Sonos Era 100 Review: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Value When Reviewed

$249.00

Finest Costs At this time: Sonos Period 100

$249.00

The Period 100 might boast a brand-new title, nevertheless it takes up a well-recognized spot within the Sonos line-up: it is a direct follow-up to the Sonos One, itself the successor to the Play:1. 

That’s a superb lineage of compact wi-fi audio system, the inexpensive(ish) entry factors to Sonos’s typically not-so-affordable bigger ecosystem. The Period 100 has some massive footwear to fill. 

The Period 100’s power is that it takes the good Sonos sound we’ve all the time raved about and pairs it with extra versatile options together with line-in, Trueplay on Android, and even Bluetooth assist – however all is just not fairly as rosy because it appears.

This can be a brand new period for Sonos, however change is rarely simple.

Design & construct 

• Bigger, extra curved design 
• Streamlined contact controls 
• Obtainable in black or white 

At first look the Period 100 seems much like the outdated Sonos One, although issues have modified just a little. For one factor, that is barely taller and deeper than the older speaker – it received’t completely change the place it’s going to match in your house, however gave Sonos room to squeeze in just a little extra sonic oomph. 

Dominic Preston / Foundry

The design has additionally been curved additional, with an oval form to the physique as a substitute of the rounded circle within the earlier era. 

The Sonos design language continues to be all around the Period although, from the selection of black or white finishes to the easy emblem and smooth steel grille that covers a lot of the physique. 

The most important adjustments are literally to the audio system prime, the place the contact controls have been utterly re-arranged. The most effective addition is a brand new groove throughout the centre, which you slide your finger alongside in both route to lift or decrease the amount.  

Dominic Preston / Foundry

The play/pause and again/forwards buttons have moved nearer to the entrance fringe of the speaker for simple attain when you want to faucet at them shortly, whereas the less-used button to activate the voice controls sits on the again edge. A Bluetooth button is discovered proper on the rear facet of the physique, as is a bodily mute swap for the microphone. 

Each the product and its packaging use extra recycled supplies than earlier than, and the speaker has been assembled with screws reasonably than glue, which also needs to enhance repairability.

Connectivity 

• Wi-Fi 6 
• Bluetooth choice 
• Line-in and Ethernet by means of dongles – bought individually 

Connectivity is arguably the place Sonos has modified the Period 100 most, with small tweaks, two main new additions, and one downgrade that’s sure to frustrate some present homeowners contemplating an improve. 

The most important change is the introduction of Bluetooth – included for the primary time in one in every of Sonos’s fastened house audio system, having beforehand been restricted to the transportable Transfer and Roam. 

Dominic Preston / Foundry

Sonos nonetheless recommends Wi-Fi over Bluetooth, which may be why it opted to incorporate the aged 5.0 spec Bluetooth. A lot as I like the choice to let pals shortly join over Bluetooth, or stream music from my Bluetooth-enabled report participant, high quality clearly dips – as does stability, with sporadic drops even at extremely shut vary. 

Audio from a Bluetooth supply might be shared round the remainder of your Sonos system utilizing the app, although you’ll should maintain the Period 100 in that speaker group – in the event you take away it, the Bluetooth stops. If for some purpose you need the Period to obtain the Bluetooth sign however solely play the audio elsewhere in the home, the one choice is to briefly drop the Period’s quantity to zero. 

It’s possible you’ll favor the choice to attach with an aux line-in – not a complete first for Sonos, however new to its smaller audio system. There’s a wrinkle right here although: to take benefit, you’ll want to purchase the $19/£19/€25 official line-in adapter, which plugs into the speaker’s rear USB-C port.  

Dominic Preston / Foundry

Don’t go considering you should use an present headphone adapter both: the USB-C-to-3.5mm adapters given away free of charge with many smartphones are monodirectional, designed to ship audio out to three.5mm headphones, not in from a 3.5mm audio supply.  

Mine didn’t work, and Sonos warns that almost all received’t – you actually may need to cough up the 20 and purchase the official half, at the very least till third-party corporations step in to supply cheaper alternate options. On the time of writing this straightforward adapter has backdated orders for the subsequent two months on the Sonos UK web site, suggesting Sonos might have underestimated our demand for an aux-in. 

Issues worsen if you’d like Ethernet. Whereas an Ethernet port was included as customary, it’s now been taken away. You may add it again in – however that dongle is $39/£39/€45, for a combo adapter that features each Ethernet and three.5mm in a single. So in the event you don’t belief your Wi-Fi community, you now should spend additional to wire the speaker in. 

That’s an issue given that in my time reviewing the Period 100 – and its bigger 300 sibling – I’ve had each audio system drop out and in of my Sonos community just a little inconsistently. It’s not clear if it is a Wi-Fi problem particularly, or another firmware glitch, however rebooting the speaker and/or my router works as a short lived repair. That is the sort of efficiency drawback I’m probably not used to from Sonos although – and I’d have liked an Ethernet choice to provide me some insurance coverage.

Good options 

• Sonos app assist 
• Fundamental voice controls  – however no Google Assistant
• Trueplay tuning – on each iOS and Android 

For essentially the most half, the sensible facet of the Period 100 is enterprise as regular for Sonos. 

The speaker will both work by itself or join into an present Sonos community in your house, at which level you’ll be able to management it by means of the official Sonos app, which you’ll be able to in flip hook up with your streaming service or radio of selection.

Setup is fast and environment friendly, although the app itself stays a reasonably clunky option to handle your audio system and music playback – when you’ll be able to, it’s normally simpler to only management music by means of your regular music app of selection. 

Dominic Preston / Foundry

When you favor you’ll be able to allow voice controls. You may have a selection of utilizing Sonos’s personal voice assistant – which may deal with music playback, however not a lot else, and isn’t appropriate with Spotify – or hyperlink it as much as Amazon Alexa as a substitute. Assist for Google Assistant is not accessible nevertheless, which can restrict how nicely this slips into your sensible house. 

One particular enchancment comes from Trueplay. That is Sonos’s longstanding tech to tune the speaker’s output and optimise it for the acoustics of the room it’s in. Beforehand this was restricted to iOS units solely, utilizing the iPhone’s microphone to grasp the speaker’s sounds, however the Period 100 now helps a model of the tech on Android too. 

It’s a less complicated iteration described as ‘fast tuning’, a growth of the automated Trueplay discovered on its transportable audio system. It makes use of the Period’s personal microphones to tune the audio, not your cellphone’s, so can solely ‘hear’ from one level within the room. When you’re on an iPhone, you’ll see each this selection and the older ‘superior tuning’. 

I discovered that even this fast Trueplay had a notable influence on sound high quality, deepening and rounding out the soundscape. Switching it again off made the Period 100 sound skinny and virtually tinny by comparability. Improve to the iPhone’s superior Trueplay didn’t enhance issues a lot additional, so Android customers received’t miss a lot from utilizing this easier model. 

The one draw back is that Sonos says this fast Trueplay received’t be added to older merchandise, leaving Android homeowners with different Sonos gear nonetheless unable to profit from it. 

Sound high quality 

• Punchy, well-rounded sound 
• Loads of quantity 
• Sounds nice from virtually any angle 

The center of the Period 100 have principally been carried over from the Sonos One, so that you shouldn’t count on a radical overhaul to the speaker’s sound in the event you already personal an older mannequin. 

The larger construct has allowed Sonos to pack in just a little additional although, with the One’s mid-woofer and tweeter joined by a 3rd speaker, a further tweeter. The dual small audio system at the moment are angled outwards barely, with a wave-guide aperture in entrance, to create a wider dispersion of sound. 

Dominic Preston / Foundry

It is a trick Sonos learnt from its transportable audio system, and it creates a extra open soundscape. The intention, the corporate says, is to take away the ‘candy spot’ for listening and assist the Period 100 sound simply nearly as good from anyplace within the room. 

The impact isn’t fairly excellent – transfer round and you’ll hear the sonics shift – however for essentially the most half the Period sounds nice wherever you’re. Even sitting immediately behind the speaker the sound is strong, principally solely shedding some mids. 

General the sound profile right here is wealthy, heat, and balanced. The Period 100 ought to go well with most genres, with deceptively highly effective bass for its measurement, however not a lot that it overwhelms.  

It’s able to some actual readability, particularly with Trueplay enabled, with crisp separation of tracks’ numerous parts. 

Dominic Preston / Foundry

Critical bassheads or these filling giant rooms will after all should improve to one thing bigger – that’s simply physics I’m afraid – however for smaller areas and most use circumstances that is about nearly as good because it will get on the worth. 

You may each join this to different Sonos audio system by means of the app for multi-room audio, join this to a different Period 100 for stereo sound, or hyperlink it to a soundbar and Sub Mini as a part of a encompass setup, although with solely a single Period 100 I haven’t been capable of check these latter choices. 

Value & availability 

At $249/£249/€279 the Period 100 is a bit more costly than the Sonos One it succeeds, however nonetheless essentially the most inexpensive of Sonos’s house audio system (solely the transportable Roam prices rather less), and much lower than the $449/£429/€499 Period 300. 

Nonetheless, it’s not low cost, and anybody hoping for a stereo pair should spend a fairly penny. Bear in mind too that if you wish to use line-in that’s an additional $19/£19/€25, going as much as $39/$39/€45 if you’d like Ethernet too. 

Dominic Preston / Foundry

The sound high quality principally justifies the worth, although the omission of Google Assistant assist means homeowners of many sensible house set-ups (together with myself) will discover the Sonos choice much less interesting than earlier than – you’ll be able to most likely discover comparable sound, together with Google, elsewhere for much less. 

For the second actually, you’ll find precisely that within the outdated Sonos One – that speaker continues to be on sale, although not manufactured, so inventory will run out finally. 

For extra choices, try our full rating of one of the best Sonos audio system, or one of the best Bluetooth audio system for audio from different producers. 

Verdict 

The Sonos Period 100 might symbolize a brand new age for Sonos, however the firm is moving into it haltingly. 

Audio high quality is difficult to argue with, improved barely from the earlier era due to a mixture of {hardware} tweaks and the roll out of simplified Trueplay tech to extra units. 

Including Bluetooth ought to have been a simple win, however spotty efficiency from the older 5.0 spec has made a self-fulfilling prophecy out of the corporate’s desire for Wi-Fi tech. The road-in choice is nice too, however limiting it – and Ethernet – to costly additional dongles is off-putting when the worth has already gone up. 

Throw in the truth that Google Assistant assist has been jettisoned and I think many patrons will discover the earlier gen Sonos One the extra interesting choice so long as it’s nonetheless on sale, with Google and Ethernet included as customary. 

When you don’t want Google Assistant, aux-in, or Ethernet, then the Period 100 is outstanding. However in the event you do, the added prices sting and make this Sonos really feel rather less sensible. 

Specs

• Alexa or Sonos Voice Management
• Far-field mics
• 3.5in mid-woofer
• Two tweeters
• Three Class-D amplifiers
• Contact controls
• Wi-Fi 6
• Bluetooth 5.0
• USB-C port (line-in and Ethernet by way of dongle)
• 182.5x120x130.5mm
• 2.02kg