Hi, I was having the same issue and spoke to someone at Sonos, it was because I was only putting it in sleep mode which still connects to WiFi and checks for updates etc so will drain the battery. Hold the off button for five seconds which will power it off. I did this last night and the battery was still on 99% this morning. Hope this helps. 

Consider yourself fortunate then. I fully powered mine off last Sunday and it had easily 2/3rds charge. Tried powering it on just now - completely dead. I’m going to re-test this but if it does the same again I’m tempted to send it back. It’s not what was described / advertised.

Annoyingly I had to migrate to Sonos S2 app to get it to work too…

Also anyone managed to get it to work with the Sonos App while out and about? It seems that this functionality and Alexa are confined to when you’re at home and connected to your WIFI only - bit of a shame that.

Sonos App = WiFI.  No Wifi -- use Bluetooth and your bluetooth device (phone) controls.  

Yet, per the documentation from Sonos, even in sleep mode, it should last UP TO 10 days.   Most people are not seeing anywhere near 10 days in sleep mode.   More like, up to 5 days.

Oh I didn't know that, no I got five days and used it for about an hour in total to play music. That's not great then. 

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 get that, obviously.

Stands to reason that you’d drop back to bluetooth and use your device controls - otherwise might as well call it the Sonos Stationery.

Still it would have been a nice capability nonetheless. The main job of playing music is ticked by bluetooth.

Anyone successfully returned Roam and received a refund?

I thought mine was defected as I was charging mine constantly!

Only to find out that there are other users that have the accelerated battery draining issue.

Totally unacceptable.

They finally posted my one star review. So I retract my previous statement. 

@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.

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. 

Same issue. Only used it a couple of times. Only played music for a couple of hours. Fully charged it, thought it was switched off, came to use it a few days later and it was completely dead. Takes ages to come back to life.

Also think it is really mean that it doesn’t come with a charging plug - finding one with the correct charge rate is virtually impossible. And it’s not made very clear that a standard USB will not charge this device.

Very disappointed - I think it might be going back...

Understand. When most people have issues, Sonos needs to get more responsive. Even if they just improve their communications would go a long way. 
 

After searching Sonos, you need the stronger 10-12Watt charger. I found solid source on Amazon that I also now use in iPhones for faster charging (Apple ok’s). 
 

This new update seems to have done nothing to help the issue. As a test I charged both my roams at the same time, enabled assistant on only one. That one is already down to 72% while the other is on 98

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?

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?

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.

Or paid for reviews

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. 

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

S2:

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

S1:

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/4941?

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.

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.