It can be used casually and the sound is "too much", the perfection of the portable smart speaker "Sonos Roam" is high

Wi-Fi & Bluetooth speaker "Sonos Roam" released by Sonos in Japan in September (overseas from spring 2021). This unit is a multi-functional model that has a portable Bluetooth speaker with a battery, a Wi-Fi speaker that Sonos is good at, and a smart speaker. Let's review its usability and sound.

■ A long-established brand that develops products based on solid technology do you recognize it? The company landed in Japan in 2018. Since it started as a BEAMS monopoly, it tends to be regarded as lifestyle audio, but its history goes back to the dawn of network audio. The first product by Sonos was released in 2004. With the introduction of a product that is equivalent to today's network audio player, which builds a music sharing system in the home, the company suddenly established itself as the world's top manufacturer. The reason why it is accepted by many users is the easy-to-use multi-room audio system through the in-house developed app. Since before 2010, I myself remember seeing and hearing at CES venues in the United States as a leading figure in the genre. And since 2015, we have been working on subscription music distribution, solidifying our position as a long-established Wi-Fi speaker. In this way, Sonos is a Hi-Fi-oriented manufacturer with advanced technology, and has not put much effort into casual music listening applications. So the portable Sonos Roam is a challenge for the company. ■Significantly compact, improved sound quality tuning functionLet's take a look at the overall picture of the Sonos Roam. The size of this machine is 168W x 62H x 60Dmm, and the weight of the main body is 430g. As a portable speaker, it is the second product following the large "Sonos Move", but it has a compact size reminiscent of a 500ml plastic bottle. The main unit fits in horizontally, but silicon is placed on the side of the housing, so it can also be used vertically. The Sonos Roam is available in Lunar White and Shadow Black colors, and it also supports IP67 dust and water resistance, which seems to be a modern portable speaker. Up to 10 hours playback time with built-in battery. By the way, in addition to USB type-C charging, Qi wireless charging can be performed from the bottom when placed vertically. It can be charged from the USB-C terminal on the back, or it has the same size as a 500ml plastic bottle that supports wireless charging with Qi. The speaker configuration, which has been significantly reduced in size from the "Sonos Move", is a monaural configuration with two class H amplifiers, a mid-woofer, and a tweeter. Surprisingly, it doesn't use passive radiators, which is common practice in small speakers, but the sound is unexpected in a positive way, as we'll see later. Now, one of Sonos's most important sound-related technologies is Trueplay's automatic tuning. The company's home speakers use applications such as iPhone, but this unit has a built-in microphone inside the housing, so it can be optimized by itself. It automatically adjusts the sound to suit the situation. Until now, I was impressed by Sonos's overly tech-oriented part, which emphasizes high-quality sound according to the listening environment, but when I hold my iPhone in the room, Walking around, measuring and optimizing the environment in the room felt cumbersome. With Sonos Roam, the measurement is automatically automated or omitted, and just by playing music, the surrounding sounds are analyzed and optimization proceeds automatically.