Sonos Era 300
The Sonos Era 300 is the first wireless speaker from Sonos that is equipped with six drivers and can play Dolby Atmos – apart from the company’s soundbars. One of the four tweeters is directed to the front, while the other drivers form a ring and radiate the sound to the sides and upwards. This is supposed to provide a balanced and rounded sound when playing movies and music. At launch, the Era 300 will support music from Amazon Music Unlimited and Apple Music, which is compatible with Dolby Atmos.
Highlights
Highlights
The Era 300 is the first Sonos speaker to deliver multichannel surround sound when used as a surround speaker in a home theater setup. This allows two Era 300 speakers to be connected to a Sonos Arc or Beam (Gen. 2) to create an immersive Dolby Atmos experience.
In addition, the Era is now equipped with an AUX-in port. However, connecting a turntable directly requires a Sonos line-in adapter and an additional cable, which must be purchased separately.
Another feature: Trueplay was exclusively available for iPhone users but is now also available for Android devices.
It is controlled as usual via the Sonos app, the touch interface, or voice assistants like Sonos’ own Voice Control or Amazon Alexa. The speaker can receive music wirelessly or via a jack cable, although an adapter is required since the only physical interface is a USB-C jack. The special feature of the Era 300, however, is that it can also be controlled via Bluetooth, which is unique for Sonos speakers without a battery so far.
Sonos Era 100
The Era 100 replaces the Sonos One as a new model, but can be operated in combination with it. Compared to its predecessor, the Era 100 is a bit bigger but still fits on a shelf. However, both the hardware and the software of the Era 100 have been completely redeveloped. One new feature is the stereo sound that can be produced with just one Era 100 and becomes even wider with a second speaker. The Era 100 can be seamlessly integrated into existing multi-room systems. The connectivity of the Sonos Era 100 is a big leap compared to the Sonos One. It supports WLAN 6, Bluetooth 5.0, and AirPlay 2. The small Era also has an AUX-in port and Trueplay for Android.
The models are available in either black or white and we’ll have them in our HiFi I’m Hinterhof starting in April.
Do come and see them for yourself!
