Enthusiast I

Some Musings on Roam

18 replies
483 views

I recently received my Roam and fired it up. Sound is good for what it is, no complaints there.

However I have to add my voice to the increasing complaints of the device turning itself on whenever the Sonos app is accessed, which subsequently drains the battery rendering it unusable until battery is charged for about 5 minutes (maybe more).

Advice of “just leave it on the charger” doesn’t work because it doesn’t come with the charger!!!! Said charger costs extra and is of course out of stock currently. Moreover, a simple phone charger (which charges my equally-if-not-more-capable Bose Soundlink Mini) charges the Roam at a snail’s pace!

Sonos you’ve dropped a bit of a clanger here - I would absolutely recommend a) not selling this device without its native charging dock b) NOT having the device turn itself on whenever the app is accessed.

I think a software update is needed quickly to prevent the above.

Lastly, turning the roam on and off requires placing equal pressure on the front grille to press the button. The grill seems somewhat fragile and I suspect this may indent after some time. We shall see.

Sonos Roam

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Schlumpf

Virtuoso

@chrisOV

You have to use an usb charger with minimum 1,5 W or better 2,1 W with the isb c cable. With this roam will charge also being in use.
If you like to have roam completely powered off you have to hold the power button for about 5 seconds until you hear the third chime.
It will only turn on again by pressing the power button or reconecting it to a power source.
Just opening the app won’t turn it on like it does from standby mode.

Ralf

C

caesar327

Prodigy I

@chrisOV

You have to use an usb charger with minimum 1,5 W or better 2,1 W with the isb c cable. With this roam will charge also being in use.
If you like to have roam completely powered off you have to hold the power button for about 5 seconds until you hear the third chime.
It will only turn on again by pressing the power button or reconecting it to a power source.
Just opening the app won’t turn it on like it does from standby mode.

The whole app thing always waking it though seems like a mistake. Since if you want to keep the Roam potentially available while in sleep mode, but not constantly on a charger, and you have a Sonos system with other speakers that you interact with regularly, it will eventually drain the Roams battery prematurely. There has to be a better way - such as an “allow access to Roam button” - or something similar so that just using the app for other speakers doesn’t always wake the Roam unless you specifically want to target/use the Roam. There has to be a better engineering software solution than unnecessarily waking a product you have no intention to use. That itself seems like a kluge. Put in a wake Roam software button - how hard is that? With an option to always wake for those who want that.

The way it works now it’s as if the engineers assumed the primary use would be keep it on a charger till leave the house with the Roam in hand. But what about the many people who want to primarily leave it in the bathroom or the shower itself. Without ready access there to a charger?

Bumper

Yeah that’s a good idea @caesar327 - we should be able to wake the roam on demand, but simply opening the app should not do this when not connected to power. Make it user configurable if necessary.

Schlumpf

Virtuoso

For the moment if waking up by opening the app is not wanted you just can turn the roam off instead of using standby mode.
Waking up by opening the app as a optional funktion for each mobile speaker in the system or as a general option for all mobile speakers would be nice.

Ralf

C

chrisOVAuthor

Enthusiast I

I think also the fact they don’t supply the charger which is so critical to performance as the Roam is currently designed with the device is also a mistake. If the device is so reliant on being docked to perform reliably, said dock should be in the box. (Or at the very least a power brick!)

C

caesar327

Prodigy I

I also noticed this morning- after charging to 100% last nite - and no use after charging of either the Roam or my Sonos system at all - it was at 91% in the morning. So it lost almost 10% of battery doing NOTHING!!.

C

caesar327

Prodigy I

For the moment if waking up by opening the app is not wanted you just can turn the roam off instead of using standby mode.
Waking up by opening the app as a optional funktion for each mobile speaker in the system or as a general option for all mobile speakers would be nice.

Waking on demand is wanted. Just not every time you interact with Sonos.

melvimbe

I think also the fact they don’t supply the charger which is so critical to performance as the Roam is currently designed with the device is also a mistake. If the device is so reliant on being docked to perform reliably, said dock should be in the box. (Or at the very least a power brick!)

IMO, it’s understandable that they did not supply the wireless charger. That surely would have added another $20 minimum to the price, and not something everyone would use since it requires keeping the speaker in the vertical position, or they already have a wireless charger they want to use.

I was surprised that they didn’t include a charging block along with the cable, since that couldn’t have been more than $5 to make. I would guess it’s not included so that products didn’t have to packaged with the right block depending on the different electrical standards around the world. Provide that was a big cost savings. I have dozens of spare blocks, so wasn’t a problem, but it would be nice to have something color matched that had optimal charging.

Danny

James L.

Retired Community Staff

I think also the fact they don’t supply the charger which is so critical to performance as the Roam is currently designed with the device is also a mistake. If the device is so reliant on being docked to perform reliably, said dock should be in the box. (Or at the very least a power brick!)

Roam is compatible many USB power adapters, but for the best experience, we recommend using a 10W (5V/2.1A) USB power adapter. Many customers already have several compatible USB wall plugs at home that come with devices such a phones and tablets, so, as the industry moves to reduce e-waste, a Sonos first-party power adapter or a magnetic wireless charger are available as optional accessories.

Sonos you’ve dropped a bit of a clanger here - I would absolutely recommend a) not selling this device without its native charging dock b) NOT having the device turn itself on whenever the app is accessed.

Your feedback on the way Roam handles the app being foregrounded is noted and passed on to our development team for consideration.

Lastly, turning the roam on and off requires placing equal pressure on the front grille to press the button. The grill seems somewhat fragile and I suspect this may indent after some time. We shall see.

I don’t think this will be too much of an issue - the grille is designed to be durable and tough enough to withstand bumps and presses. Should anything happen to it during normal use, our technical support team will be able to advise on replacement options, though I don’t think an issue would be likely in the scenario you mentioned. :slight_smile:

Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.

Schlumpf

Virtuoso

@melvimbe

You also can use the wireless charger with roam in horizontal position, because it fits magneticaly. Sonos officialy mentiones this as a feature. ;-)

Ralf

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