Sonos launches Era 300 and Era 100 speakers
Leaks were spot-on
The rumours were true, after all. Sonos’ latest Era 300 and Era 100 smart speakers were officially unveiled last night. But the details had been leaked some time ago. What we did get from Sonos’ Singapore distributor TC Acoustic was local pricing and availability (Mar 28). The Era 300 costs S$799, while the Era 100 is selling at S$449. That puts the Era 300 just slightly below the Sonos Five (S$899). The Era 100 will also replace the S$349 Sonos One in the audio firm’s speaker lineup.
Both speakers now come with Bluetooth connectivity, which should tackle a common complaint about Sonos’ products. The hourglass-like Era 300 has an upward-firing tweeter for spatial audio like Dolby Atmos, making a pair of them the ideal rear surrounds for a home theatre setup with a Sonos Arc or Beam soundbar. More importantly, the company will add support for spatial audio on Apple Music. That means you can get spatial audio not just on the Era 300, but also older Sonos devices like the Beam. Meanwhile, the Era 100 will have angled tweeters for stereo sound, and a larger midwoofer for improved bass. One thing to note: There’s no Google Assistant on these new speakers — they are both suing each other. But Android users finally get Sonos’ audio tuning Trueplay feature, previously only for iPhones and iPads.
At the media preview, the new speakers, especially spatial audio on the Era 300, sound good. We hope to get our hands on them soon, so stay tuned for the review!
But while waiting, you can check out our latest reviews below featuring Xiaomi’s latest flagship phone, a new Apple Mac mini, and a budget Hisense TV.
Xiaomi has pulled out all the stops for its latest Xiaomi 13 Pro flagship phone. It features a 1-inch sensor 50MP Leica-branded camera that competes with the best smartphone cameras in the market. Add in the top-notch display, flagship processor, and super-fast charging (and good battery life) to get a phone that’s worthy of its premium price.
Packing oodles of computing power in its compact chassis is the new Apple Mac mini (2023), which can be equipped with either the M2 or M2 Pro chip. But even the base M2 model is good enough for 4K video editing. And it’s just S$849, making it surprisingly affordable. Of course, monitor, mouse, and keyboard are not included.
The Hisense E7H is a 4K Google TV that offers decent picture quality for its entry-level price (around S$500 for the 43” model). It also has nice extras like voice commands, as well as Chromecast and AirPlay. Of course, its HDR performance is forgettable despite supporting both HDR10 and Dolby Vision. But you do get more realistic visuals with its Filmmaker Mode.