Sonos Era 300 review (2023) with the ultimate sound experience

arguably the most exciting Sonos speaker in years

With its $449 price tag, the Sonos Era 300 advances the company’s multi-room speaker lineup by adding spatial audio support. The Era 300 is the first Sonos speaker that isn’t designed for home theater to adopt the Dolby Atmos standard, joining the Arc ($899) and the Beam ($499) soundbars.

Sonos Era 300: Description

The Era 300 can fill a room with rich bass and crisp highs, and the addition of Bluetooth means you have more wireless streaming options than you do with the $549 Sonos Five. The Sonos Era 300 is a powerful speaker that deserves despite our disappointment that it lacks support for Google Assistant and Google Cast like some earlier Sonos models.

The heavy black or white Era 300 weighs 9.9 pounds and has approximate dimensions of 6.3 by 10.3 by 7.3 inches (HWD). It has a different form factor and is slightly smaller than the Sonos Five (8.0 by 14.3 by 6.1 inches). We’ll be the first to admit that this speaker is not exactly eye-catching, but its design is what makes it so useful for multi-driver, multi-channel audio reproduction. It has the Sonos look and feel thanks to its rounded corners and matte finish.

The front and back are shielded by a grille, and four tweeters and two woofers are powered by six internal class-D amplifiers to produce stereo sound. A front-firing tweeter projects more directional sound, while two others project the left and right channels out the sides. The upward-firing tweeter handles the Atmos height audio. The frequency range, power output, and driver sizes are not disclosed by Sonos.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Constructed to be watertight
  • Lightweight and simple to operate
  • Power lasts up to 15 hours
  • The Sonos S2 app and Apple AirPlay 2 are both supported.

Cons

  • Compared to similar portable speakers, the price is high.
  • There’s no way to pair two devices at once or listen in stereo via Bluetooth.

Sonos Era 300: Specification

FeatureDescription
Dimensions6.5 x 2.44 x 1.5 in. (165.1 x 61.9 x 38.1 mm)
Weight1 lb (0.45 kg)
Power supplyUSB-C port for power with included cable
Battery lifeUp to 15 hours of continuous playtime
Water-resistantIP67 rating for dust and water resistance (can be submerged up to 1 m for 30 minutes)
ConnectivityBluetooth 5.0 and Wi-Fi for wireless streaming, Apple AirPlay 2 compatible
AudioTwo Class-H amplifiers, two custom racetrack mid-woofers, two tweeters, and two passive radiators
Voice controlBuilt-in Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant
Visit WebsiteVisit Website

Build and Design

Sonos Era 300 review

Sonos describes the form factor of the Era 300 as a “cinched hourglass,” and it’s hard to argue with that description. It’s not as discreet as some of Sonos’ other speakers, and it’s a bit on the hefty side, but we get the impression that’s exactly what Sonos was going for. Once the 300 was set up in the room, we stopped focusing on the aesthetic and began appreciating the music for what it was.

It’s a practical solution to a practical problem, love it or hate it. The Era 300 is designed with spatial audio playback in mind, so it features a carefully considered but unusual arrangement of drivers and amplification that can fire out sound in all directions to deliver that ‘immersive’ audio experience while still maintaining a familiar appearance that is consistent with the rest of Sonos’ portable speaker lineup.

The Era 300 houses six drivers: two woofers, one midrange, two tweeters (one forward-firing, two lateral), and one upward-firing (angled left and right for stereo playback). In addition, custom waveguides help spread the music out in all directions, from front to back, top to bottom, and side to side. There is a separate class D amplifier for each of the six drivers.

When playing Dolby Atmos music, the tweeter is loaded into a directional horn and pointed upwards to bounce sound off the ceiling. Sonos recommends positioning the Era 300 at least 8 inches (20cm) from the wall, and the height channel volume can be adjusted in the app.

Sonos Era 300: Features

Sonos Era 300 review

The new Era speakers are more accessible to a wider audience thanks to the inclusion of Bluetooth 5.0, AirPlay 2, and Spotify Connect casting over Wi-Fi. Dolby Atmos, on the other hand, is an object-based audio format that creates a more expansive soundstage than a stereo system.

Although all three of the aforementioned services support Atmos audio, only Amazon Music and Apple Music can be piped here. I have requested an explanation as to why Tidal was not included and will revise the review accordingly. Since I couldn’t find any Atmos-specific curated playlists in the Sonos app, I had to manually search for it by entering “Dolby Atmos” into the app’s search bar.

It’s important to note that Dolby Atmos sound can only be played through the Sonos app, not over Bluetooth or AirPlay 2. Even though BluOS is also excellent, the Sonos control app may be the best of its kind. You can change the EQ (treble, bass, and loudness), tweak the height settings for the Atmos performance, and listen to music from services like Tidal, Pandora, and Deezer, all from the convenience of the app.

A new iteration of Trueplay called Quick Tune can be found in the Android version of the Sonos app. The microphone on an iPhone isn’t needed for this version to adjust its volume to the room’s acoustics.

Audio quality

Putting aside the potential of spatial audio, the Era 300 has a high-quality sound that befits its high price. However, it falls short of the Sonos Five, the company’s most impressive speaker in terms of audio quality. In contrast to the Era 100 and other speakers like Apple’s HomePod, you get a premium experience for $100 less.

However, the true test of the Era 300 is whether or not spatial audio truly adds anything to the listening experience. A resounding “sometimes” from me. For the time being, I believe that spatial audio is largely still just a trick. It took up a lot of my time, but I finally got around to comparing the Atmos renditions of songs on Apple Music and Amazon to the regular versions on Spotify.

There was always a noticeable change, but I didn’t always think it was for the better. In general, spatial audio tracks give the impression that the sound is coming from more than one location. Unfortunately, the vocals often felt drenched in reverb rather than being up close and personal, and the song’s original immediacy was lost.

Price and availability

Sonos Era 300 review

The Sonos Era 300, which comes in either black or white and retails for $449 (or £449, or AU$749), will go on sale on March 28 through the Sonos website The Era 300 is a mid-range smart speaker priced between $249 for the brand new Sonos Era 100 and $549 for the industry standard Sonos Five.

When you buy two Era 300s from Sonos, the price drops to $853 ($45 less than buying just one). The bundle price of $1,717 for two Era 300s and a Sonos Arc soundbar is $80 less than the sum of their individual prices. If you really want to go for broke, you can get two Era 300s, an Arc, and a Sonos Sub for $2,471, saving yourself $125. This is a small discount, but it helps.

Final Words

The Era 300 may have sounded like a gimmick when it was first announced, but it’s actually a very fresh, innovative, and confident move on the part of the company. Do we come away convinced that spatial audio will eventually replace stereo? Although we still don’t think the two formats are on equal footing, we’ve never been closer.

The Sonos Era 300 succeeds in its goal of providing a great spatial audio experience from a single wireless speaker, but this isn’t the only reason why you should consider purchasing it. It handles music files from any source or genre with flying colors.

The addition of Bluetooth streaming, along with the many other benefits of being a part of the Sonos ecosystem, helps to justify the high asking price. All in all, it seems like an adventure well worth undertaking.

FAQs

Are Sonos speakers high quality?

When it comes to home audio, Sonos’ speakers are hard to beat. Some can even be used with specific Sonos soundbars to set up a 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound system. Voice assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant are integrated into many of their speakers.

Why is Sonos soundbar so expensive?

This is so they can continue to receive your yearly financial support. When compared to other speakers, the initial cost of a Sonos speaker is higher. Nonetheless, we consider this to be preparing for the future.

Lucas Simonds
Lucas Simonds
Lucas Simonds is a skilled content editor at Bollyinside, specializing in "How to" and "Tips & Tricks" articles focused on Gaming, Software, and Apps. With a genuine passion for video games, he not only writes about them but also actively engages in gaming. His commitment to providing insightful and approachable content has earned him a trusted reputation within the online community.

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The Sonos Era 300 is an impressive, sophisticated, all-around enjoyable device that rivals the Apple HomePod 2. The Era 300 is an impressive speaker that does it all with a huge range of engaging sound, a wide range of features, and a seamless Sonos experience.Sonos Era 300 review (2023) with the ultimate sound experience