Sonos Roam
For those already invested in Sonos, this portable speaker is an absolute no-brainer addition to the family. It delivers all the convenience of a Bluetooth speaker, with the benefits of adding it back into a wider Sonos system when you’re at home. All that, and it sounds fantastic too.
The Sonos One is a small but mighty little speaker. It delivers a premium, solid design, just as you would expect from a Sonos device, but it couples its good looks with smarts too. It might have been replaced by the Era 100, but the One remains a superb speaker.
There are numerous speakers withinthe Sonos portfoliobut if you’re looking at the smaller end of the range, the choice comes down to the Sonos Roam, Roam SL, Sonos One, One SL, or the Era 100 that launched in 2023, replacing the One and One SL.
We’vecompared the Era 100 to the One and One SLelsewhere, but here we are focusing on the differences between the Sonos Roam, Roam SL and the Sonos One (Gen 2), and One SL, to help you work out which could be the right starting point for you into the Sonos system, or which you should add to an existing one.
If you are keen to know the Sonos One and One SL compare, or how theRoam and Roam SL compare, we have you covered in separate features.
Price, availability and specs
TheSonos Roamand Roam SL are the entry points into the Sonos line-up, if you ignore the IKEA options. They are very closely followed by theSonos Oneand One SL in terms of price though, and while the One and One SL have been replaced by theSonos Era 100, as we mentioned, they remain available through a number of retailers, for now anyway.
The Roam SL is the cheapest,costing $159 in the USand £159 in the UK. The Roam meanwhile, costs $179 in the US and £179 in the UK. The Sonos One SLlaunched at $179 in the USand £179 in the UK, while the Sonos One launched at $219 in the US and £199 in the UK. It’s possible you might find the One and One SL cheaper now though following the launch of the Era 100.
The Sonos Roam comes in five colour options, while the Roam SL, One and One SL all come in two (black and white) like the majority of the Sonos portfolio. We’ve delved a little deeper into the differences in specs and features between the Roam and One models throughout this feature but you can have a glance at the spec table below for a quick overview.
The Sonos Roam and Roam SL are triangular prism shaped and they are small, light and portable - around the size of a water bottle - so you can pick them up and bring them wherever you go. Both areIP67 water and dust resistant, but while the Roam comes in five colour options comprising Shadow Black, Lunar White, Sunset, Olive and Wave, the Roam SL only comes in Shadow Black and Lunar White colour options.
On the top of the Roam, there are tactile controls for microphone, play/pause, skip and rewind, and the Roam can be positioned vertically or horizontally. The Roam SL offers the same but without the microphone button. There is a wireless charger sold separately that the Roam and Roam SL will magnetically attach to, or you can charge them via the USB-C port.
The One and One SL meanwhile, are a little shorter and fatter than Roam and Roam SL in terms of physical measurements, but the main difference is they are mains-powered devices and not portable - or waterproof. They can also only be positioned vertically.
One comes in black and white colour options and it has capacitive controls on top, with a microphone on/off button, play/pause and skip and rewind. There’s a pairing button on the back, next to the power port and an ethernet port. The One SL has an almost identical design to the One, but it doesn’t have a microphone array or button on its top controls.
The Sonos Roam and Sonos One both come with all the features offered by all Sonos speakers, like support for over 100 streaming services, stereo pairing, EQ adjusting throughthe Sonos appand of course, seamless multi-room audio, among plenty of others.
The Roam and One also both have built-in support forAmazon AlexaandGoogle Assistant- meaning they are both smart speakers. You can’t have both assistants running at the same time but you can switch between them. Both also have support forSonos Voice Control, which is predominately used for controlling the speaker itself rather than offering smart home functionality. You can run Sonos Voice Control alongside Alexa, but not alongside Google Assistant. Roam SL and One SL don’t have built-in support for any of the assistants but they can be controlled via a Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa device.
Both Roam and One haveTrueplay tuningon board, enabling you to tune them according to their surroundings, though Roam does this automatically, whereas Roam SL, One andOne SLrequire you to do it manually with an iOS device.
From here, Roam and Roam SL then take the lead in the feature department compared to the One and One SL. They offer Bluetooth connectivity - automatically switching between Bluetooth and Wi-Fi - meaning you can use Roam and Roam SL as a traditional Sonos speaker when on Wi-Fi, or as atraditional Bluetooth speakerwhen you leave the house.
There’s also a feature calledSound Swapon the Sonos Roam (not on the Roam SL though) where you push and hold the play/pause button to send the music playing on Roam to the nearest Sonos speaker. The Sonos One, One SL and Roam SL can receive the music from Roam if they are closest and they will continue playing whatever tunes you were listening to.
The Sonos One and One SL don’t have Bluetooth connectivity and they don’t offer Sound Swap, but they can both be grouped with aSonos Arc, Beam,Beam (Gen 2), Playbar or Playbase and Sonos SUB to act as surrounds and there are somegreat Sonos accessoriesthat make placing them lovely and simple. The Roam nor the Roam SL can be grouped with a Sonos soundbar or theSonos SuborSub Mini.
The Sonos Roam and Roam SL feature two Class-H digital amplifiers, one tweeter and one mid-woofer under their hoods. There’s also Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on board both models, while the Roam has a far-field microphone array too.
The Sonos One and One SL have two Class-D amplifiers, a tweeter and a mid-woofer. The One also has a far-field microphone array - the One SL doesn’t - and they both have Wi-Fi on board, but no Bluetooth capabilities. All four speakers offerApple AirPlay 2 support.
In terms of sound output, the Sonos One delivers a little extra than the Roam and Roam SL, but the Roam is an excellent sounding speaker for its size and all speakers have no problem filling a standard room with sound. They also all sound great so you’re unlikely to be disappointed with any of them in this department.
Sonos Roam vs Sonos One: Which should you buy?
The decision between the Sonos Roam, Roam SL, Sonos One and Sonos One SL will come down to what you want your speaker to deliver.
The Roam offers the best of both worlds, giving you an excellent multi-room Sonos speaker when on Wi-Fi and an excellent Bluetooth speaker when out and about - whether you opt for the Roam or Roam SL. The standard Roam also has some great features, like Sound Swap, automatic Trueplay tuning and Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa support.
The Sonos Roam is super portable, packed with features and it sounds great, It also offers the best of both worlds, delivering a portable Bluetooth speaker and a standard Sonos Wi-Fi speaker in one.
Sonos Roam SL
The Sonos Roam SL has the same design and sound architecture as the Sonos Roam, but it doesn’t offer a microphone and so misses out on a couple of features.
The One is a little more expensive and it isn’t portable, though it delivers a little extra punch in terms of sound compared to Roam, two can be grouped with a Sonos soundbar and Sub or Sub Mini and used as surrounds (which Roam can’t) and it still has some great features despite being older now, like the smart assistant support and manual Trueplay.
If you’re looking for great sound performance and you aren’t bothered about your speaker being portable, the Sonos One is an excellent option.
The One SL meanwhile, delivers the same sound capabilities as the One, but it isn’t a smart speaker and the same goes for the Roam SL in regards to the Roam. You’d pick the One SL if you wanted a small Sonos speaker but you aren’t bothered about portability or having Google or Alexa, or if you want two as surrounds to your Beam or Arc. You’d pick the Roam SL if you wanted a small and portable Sonos speaker that sounds great but doesn’t have all the features on offer.
Sonos One SL
For those looking for great sound performance and a non-portable or Bluetooth speaker, the Sonos One SL is great value. It doesn’t have smart assistants like the One, but otherwise it’s the same.
