Yep, I'm seeing this too. My Roam seems to always be low on battery when I grab it to listen to, which is extremely disappointing when people come over unexpectedly and we just want to put some tunes on in the garden. If a fix isn't released for this I'll be making a claim under the warranty. 

Same issues of very poor battery life on standby.

Sonos, you need to both acknowledge and fix this issue ASAP and respect your customers. There is a CLEAR issue and it needs to be addressed.

Interesting that none of the 'reviewers' (paid, influencers etc) experienced these real world issues!

Might be time to post my own YouTube 1 month test experiences.

Alternatively perhaps you need to start supplying this not-fit-for-purpose product with a wireless charging Dock as standard! Or at least retrospectively for customers who are experiencing these common issues.

I too may just consider returning it. 

Just echoing what everyone else is experiencing.

I got my Roam two days ago and yesterday I was surprised that the battery was down to 10% when it had just been on standby during the day and I was sure that the battery level was 100% when I disconnected the charger. 

Today I did a couple quick battery checks while using it and when I’ve had it on standby. I started on 100% when I took the speaker off the charger.

1. Played music, volume around 30%, for 30 minutes, the battery indicator still showed 98%. 
2. Stopped the music, put the speaker on standby (I assume that’s what’s happening when you stop playing music).
3. Checked the battery level 1 hour later, it had dropped to 91%.
4. Checked several times during the next hour with the speaker on standby, during this time the battery just dropped 1% down to 90%.
5. Came back after additional 2 hours of standby, now the battery was down to 84%. 

So the battery consumption while playing music is less, or at least equal, to the battery drain when the speaker is idle and on standby. Also the battery drain on standby appear to come in waves, it’s not an even drain, at least not for me.

Just during the 12 minutes it took me to write this (with the speaker on standby) the battery dropped from 84% to 82%, that’s equivalent of 10% per hour.

I’ve got Google Assistant turned on (and I won’t disable it.  )

This is my first Sonos purchase and introduction to the Sonos line of products. I have to say, I’m kind of disappointed.

I’m experiencing all of the same battery drain issues everyone else is experiencing.

A family member has a Move and Roam and told me that he said the battery drain via Airplay isn’t as bad on the Move. I’ve been trying this on the Roam on Airplay and noticed that the battery drain isn’t as awful. However, isn’t that the selling point of the device is that it’s a portable Sonos bluetooth speaker? It’s awful that I can only really enjoy the speaker in Airplay mode without it draining insanely fast.

Plus, I’m using Airplay via a laptop through the Spotify Desktop app...so, if I try to adjust the volume from my keyboard, it doesn’t work (i.e. it will adjust my laptop volume). I need to click back to the app every time to adjust volume on the Roam, which is a pain. I can go into “preferences” and set my audio output to Sonos Roam via Airplay, but it’s really buggy, very delayed in responsiveness (if it works at all), and defeats the purpose of using the “Connect A Device” feature in Spotify. Not sure if the latter part is a Spotify issue or Roam issue, but either way..I wouldn’t have to deal with this if I could simply connect via Bluetooth without drainage issues.

Also, why can’t I see the Roams charging percentage if I turn the device off completely? I get the device needs to be recognize by the app in order to locate the device to give you battery percentage, understood there...but if I have the Roam on my wireless charger, there’s no constant indicator light on the device itself that shows when it’s charging (orange) and when it’s completed (green). That seems like the simplest of functions. Instead, I need to turn the device back on (because we have to turn it off due to battery drain) just to see the percentage?

On top of it, the wireless charging dock has sometimes been a bit buggy too. For example, the Roam won’t show it’s charging in the app if it’s sitting right on the charger.

I was highly considering getting a home system from Sonos but after this experience, I’m not so sure.

Is it worth getting the Ones, Arc/Beam, Five, and/or Sub -OR- are these products just as buggy. Is it all smoke-and-mirrors?

 

Someone on Reddit claimed that the battery life is better on Bluetooth when Wi-Fi isn’t connected? This is because Wi-Fi uses more battery power than Bluetooth does - can anyone prove or confirm this?

If the Roam is connected via Bluetooth, would it override the amount of power being used if it were only connected via Wi-Fi? My guess would be “no” since the device is still being displayed in the Sonos app.

If you turn off the Wi-Fi on your mobile device and the Sonos app it says “WiFi Isn’t Connected,” does that mean the Roam is no longer connected to Wi-Fi? (note: I do not have any other Sonos devices)

SONOS: can’t you add an option within the app to disable the Roam’s Wi-Fi? 

I feel like this is a no-brainer solution to fix some of the battery issues...at least for those users trying to use the device as a portable speaker. God forbid that I try to use something that’s marketed as a portable speaker as a portable speaker 

I received my Sonos Roam yesterday. Same issue here. Very disappointed.

Google assistant is now disabled. I’ll check if this solves the issue. 

It didn't for me.

I find the deafening silence on this from Sonos pretty disappointing. Really surprised they are ignoring this.

Also curious how none of the launch reviews mention this rather major issue, not suggesting a cover up but how could this not be seen during reviews, yet we see it within a day. 

I suspect that none of the reviewers are using in a Sonos system that has other speakers and so their Roams are not constantly being brought out of sleep when other Sonos speakers are being used.

A lot of them will also just charge it up and then run the speaker and see what battery life they get out of it and won’t check for standby battery life.

I just power mine off completely between uses as I only use the Roam once a week so I can confirm that it only loses about 1% per day when completely powered off. On the other hand, if I didn’t do this then the Roam would not be fit for purpose given the very poor standby times.

THE SPEAKER HAS AN ISSUE WITH BATTERY, CHARGED MINE TO 100% BEFORE SLEEP, POWERED OFF AND WOKE UP 8 HOURS LATER JUST TO FIND T AT 80%. 

DOES THIS SPEAKER REALLY SHUTS DOWN! WHY THE DRAIN IN OFF MODE! THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.

I’m sure most reviewers are looking at the Roam in isolation - and not integrating with an existing complex Sonos system.   Unfortunately, the Sonos testing team may have made the same mistake when looking at how standby would/should work.

Hello guys,

Sonos doesn't explain well how to switch off the roam speaker fully.

To do this, long press the button behind, you must be able to hear 3 tones before the speaker turns off completely. To prove that your speaker is coming from a total shut down, it should start blinking white when you press the power button just once. 

I have not one, but two, incidents open about poor Roam battery life. One never got a callback (though I was promised one in 48 hours -- that was over a week ago). The second was the result of reply to an email I sent the CEO email address (which I’ll bet the CEO never sees). In that email, I mentioned that Sonos keeps stubbing its toes with its fan base (remember bricking S1 speakers?) and that this forum discussion had (at the time more than 12K views – now >15K).

In reply, person from Sonos was both snippy and dismissive, According to him, all the problems are either user issues or a few bad batteries -- and you know you can’t rely on what you see on the internet.

Sheesh, this company has its head up in somewhere way dark. They claim to be responsive but not only are not -- they aren’t even taking the input. They just dismiss it out of hand. Sure, there are plenty of whiners in internet forums. But the sheet number of views here -- forget the content -- means that Roam users are searching for terms like “Roam battery life issues.”

Having a working Roam that meets its specifications isn’t a life-or-death thing, now is it? What works me up is the arrogance and self-righteousness Sonos people display. They ought to stop thinking their stuff don’t stink and listen to what they’re getting in the way of feedback.

Oh, and my Roam’s battery life sucks. Here’s a mashup of screenshots from a Roam I actually listened to for about 15 minutes total today. And if a Sonos person reads this: yes, I know how to charge the thing and, yes, I’ve (repeatedly) reset it.

Just started using new Roam. Plugged in yesterday on charger for over 24 hrs. Took off charger this morning and played at low volume with tidal connect. At around 1hr 15min mark bone dead. No battery. Plugged back in and 20 mins later still red light and unresponsive. This is not a portable speaker in its current condition. My beats pill lasts for days of play.

What power is your charger? Volts and Amps, please.

Is it Qi, or direct connect?

Since no brick was included I used an iPhone brick. The app said 100% charged.

Sorry, there have been multiple variations of iPhone bricks, including several that are not powerful enough to properly charge the Sonos. Could you double check, please, and list the voltage and amperage of this brick?

Please post that Sonos email reply here so we all can see it and respond point by point. I’m concerned they don’t understand the issue regarding battery drain when the Roam is in standby and you are using your Sonos system for other speakers. 

Battery life on my 2 Roams is nowhere near the advertised 10 hours.

Took them fully charged to the park on Sunday and got approximately 90 minutes of play out of them on Bluetooth before they stopped working. The volume was even kept low (around 40%) so as not to disturb other picnickers. My phone was still at 74% charge when the Roams (both of them) died. 

Sorry but this is a big fail for Sonos. They made false promises about this device and they are charging considerably more than competitor's products that deliver better performance.

Can no longer recommend the Roam, and it's a shame because I have a LOT of Sonos products.

So my sonos roam is now on its official charger stand.

Has been for a couple of weeks

Since then its not moved

Ive reverted to my ue wonderboom for a portable bluetooth speaker.

So the roam cost £160 The charger cost £40.

So total cost is £200. For that price id rather have got another sonos one instead. And £20 to spare. And have had a better stationary speaker.

The roam just works as stationary speaker now for me.

Its not worth buying. The battery drain is so bad.

Hopefully this thread is a warning to other sonos owners not to get the roam.

Bitterly disappointed

I ran a test on my pair of Roams on battery on standby (i.e. unused for music playback).  Oddly they did not drain at exactly the same rate but even allowing for this they lasted for a little under 5 days.  

Absolutely no way they would last 10 days on standby.  I could not have done anything to make the battery life last longer.  

Powering the speakers fully off to preserve battery life is not really the concept of ‘standby’.  

Also, although it may be obvious to some, the Sonos wireless charger base is a lot slower to charge than the actual power cable.  I would say don’t bother with the wireless charging base unless you have one per Roam and keep your speakers on them when you don’t need portability.  

So sad-making.

Not only do I own around £3000 in Sonos tech, I am also invested in their stock, which has for the most part performed well the past year.

I really want the Roam to succeed. Early adopters and dedicated fans are the last group you want to disappoint. 

Please guys, sort it out.

Having run a test of battery life on standby, I ran the Roams constantly with music playing.  Volume level looks like a touch over 50%.  Battery level has dropped about 10% per hour.  In fact battery level in one speaker is a bit higher so Sonos is actually reporting on the lower level within the pair and not the average or, worse still, the higher one.  

Means that on a full charge they would last a day trip out somewhere and so not as bad as I feared reading some of the other comments on this thread.  

I got 11+ hours playing time from a Roam here with Sonos Radio at/near 50% volume - I assume it will last longer with the mic/auto-TruePlay switch off, but didn’t think to do that.

My Wife and I went away last weekend and took one Roam with us on the Friday morning and left one at home. It lasted us the weekend till we got home on Sunday night, with just general use and by also powering it off over night. In fact it had plenty of charge left though I didn’t think to make a note of its level, but somewhere around 35% (I think).

The other Roam we left at home, was shut down on the Friday morning and I expected that to lose a few percent over the day or two we were away, but when I put that one back on its Qi Charger, which powered it on, the App still showed it as 100% initially, but it did show 98% a few minutes later, so it did lose a slight bit of charge, but I think that’s perhaps expected with Li-Ion batteries.

That's great. Can I interest you in a trade?

I will happily swap my Roam for an Arc ha ha … if you have battery issues, then perhaps chat to Sonos Support, (here is their contact LINK). They can probably monitor the charge-loss through diagnostics etc. and see if it’s outside normal limits. If so, they undoubtedly will replace the speaker if that is the case.

HTH