How do you replace one of the best wireless speakers out there? One that hasn’t typically dropped out of best-seller or best-in-class lists since it was launched half a decade ago. so how do you change it sonos one,
The answer, finally, is here. as well as new era 300New Era 100 Designed for the New Era Sonos, One with more flexibility (exemplified by the long-neglected Bluetooth support for Sonos home speakers) and a new control panel.
Unlike the Spatial Audio-compatible Era 300, the younger sister is a direct replacement for the existing. October 2017 is a long time though, so it’s high time that Sonos replaced its venerable Sonos One.
In terms of rivals, there are two major competitors in terms of high-end smart speakers; a bit more expensive Apple HomePod (2Ra General) And Amazon’s Echo Studio, If you use Spotify, there’s a definite argument for getting the Echo Studio (it boasts spatial audio if you also use Amazon Music).
The HomePod is a more expensive investment and is really only recommended over this, although the HomePod’s overall sound quality holds an edge over the Era 100 – however, it costs significantly more.
design
The Era 100 is slightly larger than the speaker it replaces, but clearly designed to fill roughly the same space but bring more punch. Available again in Regulation Blue and Black, the speaker itself is mesh on the back with a vertically placed Sonos logo on the front. A status light (which you can turn on and off in the app) is above the logo.
There’s a new slider volume control at the top—just slide your finger left and right inside the indentation. Or you can tap the + and – at each end for minor changes.
There are also the standard play/pause and forward/back buttons. You’ve got Voice Control Lite if you enable Sonos Voice Control or amazon alexa, Google Assistant is not supported on the Era 100 or Era 300. Sonos voice control works well and is very fast, but we found ourselves defaulting to Alexa, simply because our household is used to dealing with its flaws.
On the back, you’ve got a Bluetooth button for pairing devices as well as a mic mute button which is a pre-requisite for Amazon Alexa support. There’s also a USB-C socket into which you can insert one of two adapters – one for connecting to external devices like a turntable or the other with 3.5mm audio and Ethernet should you want to wire them up. Both require an additional investment, they don’t come in a box – not that you’d expect them to. The Era 100 can also act as a rear speaker in a surround setup.
Features and Sound Quality
Setting up your Era is easy in the Sonos app. You don’t even need to enter Wi-Fi details – it’ll grab them from your phone.
spotify connect And Apple’s AirPlay 2 Both are well supported, and you can use the excellent Sonos app to connect to your music service of choice, along with radio station support. Chances are you definitely use your music service’s own app.
It really depends how you listen – if you want control over your entire home Sonos system this might be the place to be but you can get that multiroom control with AirPlay 2 pretty easily too, so if you It’s usable if you’re new to Sonos – the key is flexibility. You can set up groupings in the Sonos app, which is handy if you want to play on a couple of speakers. You can also control EQ settings etc.
Whereas the Sonos One had two Class-D amplifiers, a woofer, a tweeter and six far-field microphones, the Era 100 predictably brings the upgrade. The dual-angled tweeters connect to a single large woofer in the package.
The resulting sound quality is a definite upgrade over the already impressive Sonos One. This time the sound is even more powerful from such a compact unit – until you really crank it up to high volumes (when it sounds somewhat less refined) there’s an overwhelming sense of powerful yet delicate sound and the details are serious is impressively effective. As is the deep bass on heavy tracks, that’s really what defines the size of this unit. For larger spaces, you’ll want something more powerful, but this is plenty for most people playing music in a study, office, small living room or kitchen.
And, of course it works brilliantly as part of a larger Sonos setup. We had it running side by side with the Era 300 beam soundbar And sub mini And everything works great. AirPlaying music is even better than the HomePod (it’s always connected) and Spotify Connect is even faster.
TruePlay – Sonos’ technology for ensuring the sound best reflects the acoustics of your room – has also been developed with a version that uses the device’s own mic (as opposed to the mic on a mobile device). It has also opened up the feature to Android users – previously it was the preserve of iOS only. We set up ours using iOS.
Sonos Era 100 Verdict
Better in every way, the Era 100 matches its major rivals for sound—if you have an existing Sonos system, it’s the obvious choice. And while its price may currently be the highest, the discount will soon change. For example, if you already have the Sonos One, it won’t be something you’ll buy quickly, but it updates the reliable speaker with more punch and Bluetooth with even more flexibility. And who can argue with that?
Sonos Era 100 Technical Specifications
| Audihey | 3x Class D Amps, 2x Tweeters, 1x Woofer |
| connectivity | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, USB-C |
| DIMENSIONS | 183x131x120mm |
| weight | 2 kg |
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