Along with rumors that Sonos is planning to launch its first pair of headphones in June, a report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that the multi-room audio specialist could update its Roam portable speaker at the same time.
Writing in his recent Power On newsletter (March, 24), Gurman says that Sonos is preparing to update its smallest speaker in June and is also working on a new app specifically developed for Sonos' portables.
The Sonos Roam already raised the bar for the portable speaker market, and has consistently ranked as one of the best Bluetooth speakers since it launched in 2021. We love its smart capabilities at home and powerful Bluetooth connectivity on the road, and I wouldn't mind betting that any new Sonos Roam version is likely to shake up the go-anywhere speaker market once again.
While we saw the budget-friendly Sonos Roam SL Bluetooth speaker version introduced in 2022 with stripped-back features, it's anticipated that the Roam 2 will support all the usual Sonos smarts along with AirPlay 2 and the latest Bluetooth connectivity.
It's important to point out that there's no official word from Sonos on a launch date or what the MSRP might be. But the good news is that it looks like the rumored Roam 2 will feature several upgrades over the original generation when it does arrive.
1. New touch controls
Just like the Sonos Move 2, the Roam 2 will get a touch-sensitive control panel on top for music playback and volume control. Although I've yet to discover any images of the Roam 2 online.
I expect the interface to match what was introduced on Sonos Era 100 and Era 300 speakers, with a small touch-sensitive groove to increase or decrease the volume along with touch controls for play/pause, skip back and skip forward playback controls.
2. New app support
Despite the promise of versatile connectivity, some users have encountered issues with the original Sonos Roam not always automatically switching between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth mode based on its location. While in Bluetooth mode, our original review found that only one source could be connected at a time.
According to Gurman, Sonos has been working on a hardware fix for these glitches and a new Sonos app will be introduced on both the rumored Roam 2 and Sonos Headphones at the same time. Sadly though, it looks as though the new app won't roll out to support the company's original Roam or Move and Move 2 portable speakers until a later date.
3. Better battery life
While I can't attest to an increase in battery life, given the improvements Sonos brought to playback times on the Move 2, it's almost a certainty that any next-gen Roam will see a stamina boost.
The original Roam gives 10 hours playback, and while you shouldn't anticipate a boost up to 24 hours on the next-gen model without an increase in weight and size, I wouldn't mind betting that a step up is on the cards to match speaker rivals such as the Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 3 (14 hours) and Soundcore 3 (24 hours). I have my fingers crossed and will update this story with any developments as they happen.
