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Roam battery is draining while plugged in and in use


I’ve really liked the size and sound of the Roam, but there’s been a few problems with the battery. The first is that the Roam keeps turning itself on, even while sleeping or turned off - but this is being addressed in another thread. The second issue is that even while plugged in (not Q pad, but USB), the Roam battery drains while in use. I’ve a Move that doesn’t do this. The Roam *does* charge while not in use while plugged in (unless it wakes up from Off, then it drains), so there’s not a connection problem. At the very least, it should continue to charge AND be able to play music. I’m forced to use it plugged in while outside because it never has more than a 35% charge due to the draining issue while shut off.

Please tell me there’s a software/firmware update in the works to fix this. It’s pretty frustrating to have bought an expensive device and not be able to use it as advertised.

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Best answer by Corry P 21 June 2021, 12:26

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Userlevel 7

To shut off the Roam completely, you need to press and hold the button on the back for 5 seconds until you hear a chime. The Roam will not turn on again unless you press the button to turn it back on.

To shut off the Roam completely, you need to press and hold the button on the back for 5 seconds until you hear a chime. The Roam will not turn on again unless you press the button to turn it back on.

Thanks for the quick reply, but unfortunately that’s just not the case. It keeps turning itself on at some point and proceeds to drain the battery. There’s also the issue of not charging while in use and plugged in, which should be a minimum requirement for any portable device. 

Userlevel 7

My Roam has never turned itself back on automatically after I shut it off completely. Are you sure you are holding the button down for 5 seconds until you hear a chime?

If you just put the Roam to sleep, it will continue to drain the battery, and it will wake up anytime you open the Sonos app or press the button.

Userlevel 6
Badge +11

To shut off the Roam completely, you need to press and hold the button on the back for 5 seconds until you hear a chime. The Roam will not turn on again unless you press the button to turn it back on.

Thanks for the quick reply, but unfortunately that’s just not the case. It keeps turning itself on at some point and proceeds to drain the battery. There’s also the issue of not charging while in use and plugged in, which should be a minimum requirement for any portable device. 

My roam did this from time to time, in particular when on a third party Qi charger. I returned mine due to the issues I was having. 

Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @MarcAnthony7 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

If you’re still having this problem, I recommend you get in touch with our technical support team, who have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos Roam and what it reports.

2 suggestions. 
1. Turn off automatic updates on your sonos app settings. You can check updates manually periodically. I think that auto updates can wake your Roam up then it is sleeping and cause battery drain. 
2. Do a hard shut down (hold shut off button for about 10 seconds) when not using the Roam.
 

My unit can maintain a 100% charge overnight by doing these 2 tips. Hope that this helps. 

Userlevel 2
Badge +3

I have exactly the same two problems and the community says turning on is the intended behavior in that threat…

Sonos support doesn't treat this as a firmware feedback issue but as a warranty issue even though some of the problems had disappeared after the first few updates…

I still have the battery drain even when plugged in - sometimes it happens after a week.. 

I also have this same problems. Its getting really frustrating using the Sonos Roam -_-

What did the Sonos support team say when you called in?

This is a frustrating issue. If I take the Roam for. 3 day trip and I want it to use it specific times I am screw becuase The battery is dead. I want the option for this unit to be use a regular Bluetooth when I needed (meaning , I want to be able to turn off the WIFi radio when I don’t need it) and the battery 🔋 should not drain when the unit If off. Sonos Roam I want to love you, but you are ugly in the inside. I think it’s time for an upgrade to another brand. U3 get ready! 

Userlevel 7

This is a frustrating issue. If I take the Roam for. 3 day trip and I want it to use it specific times I am screw becuase The battery is dead. I want the option for this unit to be use a regular Bluetooth when I needed (meaning , I want to be able to turn off the WIFi radio when I don’t need it) and the battery 🔋 should not drain when the unit If off. Sonos Roam I want to love you, but you are ugly in the inside. I think it’s time for an upgrade to another brand. U3 get ready! 

Are you sure you are completely turning off the Roam? When it is turned off completely, you should only be losing 1%-2% battery charge PER DAY. It sounds like you are just putting the Roam into sleep/standby mode.

This is a frustrating issue. If I take the Roam for. 3 day trip and I want it to use it specific times I am screw becuase The battery is dead. I want the option for this unit to be use a regular Bluetooth when I needed (meaning , I want to be able to turn off the WIFi radio when I don’t need it) and the battery 🔋 should not drain when the unit If off. Sonos Roam I want to love you, but you are ugly in the inside. I think it’s time for an upgrade to another brand. U3 get ready! 

Are you sure you are completely turning off the Roam? When it is turned off completely, you should only be losing 1%-2% battery charge PER DAY. It sounds like you are just putting the Roam into sleep/standby mode.

Thank you for the reply. Yes, at the beginning it was confusing because there is no light indications when is on standby or off ( they should have added the stand-by by pressing the “play” button for 7 sec” and the power button exactly where it is) .if another member use the unit they will never know this ..is like you know where the bugs are in this unit; needless to say, I have keeping an eye in this issue and yes it’s fully off and 3 days later no battery. 

I own the Sonos Roam as well as the wireless charging dock for Roam (for an extra $50), I leave it on the "dock" overnight and in the morning the Roam is completely dead. I've gone through all the troubleshooting steps, and Sonos support has been useless. They contend that everything "looks fine from their end" but then acknowledge they can only see the logs from today. Yeah, well the issue is that it was charged 100% when I stopped using it yesterday, it never left the charging dock, and this morning it's completely dead. 

 

Support can't explain why, even if the battery does drain slowly while tree device is "On", that it would drain completely within 18 hours WHILE ITS SITTING ON THE DOCK THAT COSTS AN EXTRA $50. The support person told that"

If the Roam is on the charging dock it should A. Not lose charge at all even while playing music and B. Should not lose charge overnight. 

 

Yet here I am having that exact thing occur. This morning I charged the Roam up to 25% and just left the Roam playing for two hours in my garage while on the dock. Just came out to check on it... Completely dead. 

It's becoming obvious that if this unit is operating "as it is supposed to" according to support, then Sonos has a serious usability issue with this product. I'm pretty saavy and I find this product very frustrating to try to use. That's the exact opposite of what it should be if they want to compete with other Bluetooth type "on-the-go" type speakers. 

As it stands, I can't even get this unit to operate reliably when constantly on the docking pad, I won't even consider taking it on a camping trip or to the beach. 

Very disappointed in my experience with the Sonos Roam, and with Sonos support up to this point. 

 

 

 

@sully9443,

Just to perhaps rule in/out some things, like it perhaps being the Qi charging module on the speaker or the charger pad itself, have you tried using the Sonos power adapter with the USB-C cable that came with your Roam, to see if the USB method of charging works okay with your speaker ? - if it doesn’t work, it might begin to point to the matter being a faulty power adapter for example, particularly as the diagnostics (presumably sent to Support) are not showing any problems with the speaker.

@Ken_Griffiths Thanks for the quick reply. I've been pretty thorough with my own testing of the variables including trying to get this roam to hold a charge overnight when plugged in to both the included charger as well as the wireless charger I purchased. Same results. 

I thought it was interesting that support told me I can't use a power strip to charge the Roam (which I wasn't anyway), but it's a significant flaw that this device demands so much dedicated power to simply not lose its charge when either playing music or on standby. 

To compete in this segment, Sonos really needs to deliver a product that functions at a minimum like other portable speakers. I can't take this thing anywhere. And I shouldn't have to remember to fully power the Roam down when I leave the room (after all it's literally on the charger!) or stop playing it via the app from downstairs because my plans for the moment changed. 

This issue is a dealbreaker for me if this device I have is ruled to be "perfectly functional as is". I am holding out hope that I'm just dealing with a defective unit, as I have always been a big fan of the rest of my Sonos equipment. 

But bottom line... If I leave the unit overnight on the $50 accessory I purchased... It should have 100% charge the next morning when I want to use it, regardless of if it's "on", "in standby mode" or "fully off". Full stop. Anything less than that is completely unacceptable for a device at a premium price point like the Roam is. 

 

@sully9443 

I would perhaps go back to Sonos Support as I have two Roams and the Sonos Qi charger pad too and my experience is entirely different to what you have described. I often leave one of my Roams on the charger pad and it’s always fully charged the next morning… in fact the one on the charger now has been sat there the weekend and it’s still showing as 100% in the App.

I have taken one of the  Roams away with us on weekend breaks in the past and it has lasted well without charge. If I switch the Roam off completely overnight, then the battery loss is around 1% - which is pretty good for a li-ion battery device.

So your experience is not what I would call ‘typical’ and I would perhaps ask Sonos to maybe take another look at what’s happening in your case.

@Ken_Griffiths yes, I plan on calling when the support office reopens. I'm listening to baseball on SiriusXM as we speak, it's on the charging dock and the battery is getting lower and lower by the hour. The charging pad is directly plugged into a wall outlet. 

 

Something isn't right, and hopefully Sonos support can confirm that and replace this unit. Otherwise I'm afraid they've lost a customer for life. 

@Ken_Griffiths yes, I plan on calling when the support office reopens. I'm listening to baseball on SiriusXM as we speak, it's on the charging dock and the battery is getting lower and lower by the hour. The charging pad is directly plugged into a wall outlet. 

 

Something isn't right, and hopefully Sonos support can confirm that and replace this unit. Otherwise I'm afraid they've lost a customer for life. 

Does the Battery level still go down if you use the same power adapter, but with the USB cable connection instead of the Pad (just curious?)

Took Roam 100% charged to a 4 day festival. Didn’t use it or even turn it on. Got home and tried it. Battery was 0%. Sonos is this right? Seems pretty pathetic to me.

As a guess, it was in standby, and not completely off.

Took Roam 100% charged to a 4 day festival. Didn’t use it or even turn it on. Got home and tried it. Battery was 0%. Sonos is this right? Seems pretty pathetic to me.

Perhaps see if this LINK may assist you regarding the Roam’s power button options.