Launched in 2023, the Sonos Era 100 is a premium, compact speaker with black and white color variants. Like the best speakers, it boasts dual-angled tweeters, a mid-woofer, and a far-field microphone array. You can adjust the bass, treble, and loudness through the Sonos app. Its Trueplay software measures your room’s acoustics for tailored sound adjustment, but unlike the best Bluetooth speakers, the Era 100 is not battery-powered. Its dual-band Wi-Fi supports Wi-Fi 6, and you can activate voice recognition with Sonos Voice Control and Alexa. It’s also compatible with Apple Airplay 2.
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Sonos Era 100 Review
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The premium Sonos Era 100 offers good value for money with balanced sounds and high-volume output. However, there’s some compression at max volume, no water and dust resistance ratings, and it has a wired-only connection.
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Product Snapshot
Overview
Launched in 2023, the Sonos Era 100 is a premium, compact speaker with black and white color variants. Like the best speakers, it boasts dual-angled tweeters, a mid-woofer, and a far-field microphone array. You can adjust the bass, treble, and loudness through the Sonos app. Its Trueplay software measures your room’s acoustics for tailored sound adjustment, but unlike the best Bluetooth speakers, the Era 100 is not battery-powered. Its dual-band Wi-Fi supports Wi-Fi 6, and you can activate voice recognition with Sonos Voice Control and Alexa. It’s also compatible with Apple Airplay 2.
Best For
Bass
Consensus
our Verdict
The versatile Sonos Era 100 is suitable for playing varied music genres and dialogue-centric content in compact to average-sized spaces. Its natural sound signature ensures a harmonious balance between the mids, treble, and bass, and the vocals sound clear. It also features a room correction tool that adjusts the audio based on your room’s acoustics.
With a wide 43.6Hz to 19300 Hz extension, its frequency range ranks among the top in our certified, tested list. Moreover, its 87.7 dB volume output secures a spot midway in the same list, but compression at max volume slightly hampers audio clarity. The Era 100 is designed for indoor use, which means it’s not strong enough to withstand the elements, and although lightweight (4.4 lbs), it’s not battery-powered, which reduces its portability.
ReasonS to Buy
- Well-balanced sound profile
Designed for small rooms, the Sonos Era 100 is well-suited for listening to different kinds of music. It boasts a clean, balanced sound signature with sharp vocals and mids, a clear distinction between instruments, well-extended low bass, and accurate treble
Its frequency response is vast, with a 43.6Hz to 19300Hz frequency range, securing a spot among the top speakers in our verified, tested list.
- Reasonably loud volume output
It can fill a small to average-sized room with adequate sound with its 87.7 dB volume output, ranking near the middle of our certified, tested products. However, it’s not loud enough for more expansive spaces.
Reason to Avoid
- Compression at max volume
Increasing the volume to its highest setting causes some compression, resulting in slightly unclear audio.
- Average build quality
While its plastic body and grilles feel sturdy for indoor use, this speaker isn’t durable for outdoor trips.
There are no dust or water resistance ratings, but it can withstand high humidity near the shower. Check this Amazon Tap review for a rugged Bluetooth speaker built for outdoor use.
- Subpar portability
The speaker is lightweight (4.4 lbs) to carry between rooms with one hand, but its wired-only connection makes it less travel-friendly. For a battery-powered, portable model featuring a handle, read this Pohopa EF B210G review.
Sonos Era 100 Specs
Battery Charge Time | Wired | |
Battery Life | Wired | |
Built In Microphone | No | |
Depth | 4.7" | |
Height | 7.2" | |
IPX Rating | n/a | |
Size | – | |
Smart App | Amazon Alexa app, Sonos app | |
Speaker Pairing | n/a | |
Water Resistant | No | |
Wattage | 1902 W | |
Width | 5.19" | |
Wireless Range | 330 ft |
All Specs
Test Results
These are the most important criteria to test for Speakers based on our comprehensive Testing Methodology.
Battery Life (Hours) | 0 |
Volume Output (dB) | 87.7 |
Low End Roll Off (Hz) | 51.874 |
High End Roll Off (Hz) | 17,472.053 |
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Product Comparison
Sonos Era 100 Review | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
True Score | 86 | 87 | 82 | 83 | 84 |
Ranking | # 3 / 109 | # 2 / 109 | # 33 / 109 | # 25 / 109 | # 10 / 109 |
Market Context |
Launched in 2023, the Sonos Era 100 is a premium, compact speaker with black and white color variants. Like the best speakers, it boasts dual-angled… |
Given their wired-only connection, the Sonos Era 100 and Sonos Era 300 are designed for home use in small to average-spaced rooms. However, unlike the… Given their wired-only connection, the Sonos Era 100 and Sonos Era 300 are designed for home use in small to average-spaced rooms. However, unlike the 100, the 300 supports Dolby Atmos for an immersive audio experience, and its voice assistant is slightly better at registering commands in loud environments. For more information, read this Sonos Era 300 review. |
The Sonos Era 100 and the Apple HomePod 2nd Generation are premium smart speakers, and your final purchasing decision will hinge on your preferred ecosystem…. The Sonos Era 100 and the Apple HomePod 2nd Generation are premium smart speakers, and your final purchasing decision will hinge on your preferred ecosystem. While the Era 100 offers more sound customization options with bass and treble adjustments, the Apple delivers a better low-frequency extension for deeper rumbles. To learn more, read our Apple HomePod 2nd Generation review. |
The premium Sonos Era 100 features a room correction tool that adjusts sounds based on your room’s acoustics, unlike the mid-range Anker Soundcore Motion X600…. The premium Sonos Era 100 features a room correction tool that adjusts sounds based on your room’s acoustics, unlike the mid-range Anker Soundcore Motion X600. Additionally, it has a more expansive soundstage, includes a built-in voice assistant, and supports Wi-Fi. In contrast, the Motion X600, primarily built for outdoor use, boasts superior build quality, an in-built battery, and a louder volume output for pushing out bigger sounds in open spaces. |
The newer Sonos Era 100 offers some enhancements over its predecessor, the Sonos One SL. With the latest model, you get built-in voice assistant support… The newer Sonos Era 100 offers some enhancements over its predecessor, the Sonos One SL. With the latest model, you get built-in voice assistant support and Bluetooth connectivity, and since it doesn’t downmix stereo content into mono, the sound quality is better, too. Moreover, unlike the One SL, the bass doesn’t overpower the mids, and the room correction tool effectively fine-tunes the audio. |
Battery Charge Time | Wired | Wired | n/a | 6 hrs | – |
Battery Life | Wired | Wired | Wired | 12 hrs | 17 hrs |
Built In Microphone | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | n/a |
Depth | 4.7" | 6.65" | 5.59" | 12.2" | – |
Height | 7.2" | 7.4" | 6.6" | 6.73" | – |
IPX Rating | n/a | n/a | n/a | IPX7 | – |
Size | – | – | – | – | 9.7" (h) x 6.9" (w) x 6.9" (d) |
Smart App | Amazon Alexa app, Sonos app | Amazon Alexa app, Sonos app | Apple HomeKit, Apple Music, iTunes, Siri | Soundcore | Yes |
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Score Card
E
Expert Score
*.75
We place a 75% weighted value on Expert Test Scores
C
Customer Score
*.25
We place a 25% weighted value on Customer Scores
True Score
Expert Scores
Publications with higher Trust Ratings are given more weight.
- 100.6
Category Trust Rating
74The Sonos Era 100 is satisfactory for music. The speaker has some features to adjust… Read MoreBy:
John Panoryios - 43.6
Category Trust Rating
80The Era 100 is a worthy starting point in the company’s lineup thanks to powerful… Read MoreBy:
Tim Gideon - 65.58
Category Trust Rating
90As the replacement for the Sonos One, the Era 100 smart speaker ups the performance… Read MoreBy:
Lee Dunkley - 45.5
Category Trust Rating
90A fine upgrade in several ways over the One, the Sonos Era 100 benefits from… Read MoreBy:
Kob Monney - 36.25
Category Trust Rating
84LIKE Excellent sound quality Bluetooth adds flexibility Robust ecosystem DON’T LIKE A little more… Read MoreBy:
Ty Pendlebury - 43
Category Trust Rating
80The Sonos Era 100 is nearly the ideal small and flexible speaker. It offers wide… Read MoreBy:
Matt Bolton
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