It’s amazing how much power is in this little speaker

The packaging, made of recycled materials, is minimalistic as usual from Sonos: next to the speaker we only find a power cable and some description. The Era 100 is now slightly larger than the Sonos One, and while the external change isn’t significant compared to its predecessor, this device really does seem to be a new generation. As with the Era 300, the pairing button and network cable input, which were previously used by the manufacturer, have disappeared from the back, and instead we get a microphone switch, USB-C input, and a Bluetooth button.

The latter is commendable: after so many years, the manufacturer has finally listened to customer feedback, and our favorite music can now be streamed to the device via a Bluetooth connection in addition to the Sonos app and Apple AirPlay2. You can connect any player, record player, or even computer to the USB-C Line port, but be aware that this will only be possible with the proprietary Sonos adapter, which can be purchased separately for twenty dollars.

Small body, big lungs

We also find a new control interface shared with the Era 300 on the top of the device: in addition to the touch buttons for starting music and activating the voice assistant, we also get a touch-sensitive recessed bar as well – you can control the volume by dragging your finger along it, if that Just. We don’t want to take out/find our phone again. At the same time, the new era hides new devices. The diagonally placed tweeters radiate sharp high frequencies left and right, while the larger center speaker produces bass that’s quite unusual for such a compact speaker. After turning it on, it was really surprising how much depth was fired from this relatively small device.

Installation is the usual, simple Sonos process. We connect the speaker, and start the manufacturer’s application, which walks us through the basic settings in a few steps, even in Hungarian. With the release of the two new Era speakers, following iPhone users, Android phone owners finally got the Trueplay option to help with smart speaker tuning. This operation can be done during the setup process, or even later – it’s worth doing it anyway if, for some reason, you want to move the speaker to another location. On Apple devices, tuning is still somewhat more complicated: the speaker plays a special sound, and the user walks around the room with the phone in hand, helping the speaker to map the room, which is necessary to achieve the best possible sound. . However, on Android, the crawling part is not part of the program.

After you’re done with the settings, you can instantly find free stations under the Radio tab, you can connect your favorite music streaming services (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, etc.) to the Sonos app, but you can also find the biggest audiobook providers here, Or even our own Plex server. We can join. The biggest advantage of the smart speaker compared to devices with a traditional Bluetooth connection is that it broadcasts the same music when connected to the Internet, and after starting playback we no longer need to turn on the phone or nearby, and we can also receive calls without stopping playback.

Although the Era 100 doesn’t have a battery like the Sonos Move, I was curious to see how the device performed in different parts of the apartment. There’s clearly no space in a tablet apartment that such a speaker wouldn’t easily fill, but it’s still a relief to listen to the device fill in — let’s say — the living room.

We did not feel at all that the sound was coming from a specific point, as the music filled the available space in all cases, and was not focused on a clearly defined point. A particularly useful feature on the web is that you can set the alarm function in the Sonos app, so your favorite music can shake the sleep off your eyes. We can’t complain about the volume either, if we don’t want to argue with the neighbors, we wouldn’t set the device higher than 40-50 percent anyway, although the Era 100 can easily handle the load. It doesn’t distort, the vocals don’t mix, and as I mentioned earlier, the bass is amazing for its size.

You are smart here

Although the device doesn’t speak Hungarian, we experimented with the voice control options. In the Sonos app, we have two options: on the one hand, the manufacturer, the representative Giancarlo Esposito Voice control and Amazon Alexa. Google Assistant support ended — no one knows why — and Apple never let go of Siri. Of course, it’s worth knowing that Sonos Voice Control doesn’t want to be another digital assistant, it’s only meant to control manufacturer hardware, and it won’t tell jokes or tell you about the current weather. The system says “Hey Sonos!” You live by it, and A.J Too badwho are you the MAndalusianMy sweet familiar member tries to accommodate our requests.

The assistant initiated the desired broadcast among the boneless radios, and didn’t even get stuck with it when we selected the radio’s music-only style. This also works with Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, and Pandora services, but Spotify and YouTube Music aren’t supported yet, and those services can’t be controlled with the Sonos voice assistant — for now. Out of curiosity, I also switched to Amazon Alexa, we also switched Ikea smart lighting used with Apple HomeKit to this assistant, and as expected, it worked great. The system even thoughtlessly processed commands spoken in the next room.

Like all Sonos speakers, the Era 100 can work with other manufacturer’s devices in a multi-room system, so different audio devices can play the same music in sync in different rooms. Two Era 100s can be set in a stereo pair in the same room, and they can also be set as side speakers next to the Arc, Beam, and Ray speakers.

For those who already have a Sonos system at home (even with devices shared with IKEA), the Era 100 could be an excellent addition, but it’s also worth considering for those looking for their first voice-controlled smart speaker. Orders around HUF 100,000 , mainly for listening to music. – Before purchasing, you only need to make sure that your Era 100 is compatible with the systems and services we use.