Sonos Roam 2 vs Roam: What’s the difference?

Here’s how the Sonos Roam 2 compares to the original Roam, what’s changed and what remains the same

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Sonos has been busy in 2024. The multi-room speaker company hasn’t just announced its first pair of headphones in the Sonos Ace, putting it into a new category, but it has also quietly announced an update to the excellent Sonos Roam Bluetooth speaker. 

Not a huge amount has changed between the Sonos Roam and Sonos Roam 2 however, so we’ve decided to break down the differences to help you work out if you need to upgrade, or which model you should choose if you have the option of the new one at full price, or perhaps a discounted original Roam. 

Sonos Roam 2 v Sonos Roam: Price

Sonos announced the Sonos Roam 2 on 21 May 2024, the same time it announced the Sonos Ace headphones. The Roam 2 is available for $179/£179 and it comes in five colour options of Black, White, Sunset, Wave and Olive.

The original Sonos Roam is still available through Sonos and other retailers. It has had a price drop in the UK, costing £139 now. In the US, it remains at $179 through Sonos and out of stock, though you may find it cheaper elsewhere. The colour options are the same as the Roam 2 but you may find better availability of some than others.

• Buy the Sonos Roam 2 from Sonos now: USA / UK
• Buy the Sonos Roam from Amazon now: USA / UK

Sonos Roam 2 v Sonos Roam: Design

The Sonos Roam 2 and the original Sonos Roam are virtually identical in design. They have the same measurements – which is around the same size as a 500ml water bottle, they are both a triangular prism shape and they both offer the same controls on the top.

You’ll find small rubber feet on one edge, allowing the Roam 2 and Roam to be positioned vertically or horizontally. They both offer an IP67 water and dust resistance too, and both have the Sonos logo on top of the speaker grille at the top when each speaker is placed in a vertical position.

There are a couple of slight differences though. The Sonos logo on the Roam 2 matches the color of the speaker itself. Pick the Olive Sonos Roam 2 and you get an Olive Sonos logo. On the original Sonos Roam, the Sonos logo was always white, whatever color you opted for.

The other difference is on the edge of the Roam speakers. Both have a USB-C charging port, but the original Roam only has one other button, while the Roam 2 has two buttons. For the original Roam, the power button and the Bluetooth button were the same, making putting it into Bluetooth mode a little fiddly. For Roam 2, there is a separate Bluetooth button and power button, making it easier to turn on Bluetooth mode.

Sonos Roam 2 v Sonos Roam: Features

That moves us nicely onto features, and again, there aren’t huge differences between the Roam and Roam 2. The two speakers can both be used as part of a Sonos system when on Wi-Fi, or independently as a Bluetooth speaker when out and about. The biggest difference is that dedicated Bluetooth button on the Roam 2.

The Roam 2 can also work as a Bluetooth speaker straight out of the box, whereas the original Roam needs to be connected to your Wi-Fi network first, which is of course not ideal if you have bought it and not set it up before you leave for a camping trip.

The only other difference in features is the original Roam offers both Alexa and Google Assistant when on Wi-Fi, allowing you to choose between the two. Sonos Voice Control is also available. For the Roam 2, only Alexa is available alongside Sonos Voice Control, with Google Assistant no longer an option. It’s the same thing that happened with the Sonos Era 100 and Era 300 so it’s not a huge surprise.

In terms of features these two speakers both offer, they both have the Sound Swap feature. This allows you to press and hold the play/pause control on the top of the Roam and Roam 2 to transfer the audio to another Sonos speaker nearby when you move back onto your Wi-Fi network. Both also have microphone mute buttons, support for Apple AirPlay 2 and they both have Automatic Trueplay, which sees the speakers adapt to their surroundings.

Sonos Roam 2 v Sonos Roam: Performance

When it comes to performance, there are even fewer differences to talk about. The Sonos Roam 2 has the same sound architecture as the original Sonos Roam so they should deliver the same sound quality.

There are two Class-H amplifiers, alongside one tweeter and one mid woofer. Both offer adjustable EQ through the Sonos app – which has recently been redesigned to make it easier to access settings and features – and both have a far-field microphone array for multi-channel echo cancellation, voice control and Automatic Trueplay tuning.

The Roam 2 and the Roam also both have a 10 hour battery life and as mentioned, they are both charged via USB-C. You can also get a Sonos Roam Wireless Charger that will work with both generations.

The Roam 2 offers Bluetooth 5.2 and it will connect to Wi-Fi with any 802.11a/b/g/n/ac 2.4 or 5 GHz broadcast-capable router. The original Roam has Bluetooth 5.0, but the Wi-Fi capabilities are the same.

Sonos Roam 2 v Sonos Roam: Which one is right for you?

The Sonos Roam 2 offers some minor changes over the original Roam, so if you have the 1st generation model, you will probably find little reason to upgrade. The performance and battery are the same, and many of the features are too, including Sound Swap and the ability to use the Roam speakers as part of a Sonos system, or independently as a Bluetooth speaker.

The Roam 2 makes it easier to use it as a Bluetooth speaker thanks to the separate button, and it works straight out of the box too. The second generation model also has a color-matched Sonos logo, making for a more seamless design. That said, the original Roam offers Google Assistant as a voice assistant option when on Wi-Fi, which the Roam 2 loses support for.

If you can find the original Roam at a decent price, it’s still worth buying. If you have the original Roam, you don’t need to upgrade. If you’re picking between the Roam 2 and Roam and they aren’t hugely different in price, pick the Roam 2.

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