Hi @caesar327, this is by design, so that the Roam is ready to play when you open the app. I can certainly pass this on as a feature request, however for the time being your best choice to conserve battery when not in use, is to power off the Roam completely.

I’ll be sure to pass on your feedback regarding the Set Up & User Guide @thornen, it does seem that there’s been a bit of avoidable confusion regarding the power button functions on the Roam :)

To clarify, yes, we know the design intent to have the Roam always ready.  But that design doesn’t really work well in more complex Sonos environments (i.e. those users that have a house with Sonos speakers spread throughout).  Since users in that environment will likely use the app periodically throughout the day, but not necessarily wanting to use or activate the Roam each time.   As such, it causes the Roam to wake too often, for no reason, and drain the battery after only a couple of days or so.

While someone might say, well then just power the Roam off -- that’s not the correct answer.  For users with the Roam in a home environment (maybe kept in the bathroom and not near an outlet) - we want the Roam ready to use -- BUT ONLY when we want to use it (to avoid the power drain).   In other words, users should NOT have to physically engage with the Roam to power it on at home, but, at the same time, it shouldn’t turn on every time the app is opened (since then the Roam’s battery drains).

The answer is a software fix/option, whereby the user can decide to Wake up the Roam either:

1.  Every time the app is used (as it works now);  OR
2.  Only when the user wants to the Roam to wake (in other words, send the signal to the Roam based on user input specifically (not just every time the app is opened).  This would likely require an extra button click/interaction in the App -- but well worth it.

So how about this option in the App:   Wake Roam on Every App use   vs.  Wake Roam via App Manually

Does that clarify the issue and feature sought?

Yes, something to give us more control over sleep battery drain. I have 5 other Sonos devices on my network in addition to the Roam, and the Roam doesn’t need to wake up each time I use one of these (especially as the Beam is my TV sound). Nor does it need to wake whenever I foreground the Sonos app.

The only occasions when the Roam needs to wake is when I choose to play something on it. I’d be happy to wait a couple of secs for it to boot up. Certainly better than discovering that it has already drained the battery and won’t play anything.

Regards listening to calls to the voice assistant - it doesn’t need to be listening all the time. It could listen when I press a button - say the mic button switching the mic on at the same time. It’s a portable device one designed to be kept close or with you. I don’t need to be able to shout at it from across the other side of the room - like I can with the Beam.

Hi @caesar327 and @Plums  - I do understand the feature request and as mentioned I will be happy to pass that on for you :)

@Spewy so Sonos support told you to return the speaker and buy when it may be cheaper in a few months?… That seems like a really strange marketing strategy, likely to tick a lot of early adopters off.

Can anyone else confirm this?

I’m going to post this everywhere I can. The “auto turn on” feature is SO.DUMB.

Makes this product trash, basically. I’ll probably be returning it. 

Every other bluetooth speaker I’ve used before has auto-turn OFF. That makes 10000% more sense than auto-turn on. It would NOT be a big deal to turn my Roam on right before I want to use it. Who cares about a 2-second delay if your Roam is always dead !? 

That’s a bad assumption. My Roam sits in a bathroom on a shower shelf. No charger or outlet there. Since it’s waterproof, I think this is not an unusual use case.  

The problem is the wake from sleep mode when the app is used (even if using the app for OTHER Sonos speakers).  This was a mistake in design.  The app should allow the choice between always wake Roam vs wake Roam when I specifically want to wake the Roam - and supply a mechanism for doing so.  I assume this is an easy software fix.  Fix it!  

Here’s my issue with using a Qi wireless charger. When I put the Roam on the wireless charger, it’ll turn on (if it’s off) and starts charging. The issue is when it’s charged to 100%, the Qi wireless charger stops charging. Once it stops charging, it won’t charge again even as the Roam discharges itself for being turned on. That’s why every time I take it off the wireless charger it’s already dead.

I am not sure if that’s my wireless charger issue that it won’t re-charge the Roam as it was draining? Does the Sonos wireless charger behave the same?

So I woke up early and walked into my bathroom at 3 AM (everyone in the house had been asleep for HOURS).  Guess what, the Roam little white LED was on!  This means although no one had been using the Sonos App for many hours, the Roam somehow powered on from sleep mode.   Why would it do that?   This may explain why I’m seeing only 2 to 3 days (max) in sleep mode.    

Could it be activity in the app that doesn’t require user interaction (like music library index updating); checking for software updates -- also triggers the Roam to wake from sleep mode?

Possibly it’s renewing its DHCP leased IP address from your router, or checking for updates if you have that to set to auto-check overnight, perhaps?

It shouldn’t wakeup if you power it off, rather than use standby, but it will still lose some charge even in that state, as I understand it’s a lithium-ion rechargeable battery.

Thanks, I’m well aware of the sleep vs power off.  However, power off is not really a good answer/use case, where you want the Roam to be available as a speaker in your Sonos system, without having to physically interact with it.   The literature indicated sleep mode should give about 10 days, before needing a re-charge.  I’m seeing 2 or 3 (as I use the Sonos App for other speakers in my house).  I don't think anyone is seeing 10 days in real world use in sleep mode. 

I have suggested that Sonos address this issue, by allowing the user to choose when to wake the Roam from sleep mode (as opposed to the app itself doing so automatically, when the app is engaged).   In other words, there should be a separate toggle/button in the app to “Wake Roam now” -- so it doesn't happen EVERY time I use the app.

Has anyone received an update for this issue? 
thanks. 

Last update was 11th May, see this link for any new S2 App updates:

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3521

Nope.  No word on whether they are working on a fix so that use of the Sonos App doesn’t automatically wake the Roam.    All is silent.   My guess is that one day they (hopefully) will release an update that includes this.  Could be another 6 months or so, in order to complete QA/testing.   Or maybe they won’t do anything and consider the current state as how they want it to be?

I think the question was really whether Sonos is currently working on a fix.   The last App update did not include a fix for the Roam where it wakes every time you use the App.

I’ve returned my Roam. My family gave up using it since it was always dead from waking up.

@caesar327 had similar  expectations to you in terms of standby time.  
 

It’s a nice speaker but not really fit for my use case I suppose. 

Thanks. I’ll be sending mine back. Very disappointing. 

The battery life on the roam is absolutely terrible.  It might be light enough to roam with you but it can’t play music the full day.  

What was this latest update? Was it meant to help?

I have heard someone say take it off wifi and just use it via bluetooth but I can’t see this option.

Very disappointing product.

Couple of reports about better battery life, couldn’t tell you though I returned mine, not interested in Beta testing 

https://reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/nrtddx/it_looks_like_the_1311_update_fixed_battery_drain/

I am so frustrated after living all of my other sonos devices.  I dont want it to sleep, i want it to be off inless i turn it on.  Ive tried to use it twice after fully charging, thinking im switching off and then leaving until I want it. So far its had zero use as has never had charge when ive needed it.  Totally useless given its purpose.  I have a £100 sony speaker tgat works perfectly and just as i expect to use it.  It even keeps a charge !  Hoping sonos come up with an update that actually switches it off.

I feel exactly the same.  Each time I’ve wanted to take it somewhere it has no charge.  What a flawed design to come on when you open the app.  Why would I want the roam to come on when I’m watching TV with the Arc, Sub and One’s?  Its a portable speaker and there is no need for it to turn on!!

If you want to turn it off, hold down the button on the back for five seconds until you hear a chime. I always turn off my Roam when I’m not using it and it keeps the battery charged for anytime I need it.

If you hold the power button for 5 seconds the power light will go off and the Roam will shut off.  Open the Sonos app and click “System” and it should show the Roam as “Offline.”  If the Roam turned back on when you opened the app, you likely did not hold the power button long enough.  I charged my Roam yesterday and powered it off and turned I back on 24 hours later and was still at 100%…..Before I figured this out I was losing 25% of the battery charge per day.

I have the same issue as everyone here regarding power and battery life.  Another annoying ´feature´ is that it seems I have to plug it in to get the system to actually find it, otherwise the system tells me it’s offline.  Great sounding product, but I’m considering returning because of these design flaws.