Sonos’ Roam 2 speaker is easier to use and available today for $179
Sonos is refreshing its small portable speaker, the Roam, with a second-generation model that mostly adds some minor quality-of-life improvements. It’s reasonable to think of the new Roam 2, available today for $199, as more of a Roam 1.5: this is really what Sonos should’ve released in the first place.
As I reported earlier this month, the Roam 2 can be used right out of the box like any other Bluetooth speaker. That differs from the original, which awkwardly required an initial setup process with the Sonos app — on your home Wi-Fi network, no less — before you could use it on the go. Seems silly for a portable audio product, right? Thankfully Sonos now agrees.
The Roam 2 also gains a dedicated Bluetooth pairing button on the back,...