Sound quality: Sonos's Roam SL had Good overall sound quality - this model reproduces music and dialog reasonably well despite the obvious shortcomings in its sound. Bass has decent impact, is slightly subdued, and doesn't go deep. Midrange is even, but is somewhat hazy and grainy and a bit etched. Treble is somewhat smeared, a touch sizzly, slightly subdued overall and upper treble is muted. So-so recovery of room ambience, sounds a bit congested, and lacks fine detail. The unit is monophonic. There was no significant difference between Wifi and Bluetooth sound quality. Can be paired with a second Roam SL or Sonos Roam smart speaker to form a stereo pair that can be placed to provide better stereo separation. When stereo paired, the deep bass doesn't improve, but the mid and upper bass is no longer subdued, the room ambience improves to decent, and the overall score remains in the Good range but improves. Provides a decent volume level in a medium sized room, but gets harsh at max volumes, so is better suited for near field listening.
Ease of use: We found the Sonos Roam SL ease of use to be Good overall. WiFi setup: This involved following the quick setup guide to connect the unit and install app on mobile device then follow app instructions - good overall. May or may not require exiting app to select WiFI network and return to app to continue setup. For iOS devices, general WiFi setup also sets up Airplay 2. Bluetooth pairing requires making connection to WiFi first, then the press of an unmarked multifunction button (power button); then discover with your device. There is an indication when unit is in pairing mode and when it has paired. The volume controls are low contrast buttons (+/-) that has an audible indicator for max volume. Source selections: Requires app to be installed, app installation is straight forward. Once app is installed switching between sources within the app is fairly intuitive. Switching to Airplay 2 and Bluetooth sources requires leaving the app.
