Sonos Era 300 review

The Period 300 is a part of a pair of recent Sonos merchandise meant to kick the corporate off into a brand new… effectively, you possibly can guess. 

Whereas the smaller Period 100 is prone to show extra in style due to its cheaper price, the Period 300 is undeniably the extra fascinating: it packs the identical welcome connectivity concessions within the type of Bluetooth and line-in, but in addition boasts spatial audio help and a radical bodily redesign to profit from it. 

The excellent news is that the Period 300 sounds nice it doesn’t matter what you throw at it, and Dolby Atmos help ensures {that a} pair of those is the brand new requirement for the absolute best Sonos encompass setup. 

The unhealthy information is that the spatial audio, whereas spectacular, is proscribed for solo speaker setups, and depressing software program help ought to be sure that you’re unlikely to make use of it a lot anyway. The potential right here is apparent, however at this value you’d higher make certain that you’re additionally pleased with what it delivers proper now. 

Design & construct 

• Uncommon hourglass form 
• Glorious contact controls 
• Black or white choices 

Whereas the Period 300 is of course positioned because the alternative for the previous Play:3, that is no easy improve. Sonos began once more from scratch, and that’s apparent even from the skin. 

The Period 300 appears downright uncommon, with an hourglass determine that tapers within the center and expands out to the back and front. The fluted form is to maximise its spatial output, with one of many six audio system angled barely upwards to blast audio out into the room, slightly than merely straight ahead. 

I fairly just like the look, which saves the speaker from blocky blandness, however I’m certain it’ll show divisive elsewhere. It’s at the least completed in basic Sonos model, with black or white choices and easy detailing together with a small brand alongside the entrance.  

One draw back to the form is that you simply’ll should be particular concerning the audio system positioning – it may well’t be positioned in some other orientation, so can’t as simply cling from a wall or in any other case. If you wish to profit from the spatial audio you’ll additionally should place it someplace with area round and above it, so this isn’t a speaker you possibly can tuck right into a nook or conceal in Ikea storage cabinets. 

There are two different design tweaks to the 300, each shared with its smaller Period 100 sibling.  

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The primary is revamped contact controls, with play/pause and monitor change buttons simply positioned on the entrance, a voice management button additional to the again, and quantity controls neatly located in a tactile trough you possibly can slide alongside. The general impact is that controls are simpler to seek out at a look and even with out wanting, and more durable to mis-hit. 

The second change is to the speaker’s development. Glue is out, and screws are in, making the speaker extra eco-friendly and, theoretically, a lot simpler to restore. 

Connectivity 

• Bluetooth included 
• Line-in and Ethernet by way of dongle 
• Wi-Fi 6 

As a Sonos speaker, it ought to come as no shock that the Period 300 is meant for use over Wi-Fi. 

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What would possibly come as extra of a shock is that it isn’t your solely possibility. For starters, just like the Period 100 this now features a Bluetooth possibility, which I’ve been placing to the take a look at with my Bluetooth-enabled file participant. 

Having the Bluetooth possibility in any respect is a welcome step from Sonos – which has beforehand restricted help to its moveable Transfer and Roam audio system – as is the truth that Bluetooth audio will be shared to the remainder of your Sonos setup by way of the app.  

Much less welcome is the truth that I’ve discovered efficiency distinctly spotty. My file participant is an uninterrupted two ft away from the Period 300, however sign drops occur just a few instances each album, presumably due to Sonos utilizing the older Bluetooth 5.0 spec right here. You additionally received’t be capable of stream spatial audio over Bluetooth, however that’s to be anticipated. 

Dominic Preston / Foundry

Sonos has additionally included aux line-in help, however right here there’s an excellent larger caveat: this requires a dongle to connect with the speaker’s USB-C port. Sonos sells stated dongle for $19/£19/€25, and also you in all probability should purchase it – current 3.5mm-to-USB-C connectors are typically monodirectional, so received’t carry audio from a 3.5mm supply. Mine didn’t work, and yours possible received’t both. 

Earlier than you rush to purchase one, keep in mind that you may want an entire different dongle. That’s since you now want the $39/£39/€45 combo adapter so as to add an Ethernet port to the Period 300 (together with line-in as effectively, so this one does pull double responsibility). 

You might be completely satisfied to go wi-fi after all, however should you’ve gotten used to a wired connection on an current Sonos set-up then it stings to should pay additional to take care of that efficiency. 

Sound high quality 

• Glorious sound throughout a spread of genres 
• Spatial audio works – when you could find it 
• Nice encompass potential 

Sound high quality for the Period 300 can actually be cut up into stereo or spatial, so let’s hold issues easy and begin with the previous. 

Use the Period 300 to hearken to common stereo recordings and it excels. With six audio system (4 tweeters and two woofers) this could cowl the spectrum effectively, and customized waveguides assist audio dispersion even on a stereo combine, lowering the significance of the sonic ‘candy spot’ and serving to tunes sound nice wherever you’re within the room. 

Dominic Preston / Foundry

A single Period 300 is well highly effective sufficient to fill even bigger rooms, dealing with my open-plan lounge and kitchen comfortably. Even at larger volumes there’s crisp separation, the bass on Pink Floyd tracks thrumming alongside whereas guitar and vocals wane out and in, by no means muddied alongside the best way. 

It’s actually this impact that’s enhanced once you throw on a spatial audio monitor utilizing Dolby Atmos, the format Sonos helps.  

I’ve been testing a single Period 300 speaker, and by itself it merely can’t create that room-filling impact the format guarantees, placing you in the course of the music. Sonos’s efforts to bounce the sound up and out into the room don’t completely eradicate the candy spot, or trick your ears into considering the sound is coming from anyplace aside from the speaker. 

Dominic Preston / Foundry

What the Period 300 can do, with an excellent combine like among the current Beatles Atmos remasters, is separate each aspect to create extra expansive audio, a extra open soundstage. 

It’s refined at first, although you positively miss the impact when it’s gone, with different tracks feeling virtually flat by comparability. 

Whether or not the impact is extra pronounced with a stereo pair, I can’t say – or assess how effectively it really works utilizing 300s in a encompass setup. However taking a single speaker as is, the spatial audio is welcome however a nasty cause to improve by itself – not least due to how awkward the software program facet of the expertise is. 

Good options 

• Spatial audio solely by way of awkward Sonos app  
• Trueplay tuning – on each iOS and Android  
• Primary voice controls  – however no Google Assistant 

Like all Sonos audio system, the Period 300 has some built-in smarts – although it’s misplaced a bit of alongside the best way. 

The speaker is primarily managed by the official Sonos app, which lets you handle settings, tweak sound, and hook the Period 300 as much as the remainder of your Sonos setup for multi-room audio, or built-in right into a stereo pair or full encompass sound array (although that is solely potential with the Sonos Arc or Beam Gen 2, plus any Sub). 

The app can be used for music playback, permitting you to hyperlink accounts from numerous streaming companies to regulate by way of the app straight. 

That is, for now at the least, the one strategy to stream Dolby Atmos spatial content material. You’ll want a subscription to both Amazon Music or Apple Music – the one two streaming companies supported for spatial – and should navigate their libraries by way of the Sonos app, not their very own. 

Sadly, the Sonos app solely reveals you if any given music or album is Atmos-enabled as soon as it’s already enjoying, with no indication in any respect when you’re shopping. So for albums with a number of variations, there’s a sport of trial and error to seek out the one which makes probably the most of your $449/£449 speaker.  

The expertise is so unhealthy that I took to looking for songs within the Amazon Music app to seek out Atmos variations, then repeating these searches on Sonos to seek out the matching information, leaping back-and-forth between apps each time I needed to vary albums. Hopefully issues will get higher, as a result of proper now it’s depressing, and is prone to put you off ever attempting to trace down Atmos music in any respect. 

Dominic Preston / Foundry

Elsewhere issues are higher. Whether or not you need to profit from spatial audio or not, you should use the Sonos app to tune your Period 300 for its particular spot in your room utilizing the corporate’s Trueplay tech. 

Beforehand restricted to iPhones solely, a less complicated model is now additionally enabled on Android telephones, utilizing the speaker’s personal microphones as an alternative of your telephones. Even this fast tuning actually enhances the speaker’s depth and readability, and people with an iOS system nonetheless have the choice of waving their cellphone across the room for a minute for finer changes. 

Lastly, the speaker naturally consists of voice controls. Amazon’s Alexa returns, as does Sonos’s personal in-house voice assistant – which does the job for music playback, however not a lot else (and never should you’re a Spotify person, both).  

Lacking this time round is Google Assistant. This used to function on Sonos {hardware}, however ongoing authorized squabbles between the businesses appear to have gotten in the best way. That’s a draw back if, like me, you could have Google built-in elsewhere in your sensible house, as a result of the Period 300 can’t stand in as a Google sensible speaker. 

Value & availability 

The Period 300 is accessible now for $449/£449/€499, and you may choose one up direct from Sonos, or from shops together with Amazon. 

That value units it between the Period 100 and the older 5 – the latter in all probability nonetheless wins in stereo, however lacks the Period 300’s spatial audio help, and is presumably due for an improve to the Period 500 earlier than too lengthy. 

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Do not forget that should you’re hoping for a pair for stereo or a encompass setup you’ll must spend double that. If you wish to use line-in that’s an additional $19/£19/€25 per speaker, going as much as $39/$39/€45 if you would like Ethernet too. 

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

Verdict 

The Period 300 is in an odd spot. It’s a wonderful easy speaker: costly, however with the standard to make that value worthwhile. I’ve solely used one, however I guess a stereo pair would sound incredible, and the potential in a encompass setup is apparent. 

The issue is that the 300’s killer hook – spatial audio – isn’t fairly there but. The expertise on a single speaker isn’t transformative sufficient to justify an improve by itself, and the software program facet of the expertise is just irritating. Consider spatial audio as a nice-to-have, however not a necessity. 

In the meantime the addition of Bluetooth is welcome, however efficiency is unfortunately spotty, and locking line-in and Ethernet help behind costly dongles appears like a step backwards for the corporate. 

By way of easy sonics, that is nonetheless among the best audio system round. It will make a terrific (albeit dear) entry level to the Sonos system, or a welcome strategy to improve on an Arc or Beam soundbar. 

It’s not a completely clear-cut improve over the older Play:3 nevertheless, with spatial audio not sufficient to make up for the omissions of Google Assistant and Ethernet, so homeowners of these could also be happier staying put. 

Specs 

• Alexa or Sonos Voice Management 
• Far-field mics 
• Two woofers 
• 4 tweeters 
• Six Class-D amplifiers 
• Contact controls 
• Wi-Fi 6 
• Bluetooth 5.0 
• USB-C port (line-in and Ethernet by way of dongle) 
• 160x260x185mm 
• 4.47kg