23, 2023, the Sonos app for Android will no longer give you the On this Mobile Device option in the app's Music Sources tab.
Apple users already know what this is like. The same feature was removed from iOS and iPadOS versions of the Sonos app several years ago. The difference, though, is that as Apple user owns a newish Sonos speaker (basically any product released since the Sonos One) they have the option to stream any content from their phones to their Sonos gear over AirPlay 2, a lossless, 16-bit wireless protocol that's supported on tons of Sonos products.
Sonos could soon be the soundtrack for your next shopping trip
Sonos has announced Sonos Pro, a new way for companies with multiple locations to manage all of their Sonos wireless speakers from a central, web-based command center. The software-as-a-service (SaaS) product has subscription pricing: each location you want to control costs $35 per month. It's a U.S.-only service for now, with additional markets planned for the future.
The system is flexible, letting companies decide how much control over individual locations should be in the hands of their employees -- all the way from full control to no control at all. The days of your local Kroger running its own quirky playlist could be over if that sort of thing goes against the brand's standards for its in-store experience. Or, companies could decide that a local flavor is exactly what they want to promote and give their store managers a big influence on the music their customers hear.
Shortly after Sonos showed off its new wireless speakers -- the Era 100 and Era 300 -- the company quietly released a new version of the search feature that’s built into the Sonos app. Sonos says the new version (which is slowly rolling out) is a better overall search experience. And yet, it's a big departure from its normal search, which is now called "classic search," and I think it’s still very much a work in progress.
Sonos says that for now, the classic search isn't going away. But come April 25, everyone will have access to the new search. Here's what you can expect when you use it.
A service-first, service-only approach
