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Question

Sonos roam with apple charger

  • January 12, 2026
  • 9 replies
  • 108 views
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I’ve had my Sonos Roam SL for a few years now and surprisingly with no issues just minor quirks. Well, over the holidays I bought the dual port compact 35W Apple charger, and started experiencing some weird behavior. When I plug in the cable (I’ve tried a few genuine Apple USB-C-USB-C cables with the same result), the Roam continuously flashes orange. In the app, the Roam also shows a flashing charging symbol in sync with the flashing light. Interestingly, the Roam still charges to 100% eventually, but it keeps flashing the entire time. Most annoying of all though, is that if I turn the Roam off after plugging it in, it soon turns itself back on, as it would if you were to plug it in when it is turned off. So the power supply to the Roam just seems to be cycling with the dual port charger...

My first thought was that it could be a counterfeit charger, but it appears to be a genuine Apple charger. It is rated for 5V/3A, among others, and is quite clearly USB PD rated. Until now, I’ve kept it charged with the single port 20W Apple USB-C charger, and in fact, every other charger I’ve tried until this one, has shown normal charging behavior. 

I’m curious if anyone else has had a similar experience with the dual port Apple charger, or if this is one of those every-Roam-is-built-different kind of situations. 

Thanks!

9 replies

Airgetlam
  • Airgetlam
  • January 13, 2026

It shouldn’t be ‘different’. Generally speaking, the Roam should be identifying its charging requirements back to the charger, at least as I understand charging via USB-C. And your charger certainly meets the requirements as suggested by Sonos. It makes me wonder if there are issues with the charger. I found out last week my Anker Charger didn’t work properly on USB - A but the two USB-C ports work fine. It points to an issue with the charger (hmmm. Need to test more cables, though…but that cable works fine on an ‘older’ Anker charger with USB-A only). Which makes me wonder if perhaps you have a faulty ‘charger’. Might be worth ‘charging’ your device and during the process, submitting a system diagnostic and calling in to see if there’s anything in the report that points to a charger failure. I’d be tempted to try that other charger too. 

Bruce
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  • wanthony
  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • January 21, 2026

 

It shouldn’t be ‘different’. Generally speaking, the Roam should be identifying its charging requirements back to the charger, at least as I understand charging via USB-C. And your charger certainly meets the requirements as suggested by Sonos. It makes me wonder if there are issues with the charger. I found out last week my Anker Charger didn’t work properly on USB - A but the two USB-C ports work fine. It points to an issue with the charger (hmmm. Need to test more cables, though…but that cable works fine on an ‘older’ Anker charger with USB-A only). Which makes me wonder if perhaps you have a faulty ‘charger’. Might be worth ‘charging’ your device and during the process, submitting a system diagnostic and calling in to see if there’s anything in the report that points to a charger failure. I’d be tempted to try that other charger too. 

 

I would definitely be inclined to agree with you, although the Roam isn’t known for being a flawless product either…

In any case I was at Wally World and saw they had a Scosche Dual USB-C charger for about half the price of the apple, so I brought that home and sure enough it works perfectly fine. I’ll order another Apple charger and see if it rules itself out. 

    Airgetlam
    • Airgetlam
    • January 21, 2026

    Where is Wally World? I’ve only known this as a movie reference….

    Bruce
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    • wanthony
    • Author
    • Contributor I
    • January 26, 2026

    Where is Wally World? I’ve only known this as a movie reference….

    Wal-mart!

    Well the second Apple Dual Charger came in, and sure enough it’s giving me the same issue. So either my Roam is being picky or there is some sort of incompatibility across the whole lineup. If anyone reading this in the future charges their Roam with the Apple 35W Dual charger please share if you have any issues! Until then...

      K
      • karljn
      • Lyricist I
      • February 7, 2026

      Having the same issue on my Roam and Apple 35W dual charger. It charges fine on the Apple 20W charger and Sonos USB charger. 

      Airgetlam
      • Airgetlam
      • February 7, 2026

      Have you checked to see if this Apple charger works on other devices? One of my Anker chargers has one dead ‘side’ for USB-A charging, but the USB-C side works fine. 

       

      Bruce
      K
      • karljn
      • Lyricist I
      • February 7, 2026

      Yes, this charger works normally on other devices. 

        Schlumpf
        Forum|alt.badge.img+18
        • Schlumpf
        • Virtuoso
        • February 7, 2026

        I don’t know, if it fits to that problem… but since Sonos January update my Roam2 also shows charging issues. But using the original Sonos wireless charger with Sonos USB charger. 
        After putting Roam2 fully charged on the wireless charger the app shows the charging symbol as usual, but the next day the battery is drained and the battery led constantly shows orange light. Sonos App also shows „empty battery“. 
        Charging via USB C (using the same Sonos charger an also Apple 20W charger works as normal). 
        So maybe there’s a software issue when charging with a certain power that a charger delivers!? Just a suspicion. 

        Ralf
        Airgetlam
        • Airgetlam
        • February 7, 2026

        I would probably call Sonos Support to discuss it. It’s unlikely the public here in the forum has an answer, and the data you provide in a call might be extremely useful in tracking down what is occurring.

         

        Bruce
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