OPINION: From Microsoft unveiling its new AI ventures to the newest era of handsets from Poco, there’s been no scarcity of tech reveals this week. However the two which have completely floored me are, funnily sufficient, from the identical firm.
Except you determined to disregard the information this week, you’re seemingly conscious that Sonos lastly debuted its first pair of headphones within the Sonos Ace.
This can be a milestone not only for the corporate itself however for the headphone market at giant because it now means there’s yet another fighter within the ring to problem premium picks from the likes of Apple, Sony and Sennheiser.
It says so much that regardless of well-known audio chops within the realm of house leisure and audio system, Sonos took its time earlier than deciding to enter this already populated market, giving it one of the best alternative to make an affect by bringing significant options to the desk that pair properly with Sonos’ signature sound.
Whereas it has all the standard headphone trappings together with energetic noise cancellation and computerized pause/play features, what actually stands out is the truth that it could actually seamlessly hyperlink up with a Sonos Arc soundbar in order that once you wish to transition to non-public audio throughout a movie or TV present, all you need to do is change on the headphones.
That is simply the kind of characteristic that would enchantment to house cinema lovers (and present Sonos customers) and whereas there are comparable variations of the thought on competing gadgets, they haven’t been offered on this method earlier than. Once more, it’s an incredible instance of an organization eyeing up the market and seeing the place it could actually stand out amongst the gang, and but for no matter cause, Sonos has executed the exact opposite with the shock launch of the Sonos Roam 2.
Is that this actually the brand new Roam?
As one of many few merchandise to ever rating a full five-star ranking right here at Trusted Evaluations, the unique Sonos Roam remains to be an incredible suggestion in 2024, years after launch, and any minor points we had with the system merely weren’t sufficient to decrease it general. You’d suppose that Sonos can be pleased with that however as a substitute, to maintain the Roam contemporary within the minds of shoppers, it has put out essentially the most iterative of updates I’ve ever seen.
There was no change to the sound high quality, the design is sort of similar (save for a change within the colouration of the Sonos brand) and the battery life stays the identical at 10-hours. So what precisely has modified right here? Properly, there’s now a devoted Bluetooth button and the Roam 2 can now pair proper out of the field with out having to undergo the earlier Wi-Fi set-up. That’s it.
At a time when huge manufacturers like Samsung and Apple are accused of counting on solely the smallest of updates for his or her yearly telephone releases, I by no means anticipated Sonos of all corporations to pull the bar down even additional. How the brand new Roam ever acquired a ‘2’ added to its identify as a substitute of being launched similarly because the USB-C AirPods Professional, I’ll by no means know.