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  1. Table of Contents
  2. Top
  3. Main Differences
  4. Design
    1. Pictures
    2. Style
    3. Portability
    4. Build Quality
    5. Controls
    6. In The Box
  5. Sound
    1. Frequency Response Accuracy
    2. Raw Frequency Response
    3. Soundstage
    4. Dynamics
  6. Active Features
    1. Battery
    2. Voice Assistant
    3. App
  7. Connectivity
    1. Wired
    2. Bluetooth
    3. Wi-Fi
  8. Comments

Bose Portable Smart Speaker vs Sonos Roam/Roam SL

Side-by-Side Comparison

Products

Bose Portable Smart Speaker
Sonos Roam/Roam SL

Tested using Methodology v0.8

Updated Sep 04, 2024 07:32 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com

Tested using Methodology v0.8

Updated Nov 11, 2024 07:27 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Bose Portable Smart Speaker Picture
Sonos Roam/Roam SL Picture
Bluetooth
Yes
Wi-Fi
Yes
Speakerphone
No
Voice Assistant
Yes
Battery Powered
Yes
Bluetooth
Yes
Wi-Fi
Yes
Speakerphone
No
Voice Assistant
Yes
Battery Powered
Yes

Variants

  • Portable Smart Speaker (Luxe Silver)
  • Portable Smart Speaker (Triple Black)
  • Roam (Lunar White)
  • Roam SL (Lunar White)
  • Roam (Olive)
  • Roam (Shadow Black)
  • Roam SL (Shadow Black)
  • Roam (Sunset)
  • Roam (Wave)

Review

See Bose Portable Smart Speaker Review
See Sonos Roam/Roam SL Review
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Our Verdict

Bose Portable Smart Speaker

Sonos Roam/Roam SL

The Bose Portable Smart Speaker is better than the Sonos Roam/Roam SL. The Bose has a better soundstage performance and a more extended low bass. It also gets louder. However, the Sonos is better built, and its Roam variant comes with a room correction feature.

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Luxe Silver
Portable Smart Speaker
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Lunar White
Roam
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Triple Black
Portable Smart Speaker
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Lunar White
Roam SL
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Olive
Roam
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Shadow Black
Roam
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Shadow Black
Roam SL
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Sunset
Roam
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Wave
Roam
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Main Differences for
Music

Threshold 

0.10

Music 

6.9
6.3

Soundstage 
 

7.4
6.1

Frequency Response Accuracy 
 

7.1
6.7

Full Comparison

Design

Style  

Style Photo  

Bose Portable Smart Speaker Style Photo
Sonos Roam/Roam SL Style Photo

RGB Lights  

No
No
Show Text 

Portability 
 

9.4
9.4

Dimensions Photo  

Bose Portable Smart Speaker Dimensions Photo
Sonos Roam/Roam SL Dimensions Photo

Volume 
 

148 in³ (2,420 cm³)
39 in³ (632 cm³)

Weight 
 

2.4 lbs (1.1 kg)
0.9 lbs (0.4 kg)

Power Source 
 

AC & Battery
Battery & USB

One-Hand Carry 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

Build Quality 
 

7.3
8.5

Build Quality Photo  

Bose Portable Smart Speaker Build Quality Photo
Sonos Roam/Roam SL Build Quality Photo

Material Quality 
 

Great
Good

Water Resistance 
 

Water-resistant (IPx4)
Submersible (IPx7)

Dust Resistance 
 

Unspecified
Dust-Proof (IP6x)

Impact Resistance 
 

Unspecified
Yes (IK rating unspecified)

Floats In Water 
 

Unspecified
Unspecified
Show Text 

Controls 
 

8.0
8.0

Controls Photo  

Bose Portable Smart Speaker Controls Photo
Sonos Roam/Roam SL Controls Photo

Controls Photo 2  

Bose Portable Smart Speaker Controls Photo 2
Sonos Roam/Roam SL Controls Photo 2

Ease Of Use 
 

Great
Great

Feedback 
 

Great
Great

Music Play/Pause 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Call Answer/End 
 

No
No

Volume Up/Down 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Track Next/Previous 
 

Yes
Yes (Physical)

Microphone On/Off 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Additional Controls 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

In The Box 
 

In The Box Photo  

Bose Portable Smart Speaker In The Box Photo
Sonos Roam/Roam SL In The Box Photo
Show Text 
Sound

Frequency Response Accuracy 
 

7.1
6.7

Frequency Response Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Slope 
 

-0.63
-0.06

Std. Err. 
 

2.94 dB
3.58 dB

Low-Frequency Extension 
 

55.0 Hz
62.6 Hz

High-Frequency Extension 
 

19.1 kHz
18.0 kHz
Show Text 

Raw Frequency Response 
 

Raw Frequency Response Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Binaural Recording @ 1m 
 

Binaural Recording @ 2m 
 

Soundstage 
 

7.4
6.1

Directivity Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Directivity Index 
 

1.16 dB
3.49 dB

Stereo 
 

No (mono)
No (mono)
Show Text 

Dynamics 
 

5.9
5.4

Dynamic Range Compression  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

SPL @ Max Volume 
 

89.0 dB SPL
83.8 dB SPL

DRC @ Max Volume 
 

4.32 dB
4.26 dB
Show Text 
Active Features

Battery 
 

5.6
5.4

Battery Life 
 

5.3 hrs
5.1 hrs

Charge Time 
 

2.6 hrs
3.4 hrs

Power Saving 
 

Yes
Yes

Charging Port 
 

USB-C
USB-C

Battery Powered 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

Voice Assistant 
 

9.4
9.4

Alexa 
 

Built-in (Wi-Fi Only)
Built-in (Wi-Fi Only)

Google Assistant 
 

Built-in (Wi-Fi Only)
Built-in (Wi-Fi Only)

Speakerphone 
 

No
No

Siri 
 

No
No

Voice Assistant 
 

Yes
Yes

Voice Activation 
 

Yes
Yes

Microphone Mute 
 

Yes
Yes

Far-Field Performance 
 

Excellent
Excellent

Ambient Noise Performance 
 

Great
Great
Show Text 

App 
 

7.7
9.3

App Picture  

Bose Portable Smart Speaker App Picture
Sonos Roam/Roam SL App Picture

App Name 
 

Bose Music
Sonos S2

iOS 
 

Yes
Yes

Android 
 

Yes
Yes

EQ 
 

Bass/Treble
Bass/Treble

Stereo Pair Mode 
 

No
Yes

Party Mode 
 

Yes
Yes

Multi-Room 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 
Connectivity

Wired 
 

Aux Input 
 

No
No

USB Audio 
 

No
No

Other Ports 
 

No
No
Show Text 

Bluetooth 
 

8.2
7.3

Bluetooth 
 

Yes
Yes

Bluetooth Version 
 

4.2
5.0

Bluetooth iOS Latency 
 

-56 ms
117 ms

Bluetooth Android Latency 
 

86 ms
201 ms

Bluetooth Range 
 

334.6 ft (102.0 m)
334.6 ft (102.0 m)

Multi-Device Pairing 
 

No
No
Show Text 

Wi-Fi 
 

7.5
8.3

Wi-Fi Version 
 

Wi-Fi 5
Wi-Fi 5

Wi-Fi Frequency Band 
 

5GHz
2.4GHz & 5GHz

Wi-Fi 
 

Yes
Yes

Apple AirPlay 
 

Yes
Yes

AirPlay Latency 
 

28 ms
-2 ms

Google Chromecast 
 

Yes
No

Chromecast Latency 
 

N/A
N/A
Show Text 

Check Price

Luxe Silver
Portable Smart Speaker
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Lunar White
Roam
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Triple Black
Portable Smart Speaker
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Lunar White
Roam SL
Searching
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Olive
Roam
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Shadow Black
Roam
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Shadow Black
Roam SL
Searching
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Sunset
Roam
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Wave
Roam
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Back to Top

Bose Portable Smart Speaker

Sonos Roam/Roam SL

Comments

  1. Comparison
 • Posted 1 year ago

Bose Portable Smart Speaker vs Sonos Roam/Roam SL: Main Discussion

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