Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 2nd Gen vs Sonos Roam

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Beosound A1 2nd Gen compared with Roam

	Bang & OlufsenBeosound A1 2nd Gen	SonosRoam
Overview
Released
Released	May 2020	April 2021
Sound
Type
Type	Portable speaker	Portable speaker
Dolby Atmos
Dolby Atmos	No	No
Drivers
Drivers	3.5-inch aluminium-cone woofer and 3/4-inch silk dome tweeter; 360° sound in a closed box	One custom racetrack mid-woofer and one tweeter
Amplifiers
Amplifiers	2 × 30 W class D	Two Class-H digital amplifiers
Frequency response
Frequency response	55 Hz – 20 kHz (−10 dB); up to 92 dB SPL at 1 m; bass capability 62 dB SPL at 1 m	–
Room tuning
Room tuning	Five EQ presets and a custom EQ in the Bang & Olufsen app	Automatic Trueplay adjusts for orientation, location and content over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth; microphone must be enabled
Connections
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	No	Yes
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	Yes	Yes
AirPlay
AirPlay	No	Yes
Voice assistants
Voice assistants	Alexa	Alexa, Google Assistant and Sonos Voice Control
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	–	802.11a/b/g/n/ac on 2.4 or 5 GHz; maker launch fact sheet omits 802.11a from this list
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 5.1; AAC and aptX Adaptive; multipoint for two devices; remembers eight; Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair	Audio streaming; original and later colour fact sheets specify Bluetooth 5.0, while the current maker guide lists 5.3
Ports
Ports	USB-C for charging, streaming and speakerphone (5 V, 3 A)	USB-C charging; no analogue audio input (TechRadar)
Streaming
Streaming	–	Sonos app services, Sonos Radio and AirPlay 2 over Wi-Fi; Bluetooth playback can be grouped with other Sonos speakers through the Wi-Fi system
Multi-room
Multi-room	Stereo pairing with a second Beosound A1 2nd Gen	Sonos multi-room playback, stereo pairing with another Roam and Sound Swap to transfer music to or from a nearby Sonos speaker; cannot serve as rear cinema speakers (TechRadar)
App
App	Bang & Olufsen app	Sonos S2 app for setup; original model requires Wi-Fi setup before Bluetooth pairing (TechRadar)
Design
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 18 hours	Up to 10 hours
Water and dust resistance
Water and dust resistance	IP67	IP67
Weight
Weight	0.558 kg	0.43 kg (better)
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Up to 18 hours at typical volume (70 dB), 48 hours at 55 dB; 3,000 mAh; 2.75 hours to charge at 5 V / 3 A	Maker claims up to 10 hours of continuous playback; USB-C charging with a 7.5 W minimum adaptor, 10 W recommended in the guide; Qi or optional Sonos wireless charger. Guide specifies 18 Wh and 0–50% in one hour wired or two hours wirelessly
Controls
Controls	–	Volume +/–, play/pause and microphone buttons; double-press playback for next track, triple-press for previous; hold for grouping and Sound Swap; shared rear power/Bluetooth button
Microphones
Microphones	Three-microphone array with far-field pickup for Alexa and calls	Far-field microphone array with beamforming and multi-channel echo cancellation
Mounting
Mounting	Leather strap for hanging	–
Size
Size	133 × 46 × 133 mm (W × H × D)	168 mm high, 62 mm wide, 60 mm deep
Colours
Colours	Black Anthracite and Grey Mist at launch	Shadow Black and Lunar White at launch; Olive, Wave and Sunset added in 2022
In the box
In the box	Beosound A1 2nd Gen, USB-C to USB-A cable (1.25 m), quick start guide	Sonos Roam, USB-A to USB-C cable, quick-start documentation; no power adaptor