If you ’re searching around for a new portable talker , you may have come across theSonos Roamand the Sonos Roam SL .
But , how does thebest portable Bluetooth speakercompare to the novel and cheaper Sonos Roam SL ?
Keep reading to find out what the difference of opinion is between the two speakers when it come to design , features and audio operation , along with which Roam is right for you …
Pricing and availability
The Sonos Roam launched in April 2021 with a price of £ 179/$179 . The Roam SL came out tight to a twelvemonth later in March 2022 and costs £ 159/$159 , make it £ 20 flash than the standard Roam .
Both speakers have also seen discount on Amazon recently , with the Roam having dropped to £ 169 and the Roam SL scale down to £ 149 .
Design
The Sonos Roam and the Roam SL share almost identical forcible designs away from one set feature – the Roam SL does n’t have a microphone .
The speakers are lightweight and portable and can be used vertically and horizontally . In fact , they ’re one - one-sixth of the size of Sonos ’ larger outdoor utterer , theSonos Move .
They have a modern , Toblerone - shaped excogitation with a mesh pattern and tactile buttons on the flat end that control playback , volume and – in the type of the standard Roam – the microphone .
They ’re also pee and dust resistant with an IP certification ofIP67 .
Aside from the want of a microphone button on the Roam SL , the tatty speaker also hail in a more special range of colours .
The Roam SL is available in Shadow Black and Lunar White , while the Roam comes in those two finishes , along with more vibrant Red , Blue and Green miscellanea .
Features
Because the Roam SL does n’t occur with a microphone , it also misses out on a fistful of characteristic found on the Sonos Roam .
First and perhaps most predictably , you ca n’t utilize voice bid to insure the Roam SL . That also means you ca n’t ask Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant to define timer , check the atmospheric condition or activate your other smart home devices ( though this feature is only available over Wi - Fi on the standard Roam anyway ) .
AutomaticTrueplaytuning is another feature the Roam SL does not fend for . This uses the mic to adapt the sound that comes out of your speaker unit to match your environs .
We found automatic Trueplay to be a godsend on the Roam , as it removes the need to manually fine-tune the speaker for each environment and the answer are subtle and coherent .
eventually , Sound Swap is n’t available on the Roam SL . This is a feature of speech that allows you to draw audio from one Sonos product to another . Sound Swap is helpful when you want to move your playlist from your nursing home speaker to your Roam to take your hearing outside .
We bump Sound Swap to be speedy and easy to apply , but the feature did seem to make the Sonos S2 app act unstable at times in our experience .
Otherwise , both the Sonos Roam and the Roam SL offer a number of features , including Wi - Fi and Bluetooth cyclosis , backing for Apple AirPlay 2 and up to 10 hour of battery life with USB - C and wireless charging .
Both verbalizer also propose adjustable EQ in the Sonos S2 app .
Performance
As with the invention , the Sonos Roam and the Roam SL part the same driver apparatus , which consist of two Class - H digital amplifiers , one tweeter and one mid - woofer .
While we have n’t prove the Sonos Roam SL here at Trusted Reviews , we have spent mass of time with the steady Sonos Roam and would require the two speakers to pop the question similar performance .
We were very impressed with the Sonos Roam ’s audio quality , naming it one of the easily - voice portable loudspeaker available in our review .
The Roam has a interchangeable character to the Sonos Move and theSonos One SLin tone , though the results are n’t as full or bassy as those produced by the larger speakers .
The mid - range brings great clarity and detail to vocal creating an expressive performance , while the treble has a good sense of bite and point at the top of the frequency range .
The verbalizer is also terrifically dynamic with plenteousness of drive and power and is capable of handle a variety show of genres . However , the bass does n’t have as much bearing as theUltimate Ears Boom 2 , nor does it offer as much deepness as theB&O Beosound A1 2nd Gen.
Verdict
The Sonos Roam and the Sonos Roam SL are two very similar speaker unit with one defining characteristic – the Roam SL has no mike .
This primarily affects the feature set offered by the cheaper smart speaker , as the Roam SL does n’t take advantage of Alexa or Google Assistant living , robotic Trueplay or Sound Swap .
It does , however , offer the same portable plan , audio performance and 10 - hr battery life as the Roam for £ 20 less .
If you ’re in it purely for the music and are n’t get to about the features you ’ll be miss out on , opt for the Sonos Roam SL . If you ’re look for a chic speaker or the power to automatically tune the sound to your environment , it ’s worth paying a bit more for the Roam .
