Sonos on Tuesday unveiled its two new smart speakers, which will be available at the end of March. The audio specialist thus renews its Sonos One and adds a new speaker dedicated entirely to spatial audio. But the arrival of the Era range marks a bit of a revolution for Sonos, which now integrates long-rejected Bluetooth into its devices as well as Wi-Fi for multi-connection.
This new generation called Era replaces old models and expands the catalog of the American, which will also modernize the software platform of its loudspeakers for the occasion.
Era 100, a new era for the Sonos One
It looks like a Sonos One, but it’s actually its little sister. Or her heir. The Era 100 takes up the idea of the all-in-one connected speaker design, but turns out to be a bit taller and wider. Because it profoundly changes its acoustics to offer, within almost the same template, a stereo sound this time, detailed with more marked bass. We got our first look at it and the Era 100 clearly stands out compared to the Sonos One, the brand’s bestseller and already a very attractive product from an audio point of view.
Like Sonos’ connected wired soundbars and speakers, the newcomer relies on Wi-Fi 6 to take place in the house and stream music from an external device, including lossless content. The Era 100 also takes advantage of the AirPlay 2 connection to stream content from an Apple device. But, unlike the Sonos One, it adds support for Bluetooth and a USB-C port on the back that will allow, with compatible dongles, to connect a device via the auxiliary cable, for example.
It can be controlled from the Sonos application, but also by voice with the home voice assistant Sonos Voice Control, Amazon Alexa or even Google Assistant. The physical buttons on top allow you to control the volume, play or pause, or skip ahead or go back to the previous song.
The Sonos Era 100 will take the place of the Sonos One, which will soon be discontinued. It is still available at 229 euros.
New design for a new life.
Next to the Era 100 we find the Era 300, a speaker with a surprising design, but that responds to a clear reflection.
“Others are doing it with software updates or upgrading their products. A year or two ago might have been too soon. But it seemed like a good time to launch a speaker designed for music in Dolby Atmos.” The Era 300 is thus the first Sonos speaker compatible with Dolby Atmos, like its announced great rival and the one that has won the lead in outputs, Apple’s HomePod.
It must be said that 75 of last year’s top 100 best-selling artists offered titles in Dolby Atmos last year. The Era 300 therefore wants to honor them, explains the American manufacturer. So the newcomer is compatible with Apple Music or Amazon Music HD, and any other streaming service that offers spatial audio. And above all it projects sound in all directions.
To achieve this immersion, the Era 300 features six powerful speakers that direct music up and down, left and right. Plus, TruePlay, which lets you calibrate the audio quality based on the room (relying on a dedicated microphone built into the speaker now available on iOS and Android), enhances the audio experience. The result is simply stunning with truly immersive sound.
During our first listens last month at the Santa Barbara venue we could see that whatever the style of music, we ended up with sound that fills the room. And a single speaker is enough to enjoy stereo and Dolby Atmos.
The first Dolby Atmos speaker for Sonos
Otherwise, the Era 300 uses the features of the Era 100, including added Bluetooth connectivity for streaming music without being connected to Wi-Fi. On the Era 100, like its big brother, the physical button is materialized to lock the microphone. Much better on the back, as are the buttons on the top to use the speaker without an app.
By pairing two Era 300s, possibly with a Sonos Beam 2 or Arc soundbar, the user can enjoy a home theater with a very wide soundstage or use them in a multiroom to continue listening from end to end in another home.
And a small novelty of the Era that Sonos is very proud of: they consume very little, especially in standby (less than 2 W). The eco-environmental touch even extends to the packaging designed in recycled cardboard.
Sonos speaker pricing and availability
The Era 100 will go on sale at 279 euros. The Era 300 is announced at 499 euros. Both speakers will be offered in black or white and will be available on March 28.
Source: BFM TV
