Sonos Roam seems completely dead - no LEDs at all

Lithium batteries are a pain. If they are fully discharged, there can be a fire hazard when connected to a charger. As a precaution, the batteries are locked out after being discharged too far. This is true for all products, not just SONOS.

In general, a product using Lithium batteries should not be allowed fully discharge. I keep track of my Lithium products and If I’m not using them regularly, I’ll make a point of charging them occasionally in order to prevent the lockout.

Thanks for your feedback. That worked and brought it back to life right away. Why is that not described anywhere? Thanks so much again.

I ran into this problem as well; all of the information in this string was very helpful in getting me back on track.  The key appears to be being patient after the dead unit has been plugged back in to wait for it to “wake up”.  I plugged mine in for two hours, then did the 15 second power button hold (suggested by Buzz).  Eventually, I saw the orange light illuminate and within another hour or so, the Roam became findable on my Sonos app.  I let it continue charging overnight, and this morning, it appears to be good to go.  Again, patience appears to be the key.

It would be REALLY nice if Sonos mentioned this issue about Roam (in materials included with the product, which are very annoyingly limited) and offered some easily accessible guidelines regarding how to resolve the problem for owners who encounter it. I was lucky to have found the “Sonos Community” which I will keep in mind as/if I encounter other issues with my Sonos products.

One of my Roams has always had a problem holding its charge. It finally died. My other Roam seemed to happily sleep and so preserve its battery. The now dead one always seemed to be needing charge every time I wanted to use it. 

Problem is I could go days or a week without using either. One was happy. One was always flat. With hindsight I should have raised a support issue back then. 

Eventually the problematic one refused to charge. Raised a support ticket which made a few suggestions- most of which were impractical as involved things like ‘hold down the power button until you hear the tone’. Well that only works if it is already on. Mine was totally unresponsive. No lights no tones.  It was under warranty so was replace
 

I think the lesson learned is use the Roam frequently or at least wake it up every couple of days to check the battery is not too low. Not sure why one coped with being left and one didn’t. Maybe just a poor batch of batteries or a faulty charging circuit and I got unlucky on one. 


 

I had same problem, what a total waste of money. It was draining even though using the magnetic charger on my desk. 

I hardly used it but the first time I wanted to again it was dead. I contacted support but it was 1 day out of warranty, 1 day! They said they would see what they could do and get back to me but never heard from them again. Definitely won’t be buying any more Sonos products. I have a Bose portable speaker I’ve had for 8 years and not used frequently but works like a charm every time I need it to. 

That’s harsh (and unlucky). Whilst I was fortunately in warranty to RMA it, the returns experience was awful. I am in UK which you imagine may be a fair sized installed base, but I had to ship it to Poland. Got stuck in customs for ages (for a dead piece of electronics) and required a ton of emails to try to get it unstuck. For a company of Sonos’s size I would have expected a logistics hub in the UK even if they have to ship it to Poland for repair. 

This, and my problems with a ‘next to useless’ 5 year old Connect:Amp, means my love affair with Sonos is over. Shame. It was fun while it lasted.   

I bought 2 x Sonos Roams & charging bases for each 2 and a bit years ago and Sonos suggests that leaving the Roams on the charging bases does not harm the battery, however both have now stopped working at the same time and it seems that the internal batteries are dead and the Roams are now only good for scrap. That is in absolute waste on $900 and terrible on the environment. Does Sonos really not offer a solution to this? Do the Sonos Roams really have such a limited life expectancy?

Same here, brand new Roam that has been used one time and sat for a few months. Plugged in and would not charge or have amber light to come on. Was going to box up and send back and saw this post. Held power button down for 20 sec. and kept is held down and plugged in power cord and boom, amber light came on. So, charging now and lets see what happens. Will update in an hour or so.

Hi. I’ve recently have had my Roam experience the same issues. No lights… except when it is plugged in, I get an amber one. I have tried charging it and rebooting while plugged in and not plugged in. I have had NO luck getting a white light. Is this a battery issue, and if so, I assume there’s nothing I can do? Any thoughts/help is appreciated.

Went through the same issue with my newer roam just after warranty expired…all they offered was a 30% discount on a replacement, what a joke. Now my older one has the same issue. I was a Sonos dealer and dropped the product line because their customer support was terrible. It has only gotten worse and more so with the latest app update. Really disappointed in their product and glad I am no longer selling it!

Definitely battery…see it an a regular basis now.

As an ex dealer… no they do not offer any support for this battery issue and it is a very big problem. Sonos Roams are expensive for what they are and when you use them as instructed they do not last! Do yourself a favour and for your portable speakers by another brand!