Move or roam as surround speakers

+1 to this topic. It would really be great to have this feature. Being able to have a portable surround speaker system is another level. Hope the developers can consider it! <3

 

Then why allow them to be set as a stereo pair?   I dont see the benefit of stereo if meant to move around. This also assumes you have two roams and I’d 100% trade that functionality for the ability to add them as surrounds on the fly.

I also think this feature would massively increase the popularity and versatility of the Roams - I can’t believe Sonos have not incorporated this software upgrade yet!?

This also has my vote.

Should be able to use Roam (and Move) as part of a surround system.
Software shouldn’t be an issue - just the desire of Sonos to permit it.

Please push for this.

Out of curiosity, would people still want this feature if setup as surround speakers meant that you had to turn off just about every other feature?  For example, if it meant that you could not use bluetooth mode, no auto trueplay, no voice assistant, etc,  and the speaker would not function unless both speakers were currently on and with 5Ghz range of the Arc/Beam/Amp that’s connected to the TV?  In other words, it would act just like any sonos surround speaker, except this runs off batteries rather than directly wired for power.

Operationally this would become tedious. One would need to remove the MOVE/ROAM’s from the surround setup prior to taking them to another location. Actually, MOVE/ROAM would not be visible in the controller as individual speakers while they were part of a surround ‘Room’.  

If the reason to use MOVE/ROAM as surrounds is to be fully wireless, this would become tedious also because of the need to charge the battery operated speakers. I predict that at some point the charging task will become so onerous that the charger wires will be dangled somewhere anyway.

If it were me, I likely leave the speakers plugged in, but that’s because my room layout allows for that.  If it did not though, I image it would be a case where I leave them charging in a convenient place, and only set them up when I am sitting down to watch a movie, which could get annoying.  People are comfortable using a TV normally and rolling down a projector screen for movies, so perhaps this is not much different.

Personally, I think there is a market for a ‘normal’ Sonos speaker in the same form factor and speaker quality of the Roam, without all the bells and whistles.  Remove the battery, BT features, and voice assistant (maybe) and you have a speaker that works well as surrounds or in small rooms like bathrooms.  Keep the USB plug for power and a customer can plug into a wall outlet or separate USB power bank if they want to have it be wireless. Price could probably drop to around $120, slightly more than ikea bookshelf, and do well.

My thinking is that If there was the optional functionality to connect as surround speakers,  then while connected as surround,  the other functionalities would be superfluous.
if I was able to brief the design team, I would suggest that The must-have is to be able to easily (like the Sonos One) connect and disconnect from the surround system , and when disconnected to automatically operate as a roaming speaker (or pair of roaming speakers) with the standard functionality of the roam.

the battery power easily may not lasts through the full Hobbit - LOTR series , but then neither would I. But it would be great to be able to set up for a great film party without worrying about the power cables.

there may be limitations in the chip sets or space, and it is highly likely  I will not understand the technological barriers to creating this option and dropping it in with a system upgrade.  

+1 to everything said above, got mine today and very disappointed that it can’t be used as a surround. @melvimbe i’d trade any functionality to have the option to set this as a surround. (‘Surround mode’ toggle? 😏)

You can’t just instantly ‘toggle’.  There is a reconfiguration to be done for the surrounds to be bonded to the main HT speaker.  The bonded connection uses direct routing (i.e. peer-to-peer) for communication between the HT speaker and surrounds, and the Move or Roam are not designed to do direct routing.  

Sonos operates as an integrated system where speakers stay in constant touch.  The Roam and Move have been designed to connect and communicate only by WiFi, not SonosNet, and not by direct routing.  They are designed to be instantly removable without the system needing to reconfigure.  And this has to work for systems of thirty devices not just two.

But fundamentally this is about horses for courses.  Fixed speakers for surrounds. Portable speakers to be, well, portable.