Sonos Era 100 and Era 300 review: The next generation of great, reliable multi-room sound

Sonos has two new speakers going on sale Tuesday, March 28, and they’re each significant new types that occupy a pair of critical spots in the general Sonos line-up: The Era 100 is primarily the substitute for the Sonos One, arguably the ‘default’ starter speaker for any one searching to establish out a Sonos technique.

The Era 300, its greater sibling, is the 1st Sonos speaker to support spatial audio, and occupies a spot someplace between the now-defunct Engage in:3 and the Sonos Five. We took equally for a take a look at generate, and observed lots of causes to get energized about Sonos’ Era era.

The basic principles

The Sonos Period 100 in essence drops in as a alternative for the Sonos A single in the existing products lineup, and it is bought a design to match. Compared with the Sonos A person, the Period 100 is a correct rounded cylinder (instead of a 3D rounded rectangle like the One) and is slightly taller than the Just one, but with a more svelte appearance overall thanks to becoming more slender facet-to-facet.

The Period 100 connects via Wi-Fi to your Sonos system, and involves Apple AirPlay 2 like its predecessor. It also has a mic and supports Sonos’ own voice command as nicely as Amazon Alexa (unlike on more mature equipment, Google Assistant is no for a longer period an selection). It has a actual physical switch for disabling the mic on top of the contact control mute from prior models, and the redesigned top contact area has a focused volume slider, play/pause and skip controls.

New to the Period 100 and the Period 300 are two extra link alternatives: Bluetooth, and actual physical line-in. These are both equally welcome, but it is vital to observe the USB-C port applied for line-in on both of those requires the addition of the Sonos Line-In Adapter for connecting to 3.5 mm resources. I believed that considering the fact that it was USB-C, it would be uncomplicated to just link a supply like a MacBook Professional instantly and have it acknowledged as an external audio unit, but that doesn’t function — nor does employing existing USB-C-to-3.5 mm audio adapters that I experienced on hand.

The Era 100 also gains two different tweeters for the initial time in a speaker this dimension from Sonos, as well as a much larger subwoofer. The final result really should be much more clarity and pure audio compared to the Sonos A single. Far more on how that provides afterwards on.

The Sonos Era 300 is a considerably far more internet-new speaker for the firm, although it around occupies the place in the lineup still left at the rear of by the discontinuation of the Enjoy:3, which was not right away changed by a different design at or around its price tag point. The Period 300 is rather distinctive, nonetheless, each in terms of its layout – it appears to be like an hourglass laid on its side – and its feature established, considering that it includes assist for spatial audio for the initial time.

Sonos built the internals of the Era 300, which packs 4 tweeters going through in all instructions but down, as well as a pair of woofers, to be equipped to fill a space with seem from a one stage. It can reproduce both equally stereo and spatial mixes, and doesn’t artificially manipulate stereo audio to seem spatialized, luckily. Sonos also delivered the Era 300 with the means to act as rear speakers for a Sonos surround set up, which implies if you have a mainly unrestricted spending plan, you can get two speakers as well as an Arc and a Sonos Sub to produce a virtual 7.1.4 seem method.

Of study course, both the Era 100 and Era 300 can sign up for an existing Sonos set up and attain accessibility to all the synced multi-place playback characteristics that Sonos is recognised for. Both equally also element both of those fast tuning (which works by using tones to routinely change audio) and TruePlay tuning, which takes advantage of the created-in mic to adjust seem to best suit your space along with you strolling all-around your place with your mobile unit. Also, if you have the input adapters, you can play back audio from your line-in supply throughout your different Sonos speakers.

Style and design

The two these Sonos speakers obtain new highs for the brand in terms of layout, in my belief. The Era 100 is a straight across the plate, essential bookshelf speaker with just a trace of edge thanks to the oblong condition. It looks a lot more innocuous in situ across a assortment of domestic configurations, together with in the kitchen or when established up as rears thanks to some subtle tweaks, like the reality that the speaker grill goes nearly all the way to the top rated of the speaker, compared with on the Sonos 1, which had a band of reliable surface around the higher edge.

The new quantity rocker indentation is a welcome improve and provides some tactile reward to distinguishing it from the forward/again buttons, and the refined vertical emblem on the entrance grill is a wonderful bit of branding that does not mar an normally really covert look.

For the Era 300, Sonos clearly went a bit far more adventurous, coming up with a form that tapers to the center and then flares back out in direction of the back again. This is most likely at minimum in section practical as well as aesthetic to give the Era 300 with its spatial audio and height channel encompass capabilities. It will make for a a great deal extra putting design vs. the Era 100, but it is just one that I assume is effective pretty perfectly in a assortment of settings. It’s surely a little bit far more interest-grabbing, but given that it ends up wanting like a modern day architectural mini sculpture, that is not at all a undesirable thing. In simple fact, I would say the Period 300 is probably the very best-looking speaker Sonos has at any time manufactured.

Attributes & Functionality

Let us get the basic principles out of the way very first: Sonos’ new speakers are just as dependable in terms of the core Sonos magic as any that have appear right before. They deliver rock-good, multi-place synced audio playback, and will combine quickly with your present set up really should you have one.

All right, with that out of the way, let’s communicate about what these speakers uniquely deliver that Sonos’ existing lineup hasn’t provided.

The Period 100 has interior components variations that the firm claims supplies much better seem than the Sonos A single. Primarily based on tests, that does certainly appear to be the situation, with a couple caveats. The to start with is that I would say if you’re looking to use an Era 100 on its possess, you definitely get a good deal superior audio high quality compared to a Sonos One acting solo. The added tweeter and more substantial woofer do supply a lot more accurate seem with significantly less muddied mixes, in particular at decreased volumes.

If you are debating irrespective of whether or not to enhance an current Sonos 1 pair to Era 100s, I consider issues get a good deal more murky. The point is that in most settings, for most setups, you very likely won’t get plenty of of a change in over-all professional audio quality to justify the price tag of upgrading. But if you are coming to it new, or upgrading from a a lot more mature pair of Enjoy:1s, it’s unquestionably a wonderful-sounding speaker — on your own or with each other.

As for the Period 300, it is far simpler to advocate this more broadly, in element simply because there is absolutely nothing seriously equal in Sonos’ current heritage to evaluate it against. It genuinely provides terrific, space-filling audio with stunning clarity and sophistication supplied its footprint and measurement. The Era 300 is a great sole speaker for any area wherever you want audio (compared to having a soundbar or property theater program for a Television set), and I observed it was even comparable to the a lot more high-priced and superb Sonos Five that the organization even now sells, in phrases of general excellent.

Of system, the Sonos Era 300’s huge, extravagant new element is assistance for spatial audio, which it provides if you use Amazon Audio Limitless as a source, or Apple Songs by using a forthcoming update, for tracks mastered with Dolby Atmos Audio. I tested this with appropriate tracks from Amazon Tunes Endless and discovered that it does certainly make a change and appears wonderful — I just could not definitely say for specified that it sounds greater than the exact same track rendered in stereo only.

To be honest, that’s frequently been the case for me and spatial audio: with Apple’s AirPod lineup and Apple Songs, I can absolutely notify the difference, but can not usually say definitively that I want one more than the other. I would not make spatial audio assist the determining aspect in a buy, but your mileage may differ there relying on how you feel about the technologies.

Base line

Sonos has seldom experienced a genuine skip with its merchandise lineup, and the two the Era 100 and the Era 300 stand as crystal clear hits. The Era 100 is a clever and subtle evolution of the company’s ‘default’ starter providing and the Period 300 is a exclusive and outperforming products in a sea of selections that features Apple’s just-current HomePod. Although every appears excellent in its have correct, the differentiator for Sonos will normally be the overall flexibility of its multi-room audio technological innovation, and that stays a huge highlight of each of these items that you simply cannot definitely get any place else.

I wish that Sonos had both just created the aux inputs on the back 3.5mm (the argument versus remaining that with USB-C, they also guidance Ethernet adapters for wired community connections), or that they’d integrated their proprietary adapters in the box. But the actuality that they have these selections, as effectively as Bluetooth, is a main awesome-to-have improve that has been missing in most of Sonos’ lineup for years.

You won’t be upset with both of these speakers, and as always with Sonos solutions, if you have acquired the funds, they execute even extra spectacularly in stereo pairs. The Era 300, in individual, is a super potent providing with couple true rivals out there.