Sonos Era speakers show the future of immersive listening

Sonos has unveiled its Era 300 and Era 100 speakers, which bring a new level of sound and design innovation to the smart speaker market. The Era 300 is a bold, revolutionary new speaker designed to provide the best experience for spatial audio with Dolby Atmos. On the other hand, the Era 100 is a remastering of Sonos One, the company’s best-selling speaker. Both products come with expanded connectivity and Trueplay technology, and are the first to adhere to Sonos’s new responsible design standards.

Sonos CEO Patrick Spence said that the company’s vision was to make listening an experience charged with feeling, which helped customers feel joy and vitality through their favourite music and audio content. He added that the Era family was the next generation of smart speakers, epitomising Sonos’s commitment to sound innovation, responsible design and a deep connection to the creator community.

The Era 300 boasts six powerful drivers that direct sound left, right, forward and upward, delivering an unprecedented breakthrough audio performance with Dolby Atmos that places listeners at the very heart of their movies and music. Era 300 is the first speaker from Sonos that delivers multichannel surround sound when used as home theatre rears. Users can pair two speakers with Arc or Beam (Gen 2) to create a supercharged Dolby Atmos experience that draws them deeper into the action.

Sonos worked closely with its community of leading artists and creators, including Sonos Soundboard members, to meticulously fine-tune the Era 300 so listeners can enjoy sound straight from the studio that’s true to the artist’s intent. Giles Martin, vice-president of sound experience at Sonos, said that as creators and major streaming platforms embrace spatial audio for music, the time is right to create an out-loud listening experience that delivers against the promise of this thrilling and creative format.

The Era 100 features all-new hardware and software, with next-generation acoustics and design that deliver detailed stereo sound and deep bass. Two angled tweeters send crisp high frequencies left and right for a rich stereo experience, while a larger midwoofer creates stunning bass that’s unexpected from a single compact speaker. Users can also add two Era 100 speakers as rears with their soundbar to create a surround sound system, or simply pair two together for room-filling stereo sound.

Both speakers feature a premium, responsible design that adheres to Sonos’s new responsible design standards. Era 100 and Era 300 are made with post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic and packaged in 100% sustainably sourced paper. They are also engineered to reduce power consumption with less than two watts of idle power consumption and a new advanced sleep.

Sonos’s design director for product sustainability, Kitty Suidman, said that the company’s commitment to sustainability was embedded in its design process from the start, with the Era family marking a major step forward in its journey to create products that last beyond expectation, perform more efficiently, and use safer and circular materials.

Sonos Era 100, R6 499.00

Sonos Era 300, R10 999.00

planetworld.co.za