Earlier this month, we learned more about the upcoming Sonos premium speakers that the company is close to launching. Now the Era 300 and 100 have been fully leaked. Here’s an early look at both new speakers with official images, specs, pricing details, and more.
The Verge’s Chris Welch is back today with a look at the leaked official marketing images for the Sonos Era 300 and 100, as well as specs, how the new products will slot in the company’s lineup, and even pricing/launch expectations.
Sonos Era 300
The higher-end Era 300 will indeed feature the unique dual-angled design first seen in renderings by The Verge earlier this year and be a HomePod 2 competitor.
“The speaker’s size falls in between the current Sonos One and Sonos Five. It includes a total of six drivers that direct sound forward, left, right, and up.”
Other features have been confirmed like WiFi 6, Bluetooth, AirPlay 2, built-in mics, auto EQ, and even a USB-C line-in.
Even though the Era 300 is designed to be a premium speaker that shines when it comes to Dolby Atmos spatial audio, the report says Apple Music’s Dolby Atmos library is “unlikely to be supported at this time” – at least directly on the Era 300. That will be left to the Amazon Music Unlimited spatial audio library to start.
With HomeKit/AirPlay 2 compatibility, the speaker should have Siri support like other Sonos speakers. However, amid legal battles with Google, the speaker may skip Google Assistant and stick with Alexa, Siri, and its own voice assistant.
The Era 300 speakers can also be used as surrounds for the Sonos Arc and Beam soundbars for an immersive Dolby Atmos setup.
While there’s no built-in Ethernet, Sonos will sell a USB-C to audio + Ethernet dongle to offer support for hardwiring.
Price and launch
According to sources close to Sonos, the Era 300 will come with a price tag of around $450 and launch in “the coming weeks” in March. Interestingly, the slightly larger Sonos Five that goes for $499 is expected to remain in the lineup.
Sonos Era 100
While the Era 100 was at first thought to also feature support for spatial audio, it turns out it will not. It’s really going to be an evolution of the Sonos One. The Era 100 has a bigger mid-woofer for improved bass and two tweeters compared to the single one with the Sonos One for “true stereo sound.”
It will come with the same connectivity as the Era 300 like WiFi, Bluetooth, and USB-C input. Sonos is said to be considering a price of ~$250
The Era 100 is expected to launch alongside the higher-end 300 model in March.
Updated Trueplay
Another upgrade for the Era speakers will be built-in auto-tuning. While the feature has been exclusive for those with an iPhone up until now, the new speakers will auto-tune themselves after a room analysis with their built-in mics.
“Sonos refers to this as “quick tuning,” with the regular walk-around-the-room-with-your-phone still available as “advanced tuning” — and still exclusive to iPhone and iPad.”
Are you excited about the newest Sonos speakers? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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