Sonos unveiled two new speakers at a global presentation on Tuesday 7 March: the Era 100 and Era 300, both of which introduce new features, and more broadly demonstrate the brand's ambitions in the audio world. We'll be offering them for pre-order from March 14th for delivery in early April.
ERA 100, the small multiroom option
ERA 300, home cinema speaker
Redesigned for performance
The new Era 100 will be tasked with replacing the very popular Sonos One, which has been a success since its release in 2017. While at first glance Era only has a slight redesign, its architecture has evolved: slightly larger in volume than the One, it is thinner and taller, and also rounder. This is partly because the new entry-level model now has two tweeters and a midwoofer. It also has a new processor, which is 47% faster than the Sonos One.
The Era 300 won't have to compete with a popular predecessor, because it doesn't have one. In response to demand from integrators, this atypically designed speaker will fill the middle range between the smaller Era 100 and the more powerful Sonos Five. The newcomer has an irregular design in which four tweeters define the sound and two woofers provide the low frequencies.
Like all Sonos active speakers, they both offer Class D amplification and are available in black and white.
Searching for new sound dimensions: stereo, dolby atmos and 3D audio
The choices made in the architecture are easily justified in terms of functionality. Unlike the One, the Era 100 is now a stereo speaker, not a mono one! The tweeters on each side of the speaker diffuse left and right sounds, giving the speaker a deeper sound field. And you can always pair two Era 100s together for even more impressive stereo listening. Of course, the speaker also accommodates Sonos' core strength: wifi multiroom.
With the Era 300, Sonos is anticipating what it believes to be the future of music. The atypical shape is not insignificant: with a flat face and curved sides, the speaker sends sound in all directions to match 3D audio. The speaker is particularly well designed to take full advantage of Dolby Atmos, but also Dolby Atmos Music or Audio Spatial (Apple), innovative formats. The sound is detailed and located to immerse you in a sound atmosphere as it was imagined by the artist, offering a unique experience. Sonos recommends placing these speakers at the back of the sofa in a home theatre. To take it a step further, you can combine them with the Sonos Beam and Sonos Arc sound bars, the only two compatible (as they are also made for Dolby Atmos).
Ever more connected speakers
Both models operate in Wifi 6 (2.4 / 5GHz), but also in Bluetooth (5.0). This is a new feature, as until now only the portable models have been equipped with Bluetooth. Pairing is done by pressing a button on the back of the speaker. However, we recommend that you use Wi-Fi if you can, as it offers better sound quality. Another new feature is the USB-C socket for adapters to connect the speakers to an Ethernet cable or connect them to a source via a jack.
Set up and calibrate in a few steps
Sonos has made multiroom accessible to everyone with plug and play speakers that are easy to connect to each other and organize by room. However, calibration via TruePlay was previously only available to iPhone owners. This is now corrected: speaker equalisation for optimised room sound is also available on Android!
For a successful installation, accessories are also available: stands and wall mounts, for an ideal positioning.
Speaker control and privacy
Sonos' sleek touchscreen interface has been redesigned too, with an intuitive slider in the middle of the Era 100 to adjust the volume. It's not the only way to interact: the Sonos app and voice control also work.
The brand reassures its users on the latter point: Sonos Voice Control handles commands natively, without sending data to Amazon if you don't use Alexa. In addition, there are now two buttons to turn off the voice assistant on the Era series. It's impossible to be listened to when it's turned off.
The new series looks promising for all purposes. It's also worth noting that 94% of Sonos speakers purchased are still in use today: a good indicator of their quality. Don't hesitate to discover the brand through these two new models! We can help you with your installation.
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