Sonos Era 100 and Era 300 review - BETTER than HomePod?

My Sonos Era 100 and Era 300 review asks some simple questions. Are they better than older Sonos speakers, and what wins our of the battle of Era 300 vs 2023 HomePod?

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CHAPTERS
00:00 - Intro
00:58 - Pricing and specs
02:35 - Design and setup
04:25 - Sound and smarts
08:40 - Era 300 vs HomePod
10:08 - Conclusion

[MarkEllisReviews]

So, who's buying an Era 100 or Era 300? Oh, and there seems to be some pushback on my suggestion that the Era 300 is "replacing" the Sonos Five. I'm simply reading from notes I made during a press briefing - there's always the chance this may have been misinterpreted by me, or not clearly communicated via Sonos during that briefing. These things happen, and as noted during the video, the Five is still very much available. Enjoy the review!

[arondyte]

Great video but I think it's a big miss that you didn't do a more comprehensive comparison between the Homepod 2 and the Era 100 as they are both closer in price and in form factor to each other. People going for the Era 300 will probably be deciding between it vs. a dual Era 100/dual Homepod 2 set-up as opposed to a single Homepod set-up.

[robsawalker]

Sonos still a pain in the arse to set up for no reason I see! I have a love/hate relationship with my Sonos set up; when it's working it's magnificent, but about every six months it has a total breakdown, then forces one on me as I spend the best part of a day getting it up and running again. I have just counted, I have 17 Sonos speakers of varying types around the house! Takes ages to get them working once it has a fit. No doubt I will be upgrading a pair of my old Sonos ones for Era 100's at some point this year. Thanks Mark for the video!

[cool-j]

Your channel is the first i have heard that the HomePod 2nd gen distorts in any way, i also sell these products and during my testing or any of my customers testings i have never experienced any distortion of any kind and managing a gadget store has made me experience and listen to a wide variety of Bluetooth and WiFi speakers and the HomePod for it’s size is the best i have ever listened to yet, the Era 100 just arrived on Saturday so we’ll be doing some unboxing and listening sections today, so i will get to compare the two products side by side…

[mejlgaardbliddal]

I am considering the era 300 for its Atmos capability but I have not been able to find out if you can use it for that when connected to an AppleTV or wether I will have to use the smart tv streaming options instead.

[watchcommander]

Great Video Mark as always. I won’t be buying them these two Sonos speakers are just plain ugly I had that view on the press release and when I actually saw them in person it just enforced it.

[julioirizarry]

Another great vid! I have the era 300's as surrounds pair with ARC and two subwoofers for home theater movies and the sound is phenomenal! They are also good for music however where they really shine is for movies.

[jasoncrook]

The era 300 doesn’t replace the 5, two different beasts altogether

[Brett_is_Veng]

the sound quality has always been good and the price has always been too high but the biggest problem they have is that they keep updating them which can add and remove features, The comparison between homepod and era 300 isn't fair, there is a massive price difference however the era does support more services. I wish they didnt build in any voice assistants into any of these speakers because not everyone wants them. you should be able to disable them in the app at the very least

[malcolmpritchard]

Would you reckon 2 era 300s together would be perfect or is it on its own enuf for a room size 4.5 x 4.5 in a semi detached house with sensitive neighbours haha

[canpin]

Thanks for the video. Im getting sonos.
Cool hoodie btw, pretty inique round t-shirt neckline 👍. Where did you get that if i may ask?

[Rigue]

Good review very realistic when speaking about both ERA.

Oh, yea the ERA 300 isn’t replacing the Fives 😂😂😂

Give it a year or so before Sonos comes out with the ERA 500, then the ERA will fall to there 3 position as best speaker within the Sonos portfolio 👍

[salomenatriashvili]

Era 300 was too big for my small living room, so I decided to change it to Era 100 for my rear speakers, and I think it's the right decision. Now I have Arc, Sub 3 gen, Era 100 for a small room, Era 300 I think is a wrong choice for me .

[TemujinScott]

I feel like Sonos could have added a bit more punch and depth on the Sonos era 300. The sound is satisfying but distorts depending on the track you’re listening to. I love my Sonos Five, subs and arc.

[TheJimmyboy]

I think I mentioned this before but not sure your HomePod has a fault with it or it’s placement I find the bass response excellent on the new HomePod for example protection by massive attack goes very low without any distortion in actual fact I’m been impressed with the clarity these sonos speakers do sound promising I have to say

[Roo_]

Actually the ERA 300 replaces the PLAY 3. The Sonos 5 will sill be sold as a product.

[madrasby]

Hey Mark, how do these function as a desktop speaker? Trying to pair it with my Mac air.. also do i need to get the adapter and hardwire so that i dont get any lags?

[curtmac]

Interesting. I’m curious how the Era 100s compare to the old sonos one or even a dedicated Alexa speaker. Right now I have the Sonos Move and it’s by far by favorite sonos speaker

[jacksonian]

Great review. Thank you! I've always been a fan of Sonos products. Their AMP rocks also.

[lemmuhj]

My Play 1's and Soundbar work perfect..why would I need these?