Earlier this month we learned more about the upcoming Sonos premium speakers that the company is about to launch. Now the Era 300 and 100 have been fully leaked. Here’s a first look at the two 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 for how the new products will fit into the company’s lineup, and even price and launch expectations.
Sonos Era 300
The high-end Era 300 will actually feature the unique dual-angle design first seen in renders by The Verge earlier this year, and be a competitor to the HomePod 2.
“The speaker size is between the current Sonos One and Sonos Five. It contains a total of six drivers that direct sound forward, left, right and up.”
Other features have been confirmed, such as WiFi 6, Bluetooth, AirPlay 2, built-in microphones, auto-EQ, and even a USB-C line-in.
Though the Era 300 is designed to be a premium speaker that shines when it comes to Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio, the report states that Apple Music’s Dolby Atmos library “is unlikely to be supported at this point” — at least right on the Era 300. That’s initially left to Amazon Music Unlimited’s spatial audio library.
Sonos Era 300
With HomeKit/AirPlay 2 compatibility, the speaker should have Siri support like other Sonos speakers. However, amid legal battles with Google, the speaker can skip Google Assistant and stick with Alexa, Siri and their own voice assistant.
The Era 300 speakers can also be used as surround speakers for the Sonos Arc and Beam soundbars for an immersive Dolby Atmos setup.
Though there’s no built-in Ethernet, Sonos will be selling a USB-C to audio and Ethernet dongle to add hardwiring support.
price and introduction
According to sources close to Sonos, the Era 300 will be available with a price tag of around $450 and will launch “in the coming weeks” in March. Interestingly, the slightly larger $499 Sonos Five is expected to remain in the range.
Sonos era 100
Although it was originally thought that the Era 100 would also support spatial audio, it turns out that is not the case. It’s really going to be an evolution of the Sonos One. The Era 100 has a larger midrange driver for enhanced bass and dual tweeters compared to the single speaker with the Sonos One for “true stereo sound”.
It comes with the same connectivity as the Era 300 such as WiFi, Bluetooth and USB-C input. Sonos is reportedly considering a ~$250 price tag
Sonos era 100
The Era 100 is expected to launch in March alongside the higher-end 300 model.
Trueplay updated
Another upgrade for the Era speakers will be built-in auto-tuning. While the function was previously only reserved for iPhone owners, the new loudspeakers use their built-in microphones to adjust themselves after a room analysis.
“Sonos calls this ‘quick tuning’, while regularly walking-around-the-room-with-your-phone-is still available as ‘advanced tuning’ – and still exclusive to iPhone and iPad.”
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