Sonos Era 100 review

The Period 100 might boast a brand-new title, however it takes up a well-known 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 usually not-so-affordable bigger ecosystem. The Period 100 has some huge footwear to fill. 

The Period 100’s power is that it takes the nice Sonos sound we’ve at all times 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 to be much like the previous Sonos One, although issues have modified slightly. For one factor, that is barely taller and deeper than the older speaker – it received’t completely change the place it is going to match in your house, however gave Sonos room to squeeze in slightly extra sonic oomph. 

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

The Sonos design language remains to be everywhere in the Period although, from the selection of black or white finishes to the easy brand and modern steel grille that covers many of the physique. 

The largest adjustments are literally to the audio system high, the place the contact controls have been fully re-arranged. The perfect addition is a brand new groove throughout the centre, which you slide your finger alongside in both route to boost or decrease the quantity.  

Dominic Preston / Foundry

The play/pause and again/forwards buttons have moved nearer to the entrance fringe of the speaker for straightforward attain when you’ll want to faucet at them rapidly, whereas the less-used button to activate the voice controls sits on the again edge. A Bluetooth button is discovered proper on the rear aspect of the physique, as is a bodily mute change 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 must also enhance repairability.

Connectivity 

• Wi-Fi 6 
• Bluetooth possibility 
• Line-in and Ethernet by dongles – offered 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 house owners contemplating an improve. 

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

Dominic Preston / Foundry

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

Audio from a Bluetooth supply could 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 case you take away it, the Bluetooth stops. If for some cause you need the Period to obtain the Bluetooth sign however solely play the audio elsewhere in the home, the one possibility is to briefly drop the Period’s quantity to zero. 

It’s possible you’ll choose 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.  

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Don’t go considering you need to use an present headphone adapter both: the USB-C-to-3.5mm adapters given away totally free 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 the majority received’t – you actually may need to cough up the 20 and purchase the official half, not less than till third-party firms step in to supply cheaper options. On the time of writing this easy adapter has backdated orders for the following two months on the Sonos UK website, suggesting Sonos might have underestimated our demand for an aux-in. 

Issues worsen if you would like Ethernet. Whereas an Ethernet port was included as commonplace, it’s now been taken away. You’ll be able to 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 case you don’t belief your Wi-Fi community, you now should spend further 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 slightly inconsistently. It’s not clear if it is a Wi-Fi concern particularly, or another firmware glitch, however rebooting the speaker and/or my router works as a short lived repair. That is the type of efficiency downside I’m probably not used to from Sonos although – and I might have beloved an Ethernet possibility 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 aspect of the Period 100 is enterprise as common 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 the official Sonos app, which you’ll in flip hook up with your streaming service or radio of alternative.

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 your regular music app of alternative. 

Dominic Preston / Foundry

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If you happen to choose you’ll be able to allow voice controls. You’ve got a alternative of utilizing Sonos’s personal voice assistant – which might deal with music playback, however not a lot else, and isn’t suitable with Spotify – or hyperlink it as much as Amazon Alexa as a substitute. Help for Google Assistant is not obtainable nonetheless, which can restrict how properly this slips into your sensible residence. 

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 know 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 ‘pay attention’ from one level within the room. If you happen to’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 house owners with different Sonos gear nonetheless unable to take advantage of it. 

Sound high quality 

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

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

The larger construct has allowed Sonos to pack in slightly further although, with the One’s mid-woofer and tweeter joined by a 3rd speaker, an extra 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

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

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

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

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

Dominic Preston / Foundry

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

You’ll be able to each join this to different Sonos audio system by 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 take a look at these latter choices. 

Worth & 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 residence 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 must spend a reasonably penny. Keep in mind too that if you wish to use line-in that’s an extra $19/£19/€25, going as much as $39/$39/€45 if you would like Ethernet too. 

Dominic Preston / Foundry

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

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

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

Verdict 

The Sonos Period 100 might characterize 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 technology 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 choice for Wi-Fi tech. The road-in possibility is nice too, however limiting it – and Ethernet – to costly further 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 possibility so long as it’s nonetheless on sale, with Google and Ethernet included as commonplace. 

If you happen to don’t want Google Assistant, aux-in, or Ethernet, then the Period 100 is phenomenal. However in case 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