But over all its cool that the Roam has airplay 2 support, but its not must have feature for an ultra portable Bluetooth speaker.Īnd like I mentioned earlier since the Roam has bluetooth it can also be used as a smart speaker and it has support for both Google assistant and Alexa. And over all it is easier to just use Bluetooth with an android device cause not all services are supported by Sonos’s app specially Youtube and Patreon. Now for my android users, you can stream music to the roam over wifi but you gotta link your streaming service of choice to your Sonos account which is a little annoying. And also keep in mind you can only use all of these speakers wirelessly cause none them have an audio jack. But nonetheless the Roam is a wifi first speaker that works best with an apple device and Sonos really only wants you to use Bluetooth when you have to. So whether you’re in an area of the house with spotty wifi, or if you’re at the beach away from your wifi, or if you just want to share your speaker with a friend… then you could alway just use trusty old bluetooth just like with the Flip 5 and XB23. So if you have spotty wifi then you could have connection issues. However just keep in mind your AirPlay connectivity is contingent on your wifi network. Like I mentioned earlier the Roam has wifi and it also has AirPlay 2 support, which is great if you’re an iPhone or apple power user cause as long as your speaker and apple devices are connected to the same wifi you can just stream music to your speaker. Its not just small and durable… its also got a little built in strap which could be useful.īut now lets talk about tech specs and we’re going to have to start off with connectivity. So if you are looking for a portable bluetooth speaker to constantly chuck into your back pack and take it on the go with you then I would recommend that you go with the Flip 5. So design wise the Roam is fine and its very small and I personally really like its honey comb grill… but from a durability standpoint I do think its going to be a scratch and finger print magnet. Where as with the Roam’s plastic body I would expect it to be a scratch magnet if you really take it out a lot. However I do gotta point out that the Roam has a mostly plastic body… now there’s nothing wrong with this and it does feel and look premium, but this is a deviation from the norm cause most portable Bluetooth speakers now have a mostly fabric wrapped body so that they can better stand up to constant abuse from bumps and scrapes… like the Flip 5 and Xb23. Which nowadays is pretty standard for portable Bluetooth speakers. Now durability wise the Roam is rocking an IP67 ratting meaning that its both dust proof and water proof. Size wise the roam is tinny, its a little smaller than the flip 5 which really is pretty impressive and its absolutely dwarfed by the Sony XB23. So if you’re looking for an ultra portable Bluetooth speaker for summer 2021 then both the Flip 5 and Sony XB23 are good options to consider and they’ll be linked down below.Īlright, if you’re still here let's take a closer look at how the Sonos Roam compares to the Flip 5 and XB23. Now the flip 5 retails for $120 but can usually be found on sale for $100 and the Sony XB23 has a retail price of $100 but likes to go on sale as well. But then there’s the JBL Flip 5 and Sony XB23 which aren’t as smart… but they do have better audio performance and they also have a longer battery life. But the roam does fall short when it comes to sound and battery life, which are the two most important things to take into consideration on a portable speaker like this. And then there’s also the fact that the roam has wireless charging. You are however getting a lot of smarts like wifi capabilities which give the Roam Airplay 2 support and you can also use it as a smart speaker. But with the roam you’re not getting Mid sized speaker sound quality. The Roam retails for $170 putting it squarely in the mid sized speaker category. Now first lets address pricing, like I said in the full review for me its very hard to justify the Sonos roam cause of its price to sound ratio. But if you’re specifically looking for a small speaker like the Roam… then today we’re going to directly compere it to both the JBL Flip 5 and Sony XB23. With the Charge 5 you’re going to get much better sound and a much better battery life. Now like I said in the full review if you’re looking for a Bluetooth speaker and you’ve got a budget between $150 and $200 then I highly recommend that you just get the JBL Charge 5. So the Sonos Roam is here just in time for summer 2021… but like I mentioned in the full review with the Sonos roam you’re paying a premium cause of its smarts and not so much for its sound.
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