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AllanGR
Contributor I
April 21, 2021

Sonos Roam - Battery drain

Hi everyone, 

I received my Sonos Roam yesterday and I am quite concerned by the battery drain on standby mode.

My roam is losing about 10% every hour on standby, which brings us to 10hours but I was expecting 10 hours in playing mode.

Should I be concerned by those stats are it was the expected consumption?

Thank you 🙂!

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    278 replies

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    wrmy
    Contributor I
    May 14, 2021

    I’m having the same issue.  I own a JBL Charge 2+  and that speaker never has to be charged!  I am perplexed why the Roam drains when it is turned off. 

     

    GuitarSuperstar
    Lead Maestro
    May 14, 2021

    I’m having the same issue.  I own a JBL Charge 2+  and that speaker never has to be charged!  I am perplexed why the Roam drains when it is turned off. 

     

    Are you actually turning the Roam off by holding down the button on the back for five seconds until you hear a chime or are you just putting the Roam to sleep?

    "Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
    SteveLogan
    Lyricist I
    May 14, 2021

    Same here.  The battery drain is horrible.  While using it at mid volume it loses about 10% per hour.  When we close the app and stop streaming it'll be completely dead by next morning.  I just pulled a $50 Oontz speaker out of the drawer that hasn't been used in months and it's at 100% and will easily last several days of multi hour listening sessions before needing a charge.  What's the return policy on the Roam?

    zonosbonos
    Lyricist I
    May 15, 2021

    Same issue here with the Roam. Full charge to 100%. Listened to music for an hour and then turned to fully off, not standby (held down button for 5 seconds.) One day later I went to turn it on and battery was completely dead.

    Great experience when it’s got battery.

    Sonos needs a software update or a recall. This product is useless for its intended use. It’s a portable speaker with an “industry leading battery life.” If I need an additional power source to use this speaker reliably it’s going back to Sonos because I have no use for it.

    Hopefully there’s a solution because it’s a nice speaker when it works.

    SteveLogan
    Lyricist I
    May 15, 2021

    @JimmyJet77 I see that 10 of the 13 reviews for the Roam on Crutchfield are 4- and 5-star reviews. Seems like most Roam customers are satisfied.

    Or paid for reviews

    Airgetlam
    Airgetlam
    May 15, 2021

    I suppose that’s possible, but most ‘paid’ reviews tend not to be from United States companies. But it’s hard to be sure either way, so I always take reviews with a grain of salt, personally. And frankly, I find more value in negative reviews, as they better define what potential issues there are, and what I should research more before making a purchase. I do find it easier to separate bad reviews in to two camps…1) didn’t understand the product and how it was used and 2) understood, but still had issues. Usually there’s more of the former, and the latter are the gems I seek. 

    Bruce
    afcchris
    Contributor I
    May 16, 2021

    hi all. A software update was issued yesterday. I have installed it so let’s see what happens. Does anyone have a link to the info on software updates? does such a thing exist? Would love to know the official view on what was being fixed

    caesar327
    Prodigy I
    May 16, 2021

    hi all. A software update was issued yesterday. I have installed it so let’s see what happens. Does anyone have a link to the info on software updates? does such a thing exist? Would love to know the official view on what was being fixed

    The battery “drain” on the roam is not part of this update.   The issue is not actually the battery itself, but the way they designed the product to work in an existing Sonos environment.   The way its designed, if you keep the Roam in standby (sleep mode), it wakes up each and every time you use the Sonos app.  And I use the app constantly throughout the day for OTHER speakers.     That needs to change.

    Their should be an option to wake with the App every time, or wake specifically when you want to use the Roam.   The way it is now, I have to charge the Roam every 2 (maybe 3) days -- with only about an hours actual use.   Sure -- I could totally power down the Roam, but then I would have to physically engage with it to turn it back on (not acceptable for a Sonos speaker).

    So the best solution -- stop waking EVERY time you use the app.

    caesar327
    Prodigy I
    May 16, 2021

    There might be a software problem that causes battery drain issues, but it is exacerbated by uncommon power button functionality, a poor website, and poor communication.  Even the “essential guide to the roam” (https://blog.sonos.com/en-gb/guide-to-roam) doesn’t mention the standby/power functions.  I mean come on Sonos, it’s the essential guide, don’t you think it should mention the standby/off functionality and how to use it?

    The roam “setup” page doesn’t mention this functionality either: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/4994?language=en_US

     

    The official Roam product page doesn’t mention it either: https://www.sonos.com/en-us/shop/roam.html

     

    There is a “user guide” section in the official product page, but it just has a link which points to a broken page: https://www.sonos.com/support/en-us/sonos-user-guide/sonos-user-guide/roam/roam.htm

     

    The Sonos website is slow, the font is WAY TOO BIG, and it is hard to find information.  It took a very specific google search just to find the sonos article describing the power button functionality. https://support.sonos.com/s/article/5029?language=en_US

     

    Pressing once for sleep and 5 seconds for off is not intuitive (to me at least).   Especially since the Roam makes a sound and the lights go off when pressing it once.  To me, (and possibly every other human being) that means the device is off.   

     

    Edit: they should add in voice prompts like many other bluetooth speakers.  If you press the button once it should audibly say “Now entering sleep mode”.  When pressing it for 5 seconds it should say “powering off”. 

     

    I’ve spent 35 years design/mfg from nuclear, turbines, healthcare imaging, and microprocessing… I overwhelmingly agree with you. Let’s go Sonos… fix it ASAP. 

    The issue is not actually the battery itself, but the way they designed the product to work in an existing Sonos environment and also poor feedback on the power button for those who want to turn it all the way off.   The way its designed, if you keep the Roam in standby (sleep mode), it wakes up each and every time you use the Sonos app.  And I use the app constantly throughout the day for OTHER speakers.     That needs to change.

    There should be an option to wake with the App every time, or wake specifically when you want to use the Roam.   The way it is now, I have to charge the Roam every 2 (maybe 3) days -- with only about an hours actual use.   Sure -- I could totally power down the Roam, but then I would have to physically engage with it to turn it back on (not acceptable for a Sonos speaker).

    So the best solution -- an app solution to stop waking EVERY time you use the app; but allows you, via the app, to wake the Roam when you want to wake the Roam.

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