Communication: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi | Assistant support: Amazon Alexa, Sonos Voice Control | Water density: 10W | Battery life: 10 hours | Height: 6.6″ | Range: 2.3″
While most people will be happy with a few speakers strategically placed in their home, you may want something that works both indoors and outdoors. Fortunately, you can find speakers that pair voice controls with solid music playback performance with durable, weatherproof materials. For my money, it’s hard to beat the Sonos Roam for maximum flexibility, not to mention sound quality.
When used inside the home, the Roam works like any other Sonos speaker. It’s the equivalent of an existing multi-room Sonos setup, or you can get a pair for stereo playback. Like many other Sonos speakers, it works with the Sonos Voice Assistant or Amazon Alexa, and supports all the major music services available. It sounds pretty good considering its small size; it’s quieter and not as clear as the Sonos One or Era 100, but it still packs an amazing bass thump and distinct highs.
Built with on-the-go use in mind, Roam has a battery and Bluetooth so you can take it anywhere and use it away from your Wi-Fi network. And its reduced size makes it easy to take it everywhere, both indoors and outdoors. It’s also the first Sonos speaker to be fully waterproof, as well as dust and drop resistant, so you don’t have to worry about taking it to the pool or the beach.
Roam gets about 10 hours of battery life, whether you’re on Wi-FI or Bluetooth. There are other portable speakers that last longer, so if you’re really going to push the battery you might be better off with another option.
Another portable wireless speaker option is the $449 Sonos Move 2. It’s much bigger and louder than the Roam, which isn’t surprising given how expensive it is. It’s a nice improvement over the previous Move, with two tweeters for more detailed sound, a battery that lasts more than a day and redesigned touch controls on top. It also has a USB-C line-in jack, so you can connect a turntable when using it indoors. If you’re willing to sacrifice portability for power and better sound quality (and can afford it), the Move 2 will be more satisfying than the Roam.
A better option than the Move, unless you already have other Sonos products, is the $399 Bose Portable Smart Speaker. It supports Alexa and Google Assistant commands, and since it can connect to WiFi, you can ask your favorite assistant to play music from Spotify, Amazon Music and other services. In addition, it produces well-rounded sound, sports an IPX4 design with a convenient carrying handle and will last up to 12 hours on a single charge.
Bose also has a great Roam option. The $149 SoundLink Flex supports Siri and Google Assistant commands, and has an IP67 design that’s about the size of a small clutch bag. It pumps out bright, dynamic sound and can pair with other stereo speakers, too – it’s a lot better and a little cheaper than the Roam.
While this guide is all about smart speakers, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention all the portable solid speakers that have limited or no smart features. We’ve got a comprehensive guide to the best portable Bluetooth speakers, so if you’re more concerned about portability and less about having an ecosystem of connected speakers, there are plenty of options worth investigating.