The New Sonos Era Speakers

Now we have new details on Sonos smart speakers and the Era 300, which is focused on spatial audio, is expected to retail for around $450, making it less expensive than the company’s flagship Sonos Five. Plus the Five is likely to remain a part of the Sonos lineup after pending hardware announcements.

The Sonos One will now most likely be replaced by the upcoming Era 100, which will retail for around $250, a slight price increase compared to the $219 One, but will have improvements users will appreciate.

Era 300 and Era 100 

It seems that Sonos has locked Era 300 and Era 100 for a simultaneous release at the end of March and it is also said in reports that there seems to be a split with Apple over spatial audio.

Era 300: 

Even though the Eras 300 was designed from the ground up to bring out music in spatial audio, it is very likely that some music files or songs from Apple Music are not supported. In addition, it seems that the Google Assistant could be removed from the company’s latest smart speakers, after the ongoing legal battle that has been filed between Sonos and Google.

The size of the speaker falls somewhere between the current Sonos One and the Sonos Five, plus it packs a total of six drivers that direct sound forward, left, right, and up. So when used with Arc or Beam (Gen 2) as the rear surround, a stereo pair of the Era 300 will deliver immersive Atmos surround sound including upward-firing audio.

Era 100:

It seems the Era 100 may have both features and making it far more versatile than the Sonos One, even you can have the possibility to run external sources like a turntable directly through an Era 100, with the previous one this option was not possible because this new one have a second cable is running into the speaker on the left.

With what little information there is at the moment, it is understood that the Era 100 is not designed for spatial audio and will not include upward-firing drivers. In addition, a second tweeter has been added to the new speaker for true stereo sound and the mid-woofer has been enlarged for more powerful bass response.

The new products by Sonos

Sonos seems to be deliberately embracing choice and flexibility with its new products, as in this year 2023, it has combined home speakers with the introduction of Bluetooth, plus preserving physical input, even if it’s not as simple as a 3.5mm aux jack is refreshing.

Also while Amazon’s Echo and Echo Studio have a traditional auxiliary input, keep in mind that for example, Apple’s HomePod and Google’s Nest Audio lack any I/O and rely on wireless streaming at all times.

Something that may also be very important to keep in mind is that the Era speakers will include Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 and support for AirPlay 2, and a USB-C audio line-in adapter and a ” combo adapter” to connect via Ethernet. It should be noted that there is no built-in connector on either device.

Trueplay on Android

Sonos supports Trueplay tuning on Android phones with the Era 300 and Era 100, allowing the speakers themselves to perform room analysis and sound optimization using their built-in microphones.

Sustainability and easier repair

You can see the progress it has made in sustainable design with these speakers, as both Era devices use more screws and less adhesive, allowing for easier disassembly and repair should components need to be replaced.

Sustainability:

Also, something very important to note is that both the Era 300 and Era 100 use less than two watts each when idle and will include a new, more efficient sleep mode.