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 
!
My Roam loses all battery power in one week when fully off. That is absurd! 10 hours of use? Never!
My Roam loses all battery power in one week when fully off. That is absurd! 10 hours of use? Never!
This is very unlikely. If the Roam is shut off completely, you should only be losing 1%-2% of battery charge per day. You are probably putting the Roam to sleep/standby mode which allows the battery to continue to drain when not in use and for the Roam to wake up anytime you access the Sonos app. Shut off the Roam completely by pressing and holding down the power button for 5 seconds until you hear a chime.
I also find that it drains when fully turned off.
Mine is going fine, and seems to last days/weeks between charges when not used much - but I do have trueplay turned off which turns off the mic. Not sure if that’s related. When I take it somewhere different I just turn trueplay back on for 5 or 10 mins and all good.
Same issue here. I am UTTERLY disappointed with the battery life.... Shame on you SONOS
I guess the battery is drained calling msmetrics.ws.sonos.com every 5 min....
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
Thinking again about this the solution would be for Sonos to make it easier and quicker to fully power off then back on. Is it possible to achieve with the existing hardware?
I don’t find it all that difficult to hold-in the power button for 5 seconds to shut the Roam down and a simple press on the same button quickly brings it back online.
When at Home, I find it easier to leave the Roam sat on a Qi charger and to pick it up ‘charged’ when needed elsewhere. If ‘out and about’ and the Roam is not being used for lengthy periods, perhaps with no access to charging, then I would power it off, but that would probably be quite a rare event in my own use-case.
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!
All lithium-ion batteries will lose some charge, even when a device is fully powered off. It very much sounds like yours however is in ‘sleep mode’, rather than the ‘off’ state, or it’s faulty and operating outside of normal conditions.
My 2 Roams lose about 1% or 2% per day in their fully powered off state.
You should maybe contact or chat to Sonos Support - that can be done via this LINK.
T
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.
Sonos really need to listen to the above. I'm very disappointed with my roams battery life. When you switch something off it mean off and ready for your next use. Not get very frustrated with something you have to charge every time before you use it. Sonos you have the smarts to do this. Get your software people to do some changes and update this before it to late.
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.
I have two Roams and I am just a customer, the same as you, and the Roam’s here each take 2hrs 15mins to charge to a full state with a 5v 3A charger - they play for 11+ hours continuously on one charge and if powered off (fully), they lose only one or two percent battery/charge per day - that has been my personal experience and is the case for both devices.
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.
So that’s been my personal experience.
I cannot help the case where users perhaps ‘may’ not understand the difference between the ‘sleep’ and the ‘powered off’ state - I was aware of that as a ‘Sonos Move’ user, but the two modes are clearly stated in the Product tour that is presented to every user after the install of the product.
Yes I’m in agreement with what
I’m not here defending Sonos, I really do think that what
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.
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).
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.
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.
Managed to get mine working for my requirement by adding a 10,000 mAh power bank with a short braided cable. It is in the bathroom and was only lasting a few days due to waking up when another part of the Sonos was in use via the app. Not an ideal solution but means I only have to charge it once a week assuming everyone remembers to do the short button press after use rather than using Alexa. The wife and children are not able / willing to do the full power off which I can understand - it is a pain when you are rushing to get ready in the morning and difficult for the very young. Please Sonos, add a do not wake up Roam when using app option. You are penalising your most loyal users - those that have Sonos in many other rooms.
I don’t think this would help greatly, as when a Roam is woken up by the S2 App on the LAN, the device is only fully awake for 3 minutes, if not used, then it returns to sleep mode - so you might save half hours worth of battery over an 8 hour period perhaps?
In general, whilst in sleep mode the Roam’s WiFi remains connected to the network anyway for playback, IP address renewal, updates etc; So the only real way to save battery is to switch the device off completely.
In our case the Bathroom/Shower is next to our Bedroom, so I just leave the Roam on a Qi charger pad and carry it in/out to the Bathroom and use SoundSwap to move the audio to the speakers in the Bedroom and vice versa.
I think switching off the wake-up option when the Sonos App opens, is not going to have any huge impact on battery life.
Sonos just released the 13.3 update today, and it’s supposed to improve the Roam’s power management to help extend the battery life when it’s not actively being used.
Roam battery sucks! I’m experiencing the same issues, so I contacted technical support. After days of testing which actually took weeks, ultimately Sonos Support determined that the diagnostics I submitted showed nothing was wrong. They literally told me there was NOT a problem..Ummm how about the fact that the Roam dies in 4 days on sleep/ standby mode and it is supposed to last 10 days. THEY DON”T CARE that their product doesn’t work as advertised. Someone needs to sue them and get their attention for false advertising.
On my side, it’s over. The roam is now back at Best Buy. Having to always to turn off the roam to save the small battery life was not acceptable to me. And 10 hours of use with the volume at 50% is really not something that we should get from a portable speaker in 2021. Back to my old Bose Soundlink Mini 2 now. It’s still performing well and it’s giving me more than 10 hours on a single charge. Not bad for a 5 years old speaker. I wanted an Airplay portable speaker, but it won’t be this time.
I think to have a WAKE UP option will be much better but tbh I’m okay with powering it on/off every time before/after the shower.
+4
Finally had a proper play and was very confused by how I couldn’t even keep the device powered off to save battery.
Understood, I’ll keep an eye on it. This information is very helpful. Many thanks.
But they didn’t fix the one thing that will REALLY help extend battery life in sleep mode. Simply using the Sonos App for other speakers should NOT wake your Roam from sleep mode. It still does with 13.3.
The App should only wake the Roam from sleep, when you want to actively use the Roam, to either play by itself or group with other speakers. Now, it wakes regardless. So simply checking your music library or using any other Sonos speakers wastes Roam’s battery. (How hard would it be to put in a software selection in the App -- “Wake My Roam”)?
So I’m in my office all day, using my app to control my office Sonos speakers -- it wakes the Roam constantly. This is THE biggest problem -- not fixed.
I know Sonos thinks that it is a feature (it isn’t, it’s a bug).
Sure, I could power it OFF completely. Then I have to go upstairs and physically use the power button to turn it back on. Not an ideal solution.
If Sonos added a “Wake My Roam” feature, wouldn’t this add an extra step for users who want the Roam to wake up automatically from sleep mode when they use the app?
Perhaps -- but it seems like saving the battery power is a more important issue than users having to take one more simple step in software.
And I don’t know of any users clamoring for this “feature” -- where Roam wakes automatically upon ANY opening of the App. It seems like a “feature” designed by a marketing person for those users with ONLY Roams, and not a more complex system. Yet Sonos is designed to be a whole home system, not just a Roam system. So configuring/playing other speakers (not just Roam) is certainly a normal use case.
I’ve had mine a month now and as long as I remember to completely remember to power it off it loses very little battery life.
On my side, it’s over. The roam is now back at Best Buy. Having to always to turn off the roam to save the small battery life was not acceptable to me. And 10 hours of use with the volume at 50% is really not something that we should get from a portable speaker in 2021. Back to my old Bose Soundlink Mini 2 now. It’s still performing well and it’s giving me more than 10 hours on a single charge. Not bad for a 5 years old speaker. I wanted an Airplay portable speaker, but it won’t be this time.
I can’t believe some of the comments on this post lately. It takes 1 second to press the button and turn it off!! Omg...come on guys...
The issue is that is a solution to a unnecessary problem (see almost any other portable speaker on the market, most coming in much cheaper than the Roam) especially when many feel that the battery life was going to be one of the features of the product and not a drawback. As of right now, it’s a drawback.
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