Sonos casually launches the Roam 2 with easier Bluetooth pairing, but confirms our fears about the stamina (2024)

Yes, after countless rumors, Sonos formally announced its entry into the world of headphones this morning. Ace looks to rival the likes of Apple’s AirPods Max and Sony’s WH-1000XM5 at $449 / £449 / AU$699, but the audio brand also quietly and casually launched the Sonos Roam 2.

That's right, Sonos's second-generation portable Bluetooth speaker is here and keeps a similar look and mostly the same feature set. Though, for the same price, it packs in some subtle upgrades.

For the $179 / £179 / AU$299 price point, you get your pick of five colors – Black, White, Olive, Wave, or Sunset – and the Sonos logo, which is placed over the speaker's grille and closer to the top of the front, is now color-matched, meaning that it won’t stand out as much.

The main change here is the addition of a Bluetooth button, which lets you use this as a Bluetooth speaker right out of the box – you no longer need to connect it with the broader Sonos ecosystem from the start. You’ll power it on and hit the Bluetooth pairing button rather than having to long-press the power button to enable this pairing method.

The controls for playback – backward, play or pause, and forward – still live on the top and are physical buttons. You’ll recharge the Roam 2 via a USB-C port on the back and can wirelessly recharge the device with an optional proprietary charger, which Sonos sells for $49 / £45 / AU$73.

Current Roam owners looking to upgrade may be disappointed with the battery life, though, as it still tops out at 10 hours. In the world of ultra-portable Bluetooth speakers, that isn’t truly long-lasting, and it is far behind the larger Move 2 speaker from Sonos. We’ll need to see if there are hidden improvements here, but that will have to wait until we test the Roam 2.

The Roam 2 should sound just as good as the Roam, though, with powerful audio performance and great bass for its size. In our review back in 2022, we called the Roam the “best Bluetooth speaker of 2022.” The only downside would be runtime. You can still integrate the Roam 2 with the broader Sonos ecosystem and control it from the app.

Lastly, the Roam 2 is still dust and waterproof up to the IP67 rating like the original and has the same price of $179 / £179 / AU$299. It’s available in five colors from Sonos now, and shipments are already rolling.

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