JBL Charge 5 vs Sonos Roam

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Charge 5 compared with Roam

	JBLCharge 5	SonosRoam
Overview
Released
Released	April 2021	April 2021
Sound
Type
Type	Portable speaker	Portable speaker
Dolby Atmos
Dolby Atmos	No	No
Drivers
Drivers	52 × 90 mm racetrack woofer, 20 mm tweeter and dual passive radiators	One custom racetrack mid-woofer and one tweeter
Amplifiers
Amplifiers	30 W RMS for the woofer, 10 W RMS for the tweeter	Two Class-H digital amplifiers
Room tuning
Room tuning	–	Automatic Trueplay adjusts for orientation, location and content over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth; microphone must be enabled
Frequency response
Frequency response	60 Hz – 20 kHz; signal-to-noise ratio over 80 dB	–
Connections
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	No	Yes
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	Yes	Yes
AirPlay
AirPlay	No	Yes
Voice assistants
Voice assistants	None	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; A2DP 1.3, AVRCP 1.6; two phones or tablets can connect and take turns	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; USB-A out to charge a phone (5 V, 2 A maximum; port type from What Hi-Fi)	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	PartyBoost stereo pairing, or linking several PartyBoost speakers	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	–	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 20 hours	Up to 10 hours
Water and dust resistance
Water and dust resistance	IP67	IP67
Weight
Weight	0.96 kg	0.43 kg (better)
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Up to 20 hours; 27 Wh (3.6 V, 7,500 mAh) lithium-ion polymer battery; 4 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	–	Far-field microphone array with beamforming and multi-channel echo cancellation
Size
Size	223 × 96.5 × 94 mm (W × H × D)	168 mm high, 62 mm wide, 60 mm deep
Colours
Colours	Black, Blue, Grey, Red, Teal and Squad at launch; JBL Singapore also lists Forest Green and Pink	Shadow Black and Lunar White at launch; Olive, Wave and Sunset added in 2022
In the box
In the box	Charge 5, USB-C cable, quick start guide, safety sheet, warranty card	Sonos Roam, USB-A to USB-C cable, quick-start documentation; no power adaptor