Sonos Roam is Pure Garbage

  • 5 December 2021
  • 66 replies
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66 replies

It’s listed as a requirement on the box. When I purchased one, I checked. 

This is the the worst Sonos product out there, and we have 15 total products.

 

the connection almost never works; it won’t charge, and the music cuts in and out almost every attempt.

 

don’t buy this piece of crap

 

 

i agree. I spent at least 20 minutes trying to get this piece of crap to pair with my system (of three other Sonos products) and it rarely works. I’m glad it’s not just me.

 

Not to nitpick, but a portable speaker that also offers Bluetooth would be considered a Bluetooth speaker to the casual consumer.

I like that this is covered in the FAQ, but again to be fair to the casual consumer:  This would not be a Frequently Asked Question, nobody would know that there was a need to ask about the prerequisites for a Bluetooth speaker.  The actual FAQ should be “Why doesn’t Roam work with Bluetooth out of the box?”  Unfortunately most don’t research before picking up something like this.  A Roam could certainly be an impulse buy.  A mistake could easily be made.  I just don’t think that this mistake falls completely on the consumer.

And no, I don’t have a Roam so I have no feeling one way or the other about how it should work.

Admittedly, I still don’t understand the issue here, as I see this as a simple case of connecting a phone/tablet/App to a wireless AP, or a nearby mobile WiFi Hotspot. 

Open the App - and the Roam can easily be setup in a matter of minutes (that includes account setup too) and then (I guess) used just as a Bluetooth speaker from that point forward.

That’s of course if the user wants that and prefers to give up the other 90% plus (approx.) of all its other functionality that the Roam is also capable of. 

Personally, if that was my own (simple) use-case. I would have just bought a much cheaper BT speaker if that’s all I needed, rather than a Qi/USB rechargeable, voice-controllable computerised wireless-connected multi-room speaker, that brings Bluetooth line-in to an entire Sonos System, plus AirPlay, SoundSwap, button-grouping, stereo pairing, 24/48 audio quality, with access through the app to literally hundreds of great quality audio sources, including Sonos Radio etc. etc.

Fair enough Ratty, appears I got a defective unit

Submit a diagnostic anyway, and quote the number to Sonos Support when you call.

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@kaicrowe @GuitarSuperstar 's answer may have been a statement, it is a reaction to you making a statement, instead of asking co-users for help.

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Completely agree, the Roam  is the worse Alexa / Google / Voice controlled  Smart Speaker I’ve ever owned, terrible connectivity, it disconnects from the app and it’s a hustle to make it play music reliably because even using AirPlay and Bluetooth  the music is cutting out, and forget  about Google assistant compatibility, it never worked for me, forget about Alexa routines and droping  features, they aren’t even supported, Alexa often has connection issues, is slow to respond  and gets stuck, and this never happened to my blue Echo 4th gen which still works absolutely fine,  music stops and skips using Apple Music, and I’m tired of not being able to pair it with Bluetooth using the rear button since the recently released 15.1 update.
Whatever it is, it might be a network problem, it might not, I’m not a technician to solve networking problems and I made a network test: Results?  0 buffering, great video resolution and all other devices work absolutely fine, so no, it’s not a network interference problem, at least that’s what I’ve seen. 
I’ll return the speaker, I’m sad because it sounds amazing, but I’m tired of playing games from  Sonos blaming the network. What a $250 paperweight this is, unfortunately    

Just want to pile on with confirmation of what others have said. 

I’m a (borderline annoying, just ask my family and friends) long-time Sonos fanboy with 12 devices spread throughout my house. Eleven of them are amongst the very best pieces of technology I’ve ever owned. Annnnnd then there’s the Roam. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes Bluetooth pairing works great. Sometimes it doesn’t work at all. Sometimes it pairs when I don’t want it to. Even though it spends 98% of its life plugged in on wifi, it refuses to join the network on which its 11 Sonos cousins work flawlessly. The one thing I can count on with Sonos Roam is that, without fail, it will frustrate and disappoint me on a weekly basis. 

My Roam was the last Sonos device I bought a few years ago. In spite of my otherwise amazing experiences with other devices I am hesitant to buy anything new from this company due to my poor experience with the Roam. 

This is the the worst Sonos product out there, and we have 15 total products.

 

the connection almost never works; it won’t charge, and the music cuts in and out almost every attempt.

 

don’t buy this piece of crap

Dude!!!! Struggled with all the same issues… I wanted to throw the thing against the wall. And finally after a year… Sonos Support telling me to restart… that just what I did. I restarted with BOSE!! Problem solved! Sonos is pure garbage!! ~Mike USA! 

What’s the problem?

The problem is not with the product, but lies within the unwillingness of some to look beyond their first glance at the product.

I personally see the Roams primary function as a wireless portable speaker, its Bluetooth connection is somewhat ‘second fiddle’. Sonos also most likely view the small speaker as an helpful introduction to their wireless multi-room audio ecosystem, and for existing Sonos users it’s great for the Bluetooth line-in features that it brings to an entire Sonos system. Why try to move users away from that ecosystem with a Bluetooth only setup approach? - that just doesnt make any sense.

Your suggestion of it being a Bluetooth speaker first and foremost, is a little like buying a van and never driving it, but just using it for storing things in the back of it. 

The wireless setup should come first with the Bluetooth aspect enabled afterwards. I can fully understand why Sonos have chosen to take that approach, not least because the device setup is exactly what their millions of existing users have come to expect - the few users that were expecting it to just be a Bluetooth speaker are probably way way in the minority by comparison. It isn’t just a Bluetooth speaker it is much more than that.

It’s those users who think it is, that perhaps just need to do their research before purchase. The speaker will do exactly what they want, but the setup may not be in the way they perhaps expect. 

On the other-hand however, the majority of existing Sonos users clearly expect the setup to work like every other Sonos product that they own, which it does. 

The development cost to have the Roam perform its setup differently and having to change documentation around setup just for this one device only makes no economic sense… plus the existing (majority) of Sonos users would probably be left asking why the Roam doesn’t setup in the same way as all their other existing Sonos products. 

So I guess that’s why there is an unwillingness. 

Sonos Product Managers, maybe introduce a Sonos Roam BT (think: SL line, but you take away home network capability and the need to use the Sonos app)? It might help stop the bloodshed on this thread. Plus, you got a strong audience willing to buy from this conversation alone. I'd buy it, even for the same price, because I solely use my Roam when travelling for the sound quality in a compact package. In other words, I wanted "just a bluetooth speaker" and was willing to throw money at you knowing full well I was going to use roughly 2% of what you painstakingly designed it for. In my mind, what's another $200 when I already spent $20k with you furnishing my home with speakers I've been desperately trying to hide behind couches and picture frames so my wife doesn’t see it?

I know what you're thinking, this probably could be done with an optional software update, but f- that, make that money. I'll be ready to checkout when you introduce it. You're welcome.

I’m thinking you’re perhaps not up-to-date with Sonos current features - just enable Bluetooth Always Auto-Connect in the Sonos App, when away from Home, the Roam will always auto connect to the paired nearby BT device. It’s a feature you will find available in the Sonos Room Settings in the current version of the S2 Sonos App. It makes the Roam work, rather like a BT speaker when out and about.

 

Now you can go buy your Roam.👍

Thanks for this and the link to the Support article - much more helpful than the vague and non-descript in-app setting name.

Still kinda wish they didn’t have this option and make a less-functional Roam. I probably would have shelled out $200 to avoid hours of reading to finally make my Roam just a bluetooth speaker. Either way, really appreciate your involvement in the forums and willingness to help out idiots like me. 

I didn't suggest anything at all. I answered 106rallye's question, that's all I did.

Yes that’s entirely my mistake (really sorry). I misread your post.

I was really just trying to demonstrate that there is an unwillingness on the part of some Sonos users to change the Roam setup just for those in the minority that just want the Roam as a Bluetooth only speaker, as it is much more than that …and it’s present setup method is what existing Sonos users have come to expect. Once again apologies 🙏for mis-reading your post.

Utter crap this thing.   Can never hold a connection for more than 6-7 songs. Stops out of nowhere and then my phone just starts playing from its own speaker for no reason.  When this happens only full reset restart fixes the issue.  This happens at least twice a day so not a rare occurrence at all. 

The embarrassment with friends when using this thing since it just can’t play music continously.   Just had a friend pull out a normal BT speaker half the price that connected instantly and never skipped a beat. 

Love the rest of the products I own, but this one’s crap.

I’ve got two Roams, one of which has been replaced. Spent over four hours one day with no joy, then after another 3 hours got a replacement. Spent another two hours last night on to a specialist/tech support to be told that the fact that I couldn’t get the roams back on line was being looked into, so I would be sent an e-mail when the issues were resolved. I even asked if I could return them and get era100s, obviously paying the difference. I was told that that wasn’t possible, wait for an e-mail, and then the agent cut the conversation after I had pointed out that I could airplay to them, but couldn’t set up a stereo pair, couldn’t set up trueplay, or enable voice assistant. Garbage speakers and not much better support.

 

I’ve tried so many factory resets, and even have had the speakers sitting next to the router. Might look at other options now.

 

If your roams work, then I am pleased for you, but if they don’t, join the growing club of disappointment.

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Your message does not contain anything that would help people to help you - it does not even contain the trouble you ran into. What’s the worth of this message to anyone?

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Send it back and buy a Move imho.

I have had my Roam for about two years. It never maintained a consistent connection to the Wi-Fi. I am constantly trying to reconnect. It sits about 10 feet from the router and can’t maintain a connection. And when I try to reconnect it constantly asks me to restart the router. Literally everything else works without issue but this steaming pile of garbage. 

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