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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 Bose SoundLink Flex

Side-by-Side Comparison

Products

Sonos Roam/Roam SL
Bose SoundLink Flex

Tested using Methodology v0.8

Updated Nov 11, 2024 07:27 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com

Tested using Methodology v0.8

Updated Oct 31, 2024 02:49 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Sonos Roam/Roam SL Picture
Bose SoundLink Flex Picture

Variants

  • Roam (Lunar White)
  • Roam SL (Lunar White)
  • Roam (Olive)
  • Roam (Shadow Black)
  • Roam SL (Shadow Black)
  • Roam (Sunset)
  • Roam (Wave)
  • SoundLink Flex (Black)
  • SoundLink Flex (Carmine Red)
  • SoundLink Flex (Chilled Lilac)
  • SoundLink Flex (Cypress Green)
  • SoundLink Flex (Stone Blue)
  • SoundLink Flex (White Smoke)

Our Verdict

Sonos Roam/Roam SL

Bose SoundLink Flex

Depending on your listening habits, you may prefer either the Sonos Roam/Roam SL or the Bose SoundLink Flex. The Sonos is Wi-Fi enabled, and its Roam variant offers fantastic voice assistant support with Alexa and Google Assistant built-in. It's smaller and more portable, too, with bass and treble adjustments to tweak its sound to your liking. That said, the Bose can get a bit louder with less compression at max volume. The Bose also has a better-balanced sound profile out of the box and has a longer-lasting battery life, though this can depend on your usage.

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Check Price

Lunar White
Roam
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Black
SoundLink Flex
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Lunar White
Roam SL
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Carmine Red
SoundLink Flex
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Chilled Lilac
SoundLink Flex
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Shadow Black
Roam
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Cypress Green
SoundLink Flex
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Shadow Black
Roam SL
Amazon.com
Stone Blue
SoundLink Flex
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
White Smoke
SoundLink Flex
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com

Main Differences for

Threshold 

0.10

Music 

6.3
6.3

EQ 
 

Bass/Treble
No

Dynamics 
 

5.4
6.4

Frequency Response Accuracy 
 

6.7
6.9

Soundstage 
 

6.1
5.5

Full Comparison

Design

Style  

Style Photo  

Sonos Roam/Roam SL Style Photo
Bose SoundLink Flex Style Photo

RGB Lights  

No
No

Show text

Portability 
 

9.4
9.2

Dimensions Photo  

Sonos Roam/Roam SL Dimensions Photo
Bose SoundLink Flex Dimensions Photo

Volume 
 

39 in³ (632 cm³)
57 in³ (942 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
8.7

Build Quality Photo  

Sonos Roam/Roam SL Build Quality Photo
Bose SoundLink Flex Build Quality Photo

Material Quality 
 

Good
Good

Water Resistance 
 

Submersible (IPx7)
Submersible (IPx7)

Dust Resistance 
 

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

Impact Resistance 
 

Yes (IK rating unspecified)
Yes (IK rating unspecified)

Floats In Water 
 

Unspecified
Yes

Show text

Controls 
 

8.0
8.4

Controls Photo  

Sonos Roam/Roam SL Controls Photo
Bose SoundLink Flex Controls Photo

Controls Photo 2  

Sonos Roam/Roam SL Controls Photo 2
Bose SoundLink Flex Controls Photo 2

Ease Of Use 
 

Great
Okay

Feedback 
 

Great
Decent

Music Play/Pause 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Call Answer/End 
 

No
Yes (Physical)

Volume Up/Down 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Track Next/Previous 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Microphone On/Off 
 

Yes (Physical)
Yes (Physical)

Additional Controls 
 

Yes
Yes

Show text

In The Box 
 

In The Box Photo  

Sonos Roam/Roam SL In The Box Photo
Bose SoundLink Flex In The Box Photo

Show text

Sound

Frequency Response Accuracy 
 

6.7
6.9

Frequency Response Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Slope 
 

-0.06
0.22

Std. Err. 
 

3.58 dB
2.85 dB

Low-Frequency Extension 
 

62.6 Hz
60.8 Hz

High-Frequency Extension 
 

18.0 kHz
15.6 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
5.5

Directivity Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Directivity Index 
 

3.49 dB
4.59 dB

Stereo 
 

No (mono)
No (mono)

Show text

Dynamics 
 

5.4
6.4

Dynamic Range Compression  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

SPL @ Max Volume 
 

83.8 dB SPL
87.5 dB SPL

DRC @ Max Volume 
 

4.26 dB
3.02 dB

Show text

Active Features

Battery 
 

5.4
6.7

Battery Life 
 

5.1 hrs
7.2 hrs

Charge Time 
 

3.4 hrs
2.7 hrs

Power Saving 
 

Yes
Yes

Charging Port 
 

USB-C
USB-C

Battery Powered 
 

Yes
Yes

Show text

Voice Assistant 
 

9.4
5.7

Alexa 
 

Built-in (Wi-Fi Only)
No

Google Assistant 
 

Built-in (Wi-Fi Only)
Yes (Requires Smartphone)

Speakerphone 
 

No
Yes

Siri 
 

No
Yes (Requires Smartphone)

Voice Assistant 
 

Yes
Yes

Voice Activation 
 

Yes
No

Microphone Mute 
 

Yes
No

Far-Field Performance 
 

Excellent
Excellent

Ambient Noise Performance 
 

Great
Excellent

Show text

App 
 

9.3
6.6

App Picture  

Sonos Roam/Roam SL App Picture
Bose SoundLink Flex App Picture

App Name 
 

Sonos S2
Bose Connect

iOS 
 

Yes
Yes

Android 
 

Yes
Yes

EQ 
 

Bass/Treble
No

Stereo Pair Mode 
 

Yes
Yes

Party Mode 
 

Yes
Yes

Multi-Room 
 

Yes
No

Show text

Connectivity

Wired 
 

Aux Input 
 

No
No

USB Audio 
 

No
No

Other Ports 
 

No
No

Show text

Bluetooth 
 

7.3
8.0

Bluetooth 
 

Yes
Yes

Bluetooth Version 
 

5.0
4.2

Bluetooth iOS Latency 
 

117 ms
236 ms

Bluetooth Android Latency 
 

201 ms
109 ms

Bluetooth Range 
 

334.6 ft (102.0 m)
255.9 ft (78.0 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
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Black
SoundLink Flex
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Lunar White
Roam SL
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Carmine Red
SoundLink Flex
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Chilled Lilac
SoundLink Flex
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Shadow Black
Roam
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Cypress Green
SoundLink Flex
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Shadow Black
Roam SL
Amazon.com
Stone Blue
SoundLink Flex
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
White Smoke
SoundLink Flex
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com

Sonos Roam/Roam SL

Bose SoundLink Flex

Comments

  1. Comparison

Sonos Roam/Roam SL vs Bose SoundLink Flex: Main Discussion

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