I envision leaving the Roam (or pair of Roams) normally connected to the charging cables and only running off batteries the odd time I want portability (taking them out on the deck when I BBQ or possibly into the bathroom when I shower).
Can I play the speakers while they are connected for charging?
Can I leave them turned on all the time so they can be part of my home network the same as my Sonos Ones and Play:1s?
Best answer by James L.
I can confirm that you will be able to play music through the Roam while it’s charging, just like Move 
Yes.
Although since they haven’t started selling them yet, this is based on the behavior of the other battery powered Sonos speaker, the Move.
They can not be used as surround speakers, but can be left on all the time and part of your Sonos system. They connect to Wi-Fi, and not SonosNet.
It’s certainly possible to charge & play the Sonos ‘Move’ at the same time, so I don’t personally expect that the Roam will be any different to that portable device.
+17I can confirm that you will be able to play music through the Roam while it’s charging, just like Move
Hi
The Move site states it wouldn’t, but the Roam site doesn’t mention anything about it! Thanks
+17Hi
The Move site states it wouldn’t, but the Roam site doesn’t mention anything about it! Thanks
Leaving Roam on the charger should not degrade the battery life by any noticeable degree, just like Move 
If you do plan on using it this way, I’d recommend using the wireless charger for ease of connection and ensuring a constant low power trickle charge when connected.
Hi
The Move site states it wouldn’t, but the Roam site doesn’t mention anything about it! Thanks
Leaving Roam on the charger should not degrade the battery life by any noticeable degree, just like Move If you do plan on using it this way, I’d recommend using the wireless charger for ease of connection and ensuring a constant low power trickle charge when connected.
Hello James, you mentioned low power trickle - is this only available if I use the Sonos wireless charger or will it trickle charge with the cable connection? - I haven't bought the wireless charger but I intend to keep the roam plugged in and take out to garden when needed, so keen to not damage the battery through this.
+15Yes, was playing with my new Roam an hour ago. Definitely plays while charging.
I’ve had my roam sat on a belkin wireless charging pad when not in use. I wanted to check it’s fine to do this? Like others have said, mine will mainly be on charge in doors, apart from the odd bbq etc. One thing that has concerned me is I’ve noticed sometimes the orange charging light is on, other times it’s not. The base of the speaker also feels warm to touch when you pick it up from the charger.
I think the charging light goes out after 10 seconds. I have my two roams on the charger pads 24/7. They got warm when they were charging but now they are fully charged they have cooled down.
So sometimes there is no lights on the roam at all, other times the orange charging light comes on. I’m not using the Sonos wireless charger, just a generic Qi belkin charger. Wanted to check this will be all good?
The status light above the Sonos logo (white or blue) can be turned off via the Sonos App (at least the one on my Android phone).
The mic light may only be on if you have the assistant enabled and the mic button is on. Pressing the mic button will turn this light off and mute the mic.
The bottom charging light will go on for a bit then turn off. Removing my Roam from the Qi charger and placing back on will light up (orange/red) for a few seconds then goes out.
I can’t use the Roam while charging. The light turns orange when charging and the power button doesn’t do anything. Light stays orange and the Sonos app or Spotify can’t find the Roam either.
any ideas?
The only time I could not play my Roams while charging is when the batteries were mostly discharged. It took some time for the charge to come back up to a level where they played again. Any idea what your charge level was when you started charging?
Yeah not impressed so far with the Roam. I expected it to be as good as MOVE and other sonos products. First off it does not have anything close to 10 hrs of play time.. As the battery starts to die, plugging it in while playing the battery still dies. Once dead it will not play until after an hour or more of charging... with no music.. virtuall making it useless. I normally pull the MOVE outdoors or my bose that the Roam was supposed to replace. Totally disappointed thus far unless they can figure out this charger, fast battery drain issue.
Yeah not impressed so far with the Roam. I expected it to be as good as MOVE and other sonos products. First off it does not have anything close to 10 hrs of play time.. As the battery starts to die, plugging it in while playing the battery still dies. Once dead it will not play until after an hour or more of charging... with no music.. virtuall making it useless. I normally pull the MOVE outdoors or my bose that the Roam was supposed to replace. Totally disappointed thus far unless they can figure out this charger, fast battery drain issue.
Yeah, I’m also having the same problem with my Roam. Im using my 20W ipad charger while playing music, but the battery still goes down while charing. Very annoying -_-
Upon calling SONOS customer support they recommended the solution for this battery drain issue is to use a charging adapter with 10watts 5 volts which they do have available to purchase on their website for $19. It is backordered but I will try that out. They did say that has solved the problem on similar reported issues for the Roam. I would hope they would include this adapter in future orders. I'll update this post if that's the fix.
The reason they were able to keep the price so low is not including that charger. A large portion of the audience for these devices already have appropriately powered USB or Qi chargers. It would be wasteful to include them/charge for them for everyone.
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