Contributor I

Sonos Roam - Battery drain

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
April 21, 2021
278 replies
49418 views

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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Ken_Griffiths

@DuranDoranMartell You make some valid points, but the majority of users who are experiencing problems with the Roam’s battery are not shutting it off completely or they aren’t using the right charger. If they make these two simple adjustments, it will greatly improve their user experience with the Roam.

Yes I’m in agreement with what @GuitarSuperstar says in his post here.

I’m not here defending Sonos, I really do think that what @GuitarSuperstar mentions is the truth of the matter and I’m just trying to suggest things to hopefully try to help other Roam users.

The charger that some use, can often be at the centre of the charging frustrations and the other is perhaps a misunderstanding of the difference between ‘sleep’ and ‘standby’ .. if, after exploring those things, the problem persists, then it’s clearly time to then contact Sonos Support Staff and discuss the matter with them.

Bumper

Not an issue of charging. The issue is the battery drains even if the Roam is turned off! Must permanently be connected to a charger!

I had this issue as well. I returned it. May buy again once it’s out of beta testing LOL.

C

chaskinsnc

Lyricist II

I can appreciate the comments. That is definitely a factor in my case and not understanding proper use of power down and sleep mode. I will work on that. Next disappointment I cannot fix is that it does not work with my legacy Sonos speakers. Any work arounds? I am not giving up on the 6 speakers and amp currently in use. #sonosfan

Ken_Griffiths

I can appreciate the comments. That is definitely a factor in my case and not understanding proper use of power down and sleep mode. I will work on that. Next disappointment I cannot fix is that it does not work with my legacy Sonos speakers. Any work arounds? I am not giving up on the 6 speakers and amp currently in use. #sonosfan

The only way I know of to do that, is if you have an iOS controller device, rather than Android and are happy to put an AirPlay capable Sonos device into the S1 HH and group it with the S1 devices - Then (Air)play the same stream to that device and the Roam at the same time via iOS.

C

chaskinsnc

Lyricist II

I retract my statement. Charged all night and team for 2 hours before power failure. Multiple Bluetooth connection issues with iOS 14.6. Will call support but probably returning it unless they can solve this.

C

caesar327

Prodigy I

Every time I pick up my Sonos roam and arrive at my destination, it has no power and we have to wait 30 minutes of charging just to get connectivity. It does not work with my older Sonos ecosystem and is a big disappointment. Not sure I can return it at this point to Best Buy. I would have been better off getting the JBL speaker. #dissappointedSonosFAN #batteryissues

Sounds like the charger power output is perhaps too low try 5v/3A (15w) unshared power output (not input) and see if that works for you.

Dear Ken Griffiths,

There are 7 pages of comments here from diverse commenters about the disappointing battery life of the Roam. Most of us are Sonos fans and were enthusiastic enough to buy this product on release.

I can't help feel your comments are gaslighting. "It's not Sonos, it's us. We aren't turning it off correctly. We aren't using the right charger".

Your help and advice is much appreciated but, please don't diminish the issue. Sonos needs to address these concerns- this is a user-experience issue as well as a hardware issue.

If we can't figure out how to turn it off, that a design flaw.

If its not reliable on outdoor journeys, then it's not fit for purpose.

In standby/sleep mode they will lose some power as the WiFi adapter network connection is in use for the WOL packets and the devices will wake up if the S2 App is opened on the LAN (NB: if the Roam is not used under those circumstances, it falls back to sleep within a few minutes).

If the speaker is used/operated, then it will fall into sleep mode after 30 mins of inactivity. Same as the Sonos Move.

But the issue with sleep mode is that using the App wakes the Roam, even when you are NOT using the Roam. AND if you are using the App fairly regularly -- as I do when choosing from my music library, the sleep mode ends up being useless, since even though you aren’t using the Roam, by using the App, the Roam drains in 2 days or so in sleep mode. Powering it down completely isn’t as convenient and isn’t a good answer. Sleep mode does NOT last 10 days (as the spec say), unless you do not have any other Sonos speakers that you engage with regularly.

This has to be changed. And seems easy to do via software (i.e. wake Roam now). I should be able to use sleep mode as intended, but still have a robust Sonos system that I engage with numerous times throughout the day. Otherwise, sleep mode is essentially irrelevant for Sonos’ best customers (those with larger, more robust systems that they interact with via the app a lot).

Ken_Griffiths

Carsar326,

I’ve no issue with a ‘feature request’ for a ‘no wake’ feature when the S2 App is launched. I just want a toggle switch if that ever does happen so that the Roam will continue to work here whenever it is needed.

One option at the moment is to perhaps leave the Roam on a Qi, or USB, charger pad when only used very occasionally, that’s IF you don’t wish to switch it off completely, either way the Roam should then stay charged and ready-to-use indoors, or out.

C

caesar327

Prodigy I

Carsar326,

I’ve no issue with a ‘feature request’ for a ‘no wake’ feature when the S2 App is launched. I just want a toggle switch if that ever does happen so that the Roam will continue to work here whenever it is needed.

One option at the moment is to perhaps leave the Roam on a Qi, or USB, charger pad when only used very occasionally, that’s IF you don’t wish to switch it off completely, either way the Roam should then stay charged and ready-to-use indoors, or out.

Its in a bathroom shower on a ledge, no power nearby. So that won’t work. Yes, the software feature should allow someone to choose to wake/use the Roam or not when the app is engaged -- NOT every time the app is engaged. The few seconds to do so, shouldn’t matter.

G

gizmosis

Lyricist I

This device is pretty trash. It does not hold a charge.

Power it off, completely (not sleep mode), the next morning it’s red LED is on for low battery. How is that even possible?

Get more battery juice if you put it into sleep mode instead. That’s completely ridiculous.

This thing is a joke of a smart speaker and a waste of $200.

Ken_Griffiths

This device is pretty trash. It does not hold a charge.

Power it off, completely (not sleep mode), the next morning it’s red LED is on for low battery. How is that even possible?

Get more battery juice if you put it into sleep mode instead. That’s completely ridiculous.

This thing is a joke of a smart speaker and a waste of $200.

I suspect you either did not fully power off the Roam, or your charger/Roam is possibly faulty. I powered off the Roam on Thursday night and went away from home until 4pm on Monday.

On return home I powered the Roam back on and it was still fully charged. It was off its charger and unused for approx. 88 hours over the long weekend period, not left in sleep mode.

I would perhaps contact Sonos Support, if you are certain it was fully ‘powered off’ (not asleep) and that your Roam lost virtually all of its full-charge overnight.

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