There’s no doubt Sonos makes some of the best consumer audio tech available. Especially in South Africa where our selection of high-quality audio kit is… kind of sad. But for a while it’s felt like Sonos hasn’t invested much in developing portable sound blasters, mainly sticking to cabled options. Until now.

Late last night, Sonos announced the Roam — an ‘ultraportable’ smart speaker. From the initial press images, it’s clear that this is the smallest speaker ever produced by the audiomaker, and we’re exceptionally keen to get our hands on it.

Pack up and Roam

Even though wired kit like soundbars have their place in a home, there’s always a need for something to… roam with (we had to). The Sonos Move initiated this new wave of portable audio products within the brand, and we’re grateful for that. The Roam is much smaller than the Move, however.

“We built Roam to give customers a way to bring the Sonos experience with them wherever they go,” said Patrick Spence, Sonos CEO. “It’s not only our smartest and most versatile speaker, it’s also our most affordable. Roam provides the opportunity for millions of new customers to get started with Sonos, and is the right product at the right time as we begin to gather again with friends and family.”

Like all Sonos devices, it’ll connect to the Sonos app, which means it’ll automatically join any other Sonos products in your system, if you have some. You’ll be able to play tunes through the WiFi connection (no wires required, remember?). It’s also waterproof with an IP67 rating, features Bluetooth connectivity, integration of voice assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant, and up to 10 hours of continuous playback.

Sonos has said that the Roam will launch in South Africa on 20 April for R4,000. They’’ll be available to pre-order on Takealot from 16 March.