After months of speculation, the rumors were true, Sonos has a new line of multi-room speakers, the Sonos Era 100 and Era 300. If you’re into Sonos speakers and want to expand your setup, you will like these.
We reviewed the Sonos One speaker before, so we were familiar with the shape and sizing of the Era 100 speaker. It’s taller and rounder, though, with more flexibility. The Era 100 speaker has Bluetooth capabilities and USB-c line-in audio. The shape reminds me of the Sonos Move speaker. The button interface has changed. The indented bar across the top invites you to swipe across to change tracks and control the volume, even though you can still tap on the ends of the bar as well. It’s definitely louder and punchier than the Sonos One speaker, and the Era 100 will be replacing it.
The Era 300 speaker is a whole new line for Sonos. Built for spatial audio, the Era 300 looks way different than the other speakers in the Sonos family. Like the Era 100, the Era 300 has Bluetooth capability and USB-C line-in audio. With four tweeters, six drivers, and two woofers, you get sound in every direction. It’s difficult to put into words how great a speaker sounded when listening to a few tracks, but I can say it was room-filling at 70% volume. That explains the weird design, which honestly doesn’t look bad in person. You can pair two Era 300 speakers with a Sonos Arc or Beam 2 soundbar to create a decent surround system.
As of right now, Sonos Era supports Apple Spatial Audio on Apple Music on the Era 300 speaker. Spatial Audio will also be supported on the Sonos Beam (2nd generation) and Arc soundbars.
Sound wasn’t the only thing Sonos paid attention to you. The new speakers are made of recycled material, and even the packaging is much lighter, reducing their carbon footprint. Even with that, both the Era 100 and 300 felt heavy and sturdy. The Era 100 has 53 screws, while the Era 300 has 93 screws in place of using adhesive, which in theory, should make the speakers easier to repair therefore lasting longer. It’s always great to see an effort being made.
The Sonos Era 100 speaker goes for $249, and the Era 300 goes for $449. You can preorder today for March 28.
