Sonos Era 300 Review
The Sonos Era 300 is a fantastic speaker that blends cutting-edge design, stellar sound quality, and a host of useful features. Its ability to deliver immersive, room-filling sound makes it a great choice for both serious audiophiles and casual listeners. The modern, sleek design ensures it looks good in any room, and its robust build quality means it’s built to last. With extensive connectivity options and seamless integration with the Sonos app, the Era 300 is quite a user-friendly audio solution. Whether you’re looking to upgrade your home theatre system or simply want a high-quality speaker for your living room, the Sonos Era 300 is a strong contender.
Sonos is a brand that has been synonymous with cutting-edge home audio for quite a while now. Since 2002, it has built a reputation for blending premium sound quality with smart technology, which elevates how users experience music at home. The Era 300 continues this legacy with its sleek design and advanced acoustic engineering, promising immersive sound that adapts to any room. However, its exorbitant price tag may deter Indian users from considering it compared to cheaper options from brands such as JBL and Sony. In this review, I delve into what sets the Sonos Era 300 apart and if it’s worth spending a small fortune on.
The first thing you’ll notice about the Sonos Era 300 is its unique, elliptical shape. This isn’t just for show – it’s designed to project sound in all directions, creating a more immersive audio experience. Available in classic black and white, it’s built with high-quality materials that feel sturdy and premium.
Size-wise, it’s compact enough to fit on a bookshelf or side table without dominating the space. The touch controls on top are user-friendly, letting you adjust the volume, play/pause music, or skip tracks with just a tap. Plus, it has built-in microphones for in-built Amazon Alexa and Sonos’ in-house voice control.
One thing to keep in mind, though, is that the unique design might make placement a bit tricky in some rooms. Its shape and size might not be ideal for every space, especially if you’re dealing with limited room. Additionally, it’s quite heavy at nearly 4.5 kg, so it’s not exactly portable.
You also need to consider that since the Sonos Era 300 needs constant power to run, you will need to ensure there’s enough room for the power cord that comes out the back. Fortunately, the plug that goes into the speaker is quite flat, ensuring it doesn’t take up too much of your precious real estate.
When it comes to sound, the Sonos Era 300 doesn’t disappoint. It’s loaded with six class-D amplifiers, four tweeters, and two woofers, all strategically placed to create a surround sound experience. The upward-firing tweeters are particularly impressive, enhancing the sense of height in the soundstage – perfect for Dolby Atmos and other spatial audio formats.
The sound profile is well-balanced, delivering clear mids and highs that make vocals and instruments pop. The bass is deep and punchy without being overpowering. The soundstage is expansive; one of the absolute best I’ve experienced at this price range. Instrument separation is top-notch too.
When compared to larger speakers like the Sony SRS-XV500, even though it is not as loud, it encompasses the room in a more balanced way. Whether you’re into classical music, rock, or hip-hop, the Era 300 handles all genres beautifully.
Trueplay tuning technology is another standout feature. This tech uses the built-in microphones to analyze how sound reflects off walls and other surfaces, then adjusts the audio output accordingly. This means you get optimised sound no matter where you place the speaker. Trueplay tuning is available on both Android and iOS devices, which is excellent.
The Sonos Era 300 is packed with features that make it super versatile. It supports various audio formats, including Dolby Atmos, which delivers a more dynamic and immersive sound experience. You can connect to it via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and AirPlay 2, giving you plenty of options for streaming music from your favourite services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.
The Sonos app is your control centre for all things Era 300. It’s user-friendly and lets you adjust settings, create speaker groups, and explore new music with ease. The app also supports voice control via Amazon Alexa, so you can manage your music and smart home devices hands-free.
One really cool feature is the ability to pair two Era 300 speakers for stereo sound or use them as rear surrounds in a Sonos home theatre setup. This flexibility makes the Era 300 a great addition to any home audio system, whether you’re using it solo or as part of a larger setup.
However, there are a couple of downsides. The Era 300 doesn’t support high-resolution audio formats natively, which might be a letdown for audiophiles. Also, if you want to connect older devices via an analogue input, you’ll need to buy a separate adapter. This adds extra cost and could be seen as an inconvenience.
The Sonos Era 300 is a fantastic speaker that blends cutting-edge design, stellar sound quality, and a host of useful features. Its ability to deliver immersive, room-filling sound makes it a great choice for both serious audiophiles and casual listeners. The modern, sleek design ensures it looks good in any room, and its robust build quality means it’s built to last. With extensive connectivity options and seamless integration with the Sonos app, the Era 300 is quite a user-friendly audio solution.
Whether you’re looking to upgrade your home theatre system or simply want a high-quality speaker for your living room, the Sonos Era 300 is a strong contender. While this speaker is not for everyone, primarily due to the exorbitant price and its wired nature, it is a solid option for audiophiles who want an immersive sonic experience at home.
