Is this the best portable, pocket-sized smart speaker?

The new Sonos Roam portable smart speaker is the cheapest in Sonos’ lineup but doesn’t skimp on its features.  With the choice between the Google Assistant and Amazon's Alexa, it gives you all the benefits of a smart assistant, wire-free. 

Not only can you hook your phone, tablet or computer up to it using Bluetooth, it's also a Wi-Fi multi-room speaker, working with Sonos' system or in Apple's AirPlay 2 multi-room system. Despite the low price, you’ll also still get Sonos' Auto TruePlay feature where the speaker listens to the sound it's putting out and adjusts the audio to compensate for any distortions caused by its placement. 

But is it one of the best smart speakers you can buy? T3's Matthew Bolton and Kate Kozuch from Tom’s Guide put the Sonos Roam through its paces in this week’s episode of Totally Rated. Gamesradar gave their first thoughts on the new Oddworld: Soulstorm game, then Techradar and Tom’s Guide put the budget-friendly gaming phone Nubia RedMagic 6 to the test. 

In this week’s episode, Kate Kozuch from Tom’s Guide and Matthew Bolton from T3 were both testing out the Sonos Roam portable smart speaker. The smallest and cheapest speaker that Sonos has produced, the Roam’s ability to adapt its sound to its surroundings impressed both of them, even if they were less taken with its 10-hour battery life. 

Despite this, Kate concluded, “The Sonos Roam really could be the best portable smart speaker yet.”

In gaming, Gamesradar got their hands on Oddworld: Soulstorm, with Josh West hailing the return of Abe, “an early icon of the PlayStation era” whose last appearance was in 2014.

Josh continued, “Oddworld: Soulstorm is a fun - if not a little dated - 2.5D platformer. If you find yourself yearning for modern games with that really cool ‘90s aesthetic, this will absolutely be your jam.”

And for those of you who like to game on their phones, Techradar and Tom’s Guide went through the pros and cons of the brand new budget-friendly Nubia RedMagic 6, praising its gaming performance, but noting where the corners had been cut to keep the price tag down.

Techradar’s Tom Bedford liked the “top specs, high screen refresh rate and easy-to-use haptic triggers” while admitting the handset was “ a little rough around the edges”.

Tom’s Guide’s Jordan Palmer continued, “The RedMagic 6 is actually quite good, once you set aside its camera performance. It packs in a lot of hardware and software features for the low price of $599, which is well below rival gaming phones.”

New episodes of Totally Rated will roll out every Thursday. 

• Kit out your home with the best multi-room speaker