Sonos Era 300 and 100: Apple's HomePod 2 Competitor

Sonos, the well-known audio company, has announced the launch of its new high-end speakers, Era 300 and 100. The Era 300 is expected to be a strong competitor to Apple's HomePod 2, thanks to its unique dual-corner design and features like WiFi 6, Bluetooth, AirPlay 2, and a built-in microphone.

Design and Features of Sonos Era 300

The Sonos Era 300 comes with a distinctive dual-corner design, as seen in the earlier leaked renders. The speaker has six drivers that fire sound forward, left, right, and upward, making it perfect for immersive sound experiences. It also supports Dolby Atmos spatial audio, although Apple Music's Dolby Atmos library is unlikely to be supported.

The Era 300 supports HomeKit/AirPlay 2 compatibility, which means it should support Siri like other Sonos speakers. However, due to the ongoing legal battle with Google, the speaker may not support Google Assistant.

Sonos has also designed the Era 300 to serve as surround speakers for Sonos Arc and Beam soundbars for immersive Dolby Atmos setups. The speaker does not come with built-in Ethernet, but Sonos will sell a USB-C to audio + Ethernet dongle to provide support for hardwiring.

The price of the Era 300 is expected to be around $450, and it will be available in March.

Design and Features of Sonos Era 100

The Sonos Era 100 is another high-end speaker from Sonos, which is expected to be launched alongside the Era 300 in March. The Era 100 is equipped with a larger mid-woofer for improved bass and two tweeters for "true stereo sound."

Although the Era 100 was initially thought to support spatial audio, it turned out not to. Nevertheless, it comes with the same connectivity features as the Era 300, such as WiFi, Bluetooth, and USB-C input.

The Era 100 is expected to be priced around $250.

Trueplay Update

Sonos has upgraded its Era speakers with a built-in auto-tune feature that automatically tunes after room analysis using its built-in microphone. Sonos calls this a "quick tune," and the regular way of walking around the room with your phone is still available as an "advanced tune," which remains exclusive to iPhones and iPads.