Sonos Roam 2 – White – Portable Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker by Sonos

Sonos Roam 2 – White – Portable Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker

There are tonnes of reviews of this out there but I’ll only mention things i’ve noticed and really enjoy or didnt enjoy in this brief review.

The bad?
1. Setup is a real pain… actually. What should’ve been straight forward , there were a lot of glitches getting this into the Sonos ecosystem. In general i find the “initial setup” for all sonos products to be rather inconsistent and frustrating. To note, i have 5 sonos speakers in my house — every single one had had strange glitches and workarounds to get them initialized into my home sonos ecosystem. I bought TWO sonos roam2’s in order to do stereo pairing. Both sonos roam2’s during setup, had different problems. First one, it would not detect, factory reset twice… it finally worked. It was detected but then , ran into a weird glitch to “add ” to the system. It timed out after some 5+ minutes….. i restarted the process again, and finally it worked. The second sonos, again, i had to factory reset once, then it wasnt able to find wifi this time. After going thru a couple more times it finally worked but then it ran into yet another problem where it would not “finish registering” (??) i had to do this around 10 times and finally it worked. I paired the speakers OK but after 15minutes, the pairing (as L / R stereo) decoupled again!!! I re-paired the two and linked them a second time… so far so good. knock on wood.

2. it is a usbc connector for power …. it comes with the cable which is 1m. However it does not come with actual power supply!!! it requires a 3A plug which is like a modern apple or pixel ubsc charger. These will cost you extra — i’m not sure why they didnt include one with the sonos — > especially at the premium pricetag here.

The good?
3. Sounds amazing for consumer use. While obviously not audiophile quality, for me they sounds fantastic . For such a tiny speaker, they fill the room with deep sounding bass thickness and very crisp highs. Theres a bit of the “mid scooped” sound but thats kind of expected for consumer type speakers. I’m happy that at least you can control the BASS/TREBLE EQ on the app. A “loudness” toggle is basically a must — not sure why you’d turn that off. I wouldve appreciated a MID EQ too but i’m not gonna be too picky here as it sounds OK without. Pop / acoustic songs sound the best. Rock is muddy because of that mid-scooped sound but i think its a preference thing.

4. After you “pair” two ROAM2’s for stereo, the app assigns a L and R channel. I have this in the kitchen in two corners. It literally fills the kitchen with a really WIDE stereo image and it feels very immersive. Sounds actually amazing for a kitchen.

5. Roam2’s are so small, you can just grab one and take it on the go for bluetooth mode only. They pack a good charge so you need no plugs 8-10h of playtime (which is fantastic) — They are hefty despite the size and i reckon most of that weight is due to the battery.

6. Unlike older sonos, the newer ones including this roam2 supports 5ghz wifi which i’m so thankful for. 2.4 is too congested and my older sonos does not work well in 2.4 anymore so i had to wire it to ethernet. This one supports 5ghz and it is super reliable.

7. I bought two white roam2’s and they fit so nice in the corner because of the triangular form factor. You can barely notice its existence in the kitchen but once they start playing, the sound is HUGE for such a small pair.

To conclude, if your use case is like mine: Paired stereo 2x roam’s discrete look in a room, this is a great solution that has built in amp, speakers and a highpowered chip (quad a53!!!) for excellent media streaming. Integrates perfectly with streaming apps like spotify. I’m super happy with it so far and so is my wife who finds these so easy to use in the kitchen and around the house.

The Sonos Roam 2 delivers remarkably balanced and rich sound for its small size—solid bass, clear mids, and treble that still pop, whether you’re streaming via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. It now includes separate buttons for power and Bluetooth pairing, making setups smoother—no need to juggle app menus to connect on the go. With an IP67 rating, up to 10 hours of battery life, and sleek, travel-friendly design, it’s versatile for both indoor multi-room setups and beach or camping audio. If you’re already invested in Sonos, the seamless home ecosystem integration is a big bonus—but even standalone Bluetooth use is a breeze.

Pros: Great sound for size, simple Bluetooth pairing, durable and portable
Cons: Battery life is just average vs. competitors, and the app setup can be a bit finicky

Es una bocina un poco más pequeña de lo que parece. Al tacto es sólida y de muy buena calidad. El diseño es compacto y elegante.

Es fácil enlazarla vía Bluetooth y con pocos pasos puede configurarse para que funcione con el wifi. El volumen es suficiente para una habitación pequeña sin llegar a ser ensordecedora, finalmente y lo que importa es resaltar que la calidad del sonido es sobresaliente en distintos ambientes.

El precio puede disuadirte y entiendo que hay muchas opciones en este segmento; sin embargo, el respaldo de la marca y los accesorios disponibles hacen de esta bocina una de las más atractivas frente a su competencia.

So, the positives right up front. Very small and portable. Simplistic but stylish. Easy to use and setup. Love the dedicated Bluetooth. Comes well packaged from Sonos. Very small and for its size, puts out good volume.

Now the potential cons. I have a Sonos Arc and the Sonos Move (1st Gen). Got them both for a great sale price and the sound quality never ceases to impress me. Especially the Move, which even at very high volumes plays great music from rock, country and rap. I bought the roam to be more portable than my Move, which I use on the deck, poolside or at small gatherings. The Roam was more for hiking, beach trips and casual listening washing the car, etc. I have to say I am not impressed. It sounds decent at its highest volume although you can tell you’ve reached its limit. I never feel like any of my other Sonos products have hit a limit even at 100% volume. It also sounds almost flat and very mono sounding vs steep or simulated stereo. Worse, it’s okay with rock or country or anything that has very little bass, but don’t try and play any kind of rap or hip hip. The bass is almost non-existent and really makes it feel like you’re pushing the speakers beyond their capabilities.

Granted, most small portable like this would have similar issues, but when I listen to my sons JBL Flip 5, which costs less than half the price, I feel like the bass is much richer and the sound is louder, but of relatively similar quality as the Sonos, which is very disappointing. Maybe I’m missing the mark on its intended use, but I don’t think so. For small sound and high portability, it’s okay, but feels overpriced when compared to a couple others for what it offers.

Would have considered a slightly larger roam in its 2nd generation for larger speakers or drivers or a dedicated bass port. I’ll have to sample it for a while and along others. I’m on the fence keeping it vs returning it. I’ll update my decision later.

UPDATE: okay, after using it down at the beach, I would have to say my opinion has changed some. While I still would like a bit more volume, it’s pretty good for small spaces and close to me or around the pool or campfire. Sound has grown on me for most music and I recognize what it is for its ultra portability. Battery life is good and it’s been easy to pair. Loud enough to enjoy, but not so loud as to annoy others around me at the beach. I bought it at full price for $179. If you wait for Prime Day or other major sales days, it drops to $143, which is a much more reasonable price where it’s worth it.

Overall, this is an excellent speaker. Great sound as one would expect from Sonos. Easy to mount with the Chunxaio speaker holder. Great build quality. Super easy to pair with Alexa but instructions don’t come in the box – you need to go to “Sonos/support/Article/Set up Amazon Alexa with voice-enabled Sonos Speaker”. It connected right up and was playing my Amazon play list in minutes. I live in humid Florida and worry about a nice outdoor speaker getting mold. This one is waterproof but I plan to bring it in anytime we’re not listening to it. It’s very easy to remove from the holder to do so. It’s very good value for the money, easy to use and is a great addition to our patio. The added bonus is it’s portability. We can take it anywhere.