We managed to grab some time with the Principal Product Manager of the new Sonos Roam – Sara Morris – to talk about affordable smart-speakers, designing during lockdown, and innovations in connectivity.

 

1) How did you manage to bring the technology found in the Move to something so small with Roam? Are there any compromises vs. that earlier device?

Each speaker we create serves a different purpose and will fit different customers’ needs.

We built Roam to give customers a way to bring the Sonos experience with them wherever they go. It’s our smartest, most versatile, and affordable speaker to date, providing the opportunity for new customers to get started with Sonos, and is a perfect addition for existing customers looking to expand their system.

Roam is a carefully designed acoustic architecture that delivers rich, detailed sound with the clarity, depth, and fullness you’d expect from a larger speaker. Like Move, automatic Trueplay is available as well as Bluetooth capability and Wi-Fi.

We’ve developed a range of new technologies on Roam which we have submitted patent applications for filings covering Sound Swap, and experiences involving the simultaneous connection to WiFi and Bluetooth, and the ability to listen to a Bluetooth audio stream on other Sonos speakers throughout the home.

And like all Sonos products, Roam was tuned by industry leaders across music and film to ensure the speaker reproduces content exactly how the creator intended.

 

 

2) How big a part does customer feedback play in the product development cycle?

We’re always looking to our customers for insights on how they live and interact with Sonos products, it helps inform our thoughts on what new products or capabilities need to do.

Roam is a great example of meeting those expectations by delivering on the promise of what it means to be a fully fledged Sonos speaker that is truly ultraportable, whilst providing a magical experience at home, and on the go.

For existing Sonos owners, Roam adds flexibility and versatility with an essential form factor, with many new features like Sound Swap and Bluetooth.

3) What has creating this product in such unique circumstances been like? Have there been new processes or pipelines for iteration of a product where the form is so important?

Luckily, we started to work on Roam whilst we were still together in the offices.

We were able to trial out many different forms and weights, as well as many hand sizes as possible.

This informed our decision to pursue the triangular form and smaller size which is less than one pound, so Roam could be both beautiful, highly versatile (with two useful orientations, vertical when home and horizontal when on rough, uneven surfaces), and still be light and easy for anyone to take out with them.

When working from home became the new normal, Roam was in its later stages of development, but we still needed many eyes and ears on the product.

It was a challenge, but we had to make way more prototypes than ever before and shipping them to our team’s homes became essential. The end result shows how the team overcame those obstacles with greatness.

 

 

4) Is there any detail on why Roam isn’t able to be configured as surround speakers?

Both Roam and Move were designed to be portable speakers you can easily carry around your home, take outside or on the go – away from where your home theater set-up might be, which is typically stationary.

So in that scenario, stationary speakers, such as the One SL’s, Sonos One or the SYMFONISK range would be better options for home theater rears.

Roam doesn’t pair with Subs or Home Theater configurations. But you can of course group it with other players on the Sonos system, including your home theater configuration. 

And like all Sonos products, Roam was tuned by industry leaders across music and film to ensure the speaker reproduces content exactly how the creator intended.

5) Will ‘Sound Swap’ functionality be added to other Sonos devices via software update?

Unfortunately, we don’t share details on our future roadmap. But what I can tell you about Sound Swap is that it’s an all-new feature exclusive to Roam that makes it easy to move music from room-to-room and is particularly magical when taking advantage of the ultra-portability of Roam.

All you need to do is hold the play/pause button on Roam to move the music to the nearest speaker on your system. Roam does this by prompting the speakers in your system to emit an ultrasonic sound; Roam then detects the nearest player using its onboard microphones and moves the music in a matter of seconds.

 

 

6) Are you hoping the price point will enable Sonos to become available to more consumers, or as a compliment for those already in the ecosystem?

Roam is both a fantastic introduction and extension of Sonos. For new customers, it’s a taste of what it means to have a Sonos speaker: great sound, premium (and durable!) design, easy to use, all with the power of the Sonos system.

For existing Sonos owners, Roam adds flexibility and versatility with an essential form factor and with many new features like Sound Swap and Bluetooth and Wifi concurrency.

 

7) Where’s the first place you’re hoping to take your Roam once lockdown is over?!

How do you choose? I mean where aren’t I looking forward to going?! Roam is already making my solo spring bike rides so much more delightful. I can’t wait for all the fun we will have!