Sonos has simply launched a model new product line with the discharge of the Period 300. We’ve got been seeing leaks and renders about this product for months, however now we have been capable of get some hands-on time with it. Let me let you know, whereas it’s not excellent, this new speaker is extraordinarily spectacular.
Sonos’ new Period 300 falls into the mid-sized speaker class. It packs a brand-new dual-angled design that offers it an attractive silhouette and makes it look elegant when positioned in your front room. It’s bigger than a HomePod or a Sonos Period 100 however extra compact than a Sonos 5.
Sonos Period 300 Specs
The Period 300 does include an abundance of recent specs, options, and upgrades that may assist set it other than the competitors. The brand new design alone is sufficient to make you do a double-take at this speaker. Listed here are among the specs which might be value noting:
- New capacitive contact controls for quantity, playback, and voice assistant
- Wi-Fi 6
- Airplay 2 help
- USB-C port with help for Ethernet and three.5mm audio
- Bluetooth 5.0
- Six customized class-D amps “expertly positioned” to push sound in all instructions and to offer help for Dolby Atmos
- Spatial audio help
- Stereo playback
- TruePlay tuning for iOS and “fast tuning” choices for iOS & Android
- Potential to pair with Sonos Arc and Beam Gen 2 for multi-channel residence theater
At launch, the Period 300 helps spatial audio and Dolby Atmos from each Amazon Music and Apple Music. The Sonos Period 300 is on the market in two colours: matte white and matte black.
Period 300 hands-on assessment
Let’s begin with the unboxing expertise. Sonos appears to have put thought into each side of the shopper journey. The unboxing expertise was extraordinarily distinctive. It got here boxed in 100% recyclable supplies and had two plastic latches that wanted to be flipped with a purpose to ‘unlock’ the field. The remaining was easy, you get the Period 300, the facility cable, and a few paperwork!
Period 300 Setup
The setup and connection course of for the Period 300 may be very easy. You simply plug within the speaker to energy, obtain the Sonos app from the App Retailer, create an account, and the app will instantly acknowledge the Period 300.
Proper after the setup course of has been accomplished, it would be best to calibrate the speaker to optimize the sound. Sonos has two completely different variations of this, TruePlay and Fast Tune. In case you have an iOS machine, it would be best to go along with TruePlay. It takes about three minutes to finish and it’s properly value it. If you provoke TruePlay, the Period 300 will begin to make a sound sign that’s used to find out how the room is about up. You then use the microphones in your iPhone to inform the speaker how far that sound is reaching. It’s a genius implementation that I like to recommend finishing as a result of it offers you one of the best sound for Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos! The method is proven under (the cellphone is upside on function, the Sonos app makes you flip your cellphone round to level the microphone in varied instructions.)
“Fast tuning” is a brand new characteristic that was added to the app to permit Android customers to have an analogous setup. It’s a a lot shorter expertise that will also be used with iOS if you wish to save a while. However I’ll say TruePlay finally ends up providing you with one of the best end result!
On-device controls
The speaker itself provides off minimalist vibes, which I like. When it comes to bodily enter, you might have only some methods to work together with it. You’ve got new capacitive contact controls proper on high of the speaker. That is the place the amount bar, your playback buttons, and your voice assistant shortcut all dwell. I’m not an enormous fan of capacitive buttons, however these appear to be ultra-responsive, which is nice. On the rear, you might have your Bluetooth button, energy enter, microphone kill swap, and a USB-C port. This USB-C port can be utilized to attach a 3.5mm line-in jack or an Ethernet cable (with a dongle, offered individually).
My Expertise
It’s robust to assessment a speaker by means of solely my phrases as a result of one of the best ways to study a speaker is to exit and take heed to it. However my listening expertise with the Sonos Period 300 has been nothing wanting spectacular.
I used the Period 300 for 2 predominant functions, as my most well-liked music participant and as a single-speaker residence theater system.
Music playback
In the event you use a streaming service that helps spatial audio, then you’ll be in for a deal with. It amazed me how you possibly can hear completely different layers of the music, with true separation from one single speaker. The very best instance to check is to have dwell efficiency audio with spatial audio help. You might be someway capable of hear the group behind you (despite the fact that there’s nothing there), after which you may hear the artist singing proper in entrance of you.
The identical goes for the directionality of the music, so if the artist breaks up the sound to the proper and left sides, the speaker will be capable to do the identical factor and offer you that have. The final piece that impressed me was the bass that the Period 300 offers. That one single speaker is ready to give sufficient bass that you may truly really feel it in your ft, which is one thing that usually requires a devoted subwoofer.
Residence theater playback
That is the place I used the Sonos Period 300 essentially the most. I wished to see if this single speaker might change my Samsung multi-channel setup. My setup consisted of a soundbar and subwoofer combo previous to utilizing the Period 300. I by no means had a grievance about these Samsung merchandise; they acquired the job carried out, however in addition they by no means wowed me. The one Period 300 blew the Samsung setup out of the water. It was louder, by no means distorted at peak volumes, had a crispier bass, and even related extra simply to my Samsung TV than my Samsung speaker did!
The true check was seeing the way it carried out at excessive quantity with action-packed films like these from Marvel or any war-type films, in addition to with Dolby Atmos-supported content material. Shock, shock, the Sonos Period 300 sounded nice. It was capable of fill my front room simply, with full sound and thumpy bass when wanted, and the vocals got here by means of completely. It was an all-around spectacular expertise; I needed to maintain reminding myself it was simply coming from one speaker. For reference, I dwell in a 1200 sqft condo, so in the event you dwell in a bigger residence with a bigger front room and excessive ceilings, then your expertise would possibly fluctuate.
Remaining Ideas
Sonos put collectively an ideal product with the Period 300. It has offered a novel listening expertise, particularly if you notice simply how small the speaker is relative to its output. It provides you punchy bass, excessive most quantity that doesn’t distort, and pristine vocals. Plus, the addition of spatial audio provides you a real feeling of immersion. In case you are on the lookout for a speaker that may deal with just about any at-home state of affairs, whether or not blasting audio for films, taking part in music for your self, or appearing as an leisure hub, this speaker will be capable to deal with all of it. I do want Sonos both gave us an Ethernet port built-in or offered the $39 dongle at no further value, however these days appear to be lengthy gone.
Pricing & availability
The Sonos Period 300 is on the market right now, March 27, for $449 USD. It is available in two finishes, matte black and matte white (I personally love matte white). The corporate additionally gives two completely different USB-C dongles, one offering a 3.5mm port for $19 and one other that gives 3.5mm audio and an Ethernet port for $39. Sonos additionally sells an Period 300 wall mount for $79, and an Period 300 stand for $139.
FTC: We use revenue incomes auto affiliate hyperlinks. Extra.
