Sonos Roam Speakers Present A Severe Risk To Private Property & Lives, As Owners Are Reporting That These Devices Are Catching Fire; Company Admits The Problem But Says ‘Overall Incidence Rate Is Very Low’

The problems afflicting Sonos go deeper than the software troubles the company had to endure because its hardware is going up in smoke and instilling fear in its owners. That is correct because, according to a series of incidents, the Roam speakers are catching fire, which can present a major risk for any homeowner, but the company does not appear convinced that the issue is serious.

For the first-generation Roam, Sonos states that ‘environmental conditions’ might be responsible for the speakers catching fire, with the company taking steps to alleviate the problem

On Reddit, a Sonos Roam owner who goes by the username ‘jssumm’ stated that the speaker is two years old and sits around nearly unused. Unfortunately, the individual noticed the smell of burning plastic, and sure enough, it was emanating from the device. The Roam had caught fire, with the USB-C connection receiving the most damage.

“My 2-year-old Sonos Roam, which sits mostly unused, set itself on fire the other day. It hadn’t been used or even touched for at least a month—I’d been out of town—and I noticed a funny smell in the room it’s in. After a few hours, the smell was getting worse, and I could then recognize the smell as burning plastic, so I unplugged everything in the room. The culprit was the Roam, already singed and bulging at the usb connection.”

2 of 9

Before the problem escalated to the point of no return, a Sonos spokesperson provided the following statement to Bloomberg, mentioning that the number of incidents where Roam speakers catch fire is low, and the problem is also related to the environment. The company also mentions that software updates and hardware improvements are in the pipeline to minimize the frequency of these incidents.

”We’ve closely tracked a limited number of reports involving the USB-C charging connection on some first-generation Sonos Roam speakers. While the overall incidence rate is very low, and environmental conditions appear to play a role, we’ve taken several proactive steps to even further reduce the likelihood of this issue, including software updates and hardware improvements.”

While Sonos will downplay these accidents to save its reputation, if a major fire breaks out when a homeowner is away and cannot be present to diffuse the situation, it could turn into another PR nightmare. Fortunately, Roam 2 does not appear to be adversely affected by this problem, but we will continue to provide updates on what the speaker maker’s next move will be.

Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.