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 
!
So if you want the full multiroom experience leave the Rpoam plugged in. If you only want the experience sometimes or only need bluetooth, you need to turn it off every time. Maybe not what people expect, but that seems to be it?
Yes, I agree. Annoying for those people (myself included) who felt it would complete their Sonos setup locating in a bathroom. Product info had lead me to conclude I would need to charge once a week, that is not the reality. Using it with a power bank has led to mixed results that I've not been able to draw firm conclusions as yet. I cannot expect my young children to fully power it off and my wife would rather sacrifice the sound quality / functionality for something she can turn on/off quickly.
First off….What’s the difference in the pushing of the power button between sleep mode and just wanting it off?…...I was told by a Sonos rep to hold the power button for 7 seconds to get it to turn off.
Sleep mode allows it to be awakened by use of the Sonos app (for any purpose, even if not using the Roam); or if you put it on a wireless charger or plugged it in to charge. Power off means it’s totally off - dead to the world.
Same here. Played Some music for 2 a 3 hours. The battery is draining way too fast to after voice assist and trueplay disabled.
So what happend with the 10 days stand-by time?
I’ve almost had it with the Roam. This is sad because it will be the first Sonos product I haven’t absolutely loved and had to return.
The latest issue is it consistently fails to appear on the list of airplay devices (despite appearing on the Sonos app) and when I can get it to appear, sound stutters through it when playing.
it just seems riddled with issues and maybe rushed to market.
Besides all the various tech reviewers in cahoots with the industry giving it glowing reviews, did anyone actually test this device out prior to launch? Like, normally, properly.
I’m a bit confused(if you knew me you’d not be too surprised….Ha)…..
I play my system,which consists of 2 Play 5 gen 2’s and the Sub….and...ONLY use the Roam as a rear channel ambience speaker(placed about 6 feet behind my listening position)….
It sounds absolutely fantastic….but….I turn it off completely and in a 16 hour period of time it lost maybe 20% of it’s charge…...I am told(by Sonos) to charge it fully,then run a diagnostics and wait until the battery drains to a low condition again and run a second diagnostics report.
Believe me,I hope everything works out,because this little thing is a weapon in it’s own right.
My luck….I’ll have issues(which I know will be worked out by Sonos as they are a good outfit).
Still,stress is not fun.
Good luck to all
Mark
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?
I'm concerned at what it's recording in my rooms.
I prefer a device I can control, that is turning it on when I demand it.
I'm over recharging it for no reason.
SONOS team...fix it!
I'm concerned at what it's recording in my rooms.
I prefer a device I can control, that is turning it on when I demand it.
I'm over recharging it for no reason.
SONOS team...fix it!
Sonos (I believe) includes the top LED into the mic circuit, so just press it to switch off the mic, then tap it on when required, that’s if you are that concerned by these things.
You cannot ‘over-charge’ it, the Roam will likely have a built in PID controller monitoring it’s charge status. Staff have previously mentioned were fine to leave the speaker on charge, same goes for the ‘Move’ too.
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.
Just adding my experience here. I too am disappointed with the battery life. Its advertised as 10 hours playtime.
However, I want to use it on standby off the charger so appreciated it wouldn’t last the full 10 hours.
I did a test with 100% charge on Sunday morning. Battery was dead this morning and in the three days of use was only used to play music/stream radio for a total of about 2hrs 40 mins.
Is anyone getting better results than that?
Steve, UK
So if you want the full multiroom experience leave the Rpoam plugged in. If you only want the experience sometimes or only need bluetooth, you need to turn it off every time. Maybe not what people expect, but that seems to be it?
Yes, I agree. Annoying for those people (myself included) who felt it would complete their Sonos setup locating in a bathroom. Product info had lead me to conclude I would need to charge once a week, that is not the reality. Using it with a power bank has led to mixed results that I've not been able to draw firm conclusions as yet. I cannot expect my young children to fully power it off and my wife would rather sacrifice the sound quality / functionality for something she can turn on/off quickly.
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’ve been reading the numerous battery issues as I am disappointed with the battery performance of the Roam. It’s still not clear to me if anyone is getting anything like the advertised (up to) 10 days in sleep mode? It seems that the only way to get near this is to go through the rather clunky ‘power off’ procedure. Surely that isn’t what Sonos intended? From the specs it reads that it should provide the 10 days without powering off. From the FAQs:
What is the battery life of Roam?
Roam offers up to 10 hours of continuous playback on a single charge. When not in use, Roam switches to sleep mode to conserve power, and the battery can last up to 10 days.
I haven’t recorded actual times yet but I’ve had to recharge many time and only used the Roam for a few hours. There is no chance that it would last for 10 days.
This is a shame because everything else about it is great (other than putting too many functions onto the power switch).
Or paid for reviews
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.
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’m still dealing with support having sent numerous diagnostics and screenshots.
After more testing, my Roam is using exactly 10% battery per hour. Seems reasonable, until you realise that’s at 15% volume. Sonos have stated publicly on their social media channels that it’s 10 hours playtime @ 50% volume.
Reminds me of when B&O launched the A1 with 24 hours battery life, only to later revise it to 4 hours at “moderate listening levels” (50% volume).
Definitely not a power issue, is using an upgraded usbc power adapter.
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.
My Roam was bought to replace a DAB radio in the bathroom. My young children struggle with the full power off and my wife would rather have a quicker power off (getting ready in the morning is a dash) over the additional functionality / better sound quality that the Roam brings. I on the other hand am willing and capable of fully powering off but am in the minority in our house.
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!
You aren’t turning the Roam off completely, you are just putting it to sleep. If you want to turn it off, press and hold the button on the back for five seconds until you hear a chime.
+13
My Roam was bought to replace a DAB radio in the bathroom. My young children struggle with the full power off and my wife would rather have a quicker power off (getting ready in the morning is a dash) over the additional functionality / better sound quality that the Roam brings. I on the other hand am willing and capable of fully powering off but am in the minority in our house.
Yeah frustration by my family around using the roam was a key factor in returning it. They basically declined to use it after struggling with off/standby and it constantly being dead. Inability to reach close to 10 days standby is ridiculous.
In contrast the cheap Anker Bluetooth speaker the roam was to replace has a massive easy to press on off button and real standby mode. Also only needed to be charged once every few weeks or longer.
But if Sonos improves on some of the issues I will be sure to buy and try again as the sound quality improvement was nice.
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.
If you are truly shutting off the Roam completely, you should only lose 1%-2% battery charge per day… at least that has been my experience with the Roam.
It would appear that there is a difference between ‘sleep’ and ‘off’ and I’m hoping this resolves the issue. In sleep mode, the battery does seem to go down over around 10 days (which is annoying, but okay if there is an actual ‘off’ setting).
To turn it off, it would appear that you hold the button on the back down for 5s (it makes a different tone, and no longer appears in the Sonos App, so this looks promising). I suspect that in sleep mode, the Sonos is constantly being woken by the App (as I do things, etc).
I’m okay if it drains relatively quickly in ‘sleep’ as long as there is an ‘off’ option (and it works as expected. I’ll know soon enough!
+13
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.
I am having the same issue. I hold the power button and make sure its off and its still drains. Ive owned it about 5 months and im disappointed on the battery drain.
+13
If you are truly shutting off the Roam completely, you should only lose 1%-2% battery charge per day… at least that has been my experience with the Roam.
Lucky you 👍🏾
How’s your experience with standby, are you getting 10 days?
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