Sonos Roam update fixes one of its worst problems since launch

Source: Daniel Bader / Android Central

Sonos has pushed a new update to its Sonos S2 operating system that addresses major power management and connectivity issues with the Roam portable speaker.

The latest update includes four fixes, the most notable of which is an improvement in Roam’s battery life. After installing the Sonos S2 13.3 update, the Bluetooth speaker should now last longer in standby mode.

Previously, Roam was plagued with a pre-launch bug that caused its battery to drain much faster than expected when in idle mode. This was a major bummer for a speaker that promises up to 10 days of battery life when it goes into a low-power mode.

According to Sonos, the battery issue was caused by a bug in Google Assistant. As per Android Central’s Daniel Bader, a factory reset did not resolve the issue, even when Assistant was disabled. At the time, the only solution was to turn off the speaker when not in use.

Sonos did not specify how much battery life the new update adds to Roam on standby, but the improvement is welcome nonetheless. Even more so after the speaker’s price was raised from $169 to $179 last week, along with many of the best Sonos speakers.

In addition, the Sonos app will now notify you when “Roam is connected to a charger that isn’t providing enough power to charge the battery.” You can also wake up the speaker by pressing any of the playback buttons on top. Prior to the update, you could only use the power button on the back.

The other fix addresses some speaker connectivity issues. When two Roam speakers are suddenly disconnected while in a stereo pair, they will automatically reconnect.

You can get the new update if you have the latest version of the Sonos app installed on your phone running Android Oreo and higher. It’s also available on other platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows and Fire OS.