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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

Sonos Roam/Roam SL vs Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore

Side-by-Side Comparison

Products

Sonos Roam/Roam SL
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore

Tested using Methodology v0.8

Updated Nov 11, 2024 07:27 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com

Tested using Methodology v0.8

Updated Feb 04, 2025 12:26 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Sonos Roam/Roam SL Picture
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Picture
Bluetooth
Yes
Wi-Fi
Yes
Speakerphone
No
Voice Assistant
Yes
Battery Powered
Yes
Bluetooth
Yes
Wi-Fi
No
Speakerphone
No
Voice Assistant
No
Battery Powered
Yes

Variants

  • Roam (Lunar White)
  • Roam SL (Lunar White)
  • Roam (Olive)
  • Roam (Shadow Black)
  • Roam SL (Shadow Black)
  • Roam (Sunset)
  • Roam (Wave)
  • Beosound Explore (Anthracite)
  • Beosound Explore (Green)
  • Beosound Explore (Grey Mist)

Review

See Sonos Roam/Roam SL Review
See Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Review
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0 

Our Verdict

Sonos Roam/Roam SL

Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore

The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore and the Sonos Roam/Roam SL are similarly performing portable Bluetooth speakers. That said, the Sonos offers a more neutral sound profile with Trueplay enabled and offers excellent voice assistant support through its Roam variant. The Bang & Olufsen can play stereo content without downmixing it to mono and has a better soundstage performance.

0 

Check Price

Lunar White
Roam
Searching
Finding store
Anthracite
Beosound Explore
Searching
Finding store
Lunar White
Roam SL
Searching
Finding store
Green
Beosound Explore
Searching
Finding store
Olive
Roam
Searching
Finding store
Grey Mist
Beosound Explore
Searching
Finding store
Shadow Black
Roam
Searching
Finding store
 
Shadow Black
Roam SL
Searching
Finding store
 
Sunset
Roam
Searching
Finding store
 
Wave
Roam
Searching
Finding store
 

Main Differences for
Music

Threshold 

0.10

Music 

6.3
6.4

Frequency Response Accuracy 
 

6.7
5.6

Soundstage 
 

6.1
8.8

Dynamics 
 

5.4
6.5

Full Comparison

Design

Style  

Style Photo  

Sonos Roam/Roam SL Style Photo
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Style Photo

RGB Lights  

No
No
Show Text 

Portability 
 

9.4
9.3

Dimensions Photo  

Sonos Roam/Roam SL Dimensions Photo
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Dimensions Photo

Volume 
 

39 in³ (632 cm³)
50 in³ (813 cm³)

Weight 
 

0.9 lbs (0.4 kg)
1.3 lbs (0.6 kg)

Power Source 
 

Battery & USB
Battery & USB

One-Hand Carry 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

Build Quality 
 

8.5
8.3

Build Quality Photo  

Sonos Roam/Roam SL Build Quality Photo
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Build Quality Photo

Material Quality 
 

Good
Great

Water Resistance 
 

Submersible (IPx7)
Submersible (IPx7)

Dust Resistance 
 

Dust-Proof (IP6x)
Dust-Proof (IP6x)

Impact Resistance 
 

Yes (IK rating unspecified)
No

Floats In Water 
 

Unspecified
Unspecified
Show Text 

Controls 
 

8.0
6.9

Controls Photo  

Sonos Roam/Roam SL Controls Photo
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Controls Photo

Controls Photo 2  

Sonos Roam/Roam SL Controls Photo 2
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Controls Photo 2

Ease Of Use 
 

Great
Great

Feedback 
 

Great
Good

Music Play/Pause 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Call Answer/End 
 

No
No

Volume Up/Down 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Track Next/Previous 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Microphone On/Off 
 

Yes (Physical)
No

Additional Controls 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

In The Box 
 

In The Box Photo  

Sonos Roam/Roam SL In The Box Photo
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore In The Box Photo
Show Text 
Sound

Frequency Response Accuracy 
 

6.7
5.6

Frequency Response Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Slope 
 

-0.06
-1.20

Std. Err. 
 

3.58 dB
4.19 dB

Low-Frequency Extension 
 

62.6 Hz
91.1 Hz

High-Frequency Extension 
 

18.0 kHz
12.7 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 
 

6.1
8.8

Directivity Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Directivity Index 
 

3.49 dB
2.22 dB

Stereo 
 

No (mono)
Yes
Show Text 

Dynamics 
 

5.4
6.5

Dynamic Range Compression  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

SPL @ Max Volume 
 

83.8 dB SPL
84.8 dB SPL

DRC @ Max Volume 
 

4.26 dB
2.24 dB
Show Text 
Active Features

Battery 
 

5.4
7.5

Battery Life 
 

5.1 hrs
9.0 hrs

Charge Time 
 

3.4 hrs
3.9 hrs

Power Saving 
 

Yes
Yes

Charging Port 
 

USB-C
USB-C

Battery Powered 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

Voice Assistant 
 

9.4
0.0

Alexa 
 

Built-in (Wi-Fi Only)
No

Google Assistant 
 

Built-in (Wi-Fi Only)
No

Speakerphone 
 

No
No

Siri 
 

No
No

Voice Assistant 
 

Yes
No

Voice Activation 
 

Yes
No

Microphone Mute 
 

Yes
No Microphone

Far-Field Performance 
 

Excellent
No Microphone

Ambient Noise Performance 
 

Great
No Microphone
Show Text 

App 
 

9.3
6.0

App Picture  

Sonos Roam/Roam SL App Picture
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore App Picture

App Name 
 

Sonos S2
Bang & Olufsen

iOS 
 

Yes
Yes

Android 
 

Yes
Yes

EQ 
 

Bass/Treble
Presets

Stereo Pair Mode 
 

Yes
Yes

Party Mode 
 

Yes
No

Multi-Room 
 

Yes
No
Show Text 
Connectivity

Wired 
 

Aux Input 
 

No
No

USB Audio 
 

No
Yes

Other Ports 
 

No
No
Show Text 

Bluetooth 
 

7.3
9.7

Bluetooth 
 

Yes
Yes

Bluetooth Version 
 

5.0
5.2

Bluetooth iOS Latency 
 

117 ms
6 ms

Bluetooth Android Latency 
 

201 ms
28 ms

Bluetooth Range 
 

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

Multi-Device Pairing 
 

No
2 Devices
Show Text 

Wi-Fi 
 

8.3
0.0

Wi-Fi Version 
 

Wi-Fi 5
No Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi Frequency Band 
 

2.4GHz & 5GHz
No Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi 
 

Yes
No

Apple AirPlay 
 

Yes
No

AirPlay Latency 
 

-2 ms
N/A

Google Chromecast 
 

No
No

Chromecast Latency 
 

N/A
N/A
Show Text 

Check Price

Lunar White
Roam
Searching
Finding store
Anthracite
Beosound Explore
Searching
Finding store
Lunar White
Roam SL
Searching
Finding store
Green
Beosound Explore
Searching
Finding store
Olive
Roam
Searching
Finding store
Grey Mist
Beosound Explore
Searching
Finding store
Shadow Black
Roam
Searching
Finding store
 
Shadow Black
Roam SL
Searching
Finding store
 
Sunset
Roam
Searching
Finding store
 
Wave
Roam
Searching
Finding store
 
Back to Top

Sonos Roam/Roam SL

Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore

Comments

  1. Comparison
 • Posted 1 year ago

Sonos Roam/Roam SL vs Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore: Main Discussion

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