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!
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.
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!
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…
Not sure what else I can say about this, mate. The HomePod absolutely veers towards distortion at the bottom end on certain tracks. It doesn’t appear to handle bass particularly confidently (again, on certain tracks). It simply needs pulling back a bit, that’s all. The Era 300 is a great example of how it should be done (as is the Era 100, to be fair!).
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.
@@MarkEllisReviews ??? similar to the homepod in specs and its 150 euro's more expensive. Looks like the homepod isn't such a bad deal after all. Thanks for the video Mark.
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.
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 👍
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 .
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?
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
I've been trying to settle with and get used to my new Era 300 in the past few days, but I'm not liking it that much, despite having Apple Music and access to spatial audio. It has a strange way of chopping up music into separate parts with the vocals often sounding dislocated and muted/hidden behind instruments. I plan to return it and will either change it for an Era 100 or even a Five speaker. I already have a previous generation Five speaker in another room and it sounds massively better to me than the Era 300.
I purchased the Arc, dual Gen 3 subs, and Fives as rear surrounds before I knew about the Era 300 release date. My current set-up sounds fantastic for non-Atmos and Atmos content from major TV series/movie streaming services. I've noticed Atmos is only about 20%-30% of what I listen to and not sure how the Five compare to the Era 300 for the 70% of the non-Atmos audio I listen to?
I had the biggest sound improvement with my Beam Gen 1 when I added the Gen 3 Sub. I had Ikea Symfonisk rears and later updated to One SLs and that wasn't as dramatic as adding the sub.
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.
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
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
You’ll be good with one. Adding another is more about creating a stereo pair as opposed to increasing volume (although that’ll naturally happen, obviously).
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
Nope, I’m confident there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just the way it’s EQ’d - it’s incredibly bass heavy to the point of overkill on certain tracks.
@@MarkEllisReviews that's the height adjustable desk featured in 8:04 Would you recommend it as a good product for daily workspace use? Also the name of your chair will help. Cheers 🥂
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.
Worth mentioning is that Homepods have never been available in Central Europe (Poland, Hungary, Czech Rep. etc.) while Sonos speakers are. Easy choice then. I don’t quite understand policy here, no Siri in local languages, no homepods and some other gear, not mentioning services and offers limited to basic. Well, on the other hand it’s only 70 mio. people market…
because you people in Central/Eastern Europe (no offense) don't have the money to pay 350 euro's for a homepod. Your market is not interesting enough for Apple. Too little people will buy a homepod in those countries.
Sonos five gen 2 is not the same as era 300s. Sonos five is way bigger with bigger woofers etc. But the era 300s are such a winner right now interms of dolby atmos etc.
@@morells09 See pinned comment. There's lots to take in with this stuff and with such short periods during which to get these reviews out (including abandoning time with my young family on Friday night and Saturday to get this out) _if_ that's a miscommunication (on either mine or Sonos' part) and it's the only small error in this vid, I'll take it 😉
@@BBushell similar quotes in the press suggest that Sonos expect Five sales to be driven to the Sonos Era 300 instead, so I don’t accept that it’s a “blooper”, I’m afraid. There’s a lot to this behind the scenes, as you might suspect.
nice, but thee excuse that you could not play because copyright thing was cheeeeeeesyyyy, just play some of 60000 million songs copy right free. This new stuffs from Sonos looks good tho.
The era 300 are not a replacement for the Five at all. It's replacing the Play 3. The Era 500 whenever that comes out will probably be the replacement for the Five.
Sonos is much more expandable and has more features. That being said, I'm still a HomePod guy since I'm not much of an audiophile. I prefer simple setups with little maintenance and configuration. I do hear of people having issues with HomePods as movie speakers, so hopefully Apple works the bugs out.
Sonos will never get another $ of mine. Have a Gen 1 Play 5 that has unbelievably good sound that is now pretty much a bookend because they've obsoleted it via software.
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!
@@JC-gc1xt
Put the Era 300 in the rear and leave the Fives in front for music listening.
I have a great stereo, since moving not reset up, been using Sonos 1 stereo pair prob stick with them for now
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.
Nice! Would love to hear that.
Planning on upgrading my one sl’s to era300
Where they shine is Dolby Atmos music tracks as a stereo pair
Congratulations on 100K soon.
Thank you!
Great review. Thank you! I've always been a fan of Sonos products. Their AMP rocks also.
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!
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…
Not sure what else I can say about this, mate. The HomePod absolutely veers towards distortion at the bottom end on certain tracks. It doesn’t appear to handle bass particularly confidently (again, on certain tracks). It simply needs pulling back a bit, that’s all. The Era 300 is a great example of how it should be done (as is the Era 100, to be fair!).
Mark Ellis Reviews ThanksMuch!
These are awesome! I’ve wanted Sonos speakers for ages and these are next on the list
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.
Not a "big miss" - it's a difference of opinion. I think the Era 300 is far closer to the HomePod in terms of specs and positioning.
@@MarkEllisReviews ??? similar to the homepod in specs and its 150 euro's more expensive. Looks like the homepod isn't such a bad deal after all. Thanks for the video Mark.
@@MarkEllisReviews I'm also interested to know which is the better buy, HomePod or Era100. The 300 is out of the price range.
Great review Mark! Can you get another one and tell us what they’re like in stereo pair……and with the sonos sub?! Cheers mate 👍
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.
Hi Mark, decided to get properly into video…….. just started your Final Cut course on skillshare ✌🏻👍✌🏻
Awesome. I hope it helps, Phil (pretty sure it will!).
@@MarkEllisReviews was heading into DaVinci but feel a grounding in fcp first may help, plus my camera outputs pro res raw, DaVinci won’t decode that
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 👍
Thanks! And I'm afraid that's a direct quote from Sonos at a press event, buddy (regarding the 5).
@@morells09this is definitely my understanding too and that of other reviewers like Peter Pee (who rates the Sonos 5 slightly higher than the Era 300)
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?
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 .
Love this piece of comical music. So entertaining. What it is?
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?
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
How long is the power cable of Sonos 300?
I've been trying to settle with and get used to my new Era 300 in the past few days, but I'm not liking it that much, despite having Apple Music and access to spatial audio. It has a strange way of chopping up music into separate parts with the vocals often sounding dislocated and muted/hidden behind instruments. I plan to return it and will either change it for an Era 100 or even a Five speaker. I already have a previous generation Five speaker in another room and it sounds massively better to me than the Era 300.
That is what I thought thus was interested in buying two Era 100s (or two Moves G2 or G2).
Any updates?
@@Eagle-Striker Yes, I returned the Era 300 and switched it for a Five speaker. Much happier now,.
I purchased the Arc, dual Gen 3 subs, and Fives as rear surrounds before I knew about the Era 300 release date. My current set-up sounds fantastic for non-Atmos and Atmos content from major TV series/movie streaming services. I've noticed Atmos is only about 20%-30% of what I listen to and not sure how the Five compare to the Era 300 for the 70% of the non-Atmos audio I listen to?
You made the right choice. The era 300's suck. I'm returning mine for a pair of fives
Nice video
Thank you!
Have a Sonos beam gen 2. Would you recommend the sub mini or one of the new era products to compliment it?
I had the biggest sound improvement with my Beam Gen 1 when I added the Gen 3 Sub. I had Ikea Symfonisk rears and later updated to One SLs and that wasn't as dramatic as adding the sub.
Could the era 300 also be used with a tv?
The era 300 doesn’t replace the 5 , two different beasts altogether
It’s always worth reading the pinned comment before commenting.
@@MarkEllisReviews 🤣🤣☠️☠️
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.
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
You can lol. There's even a switch to turn off the mic.
@@ompong1993 yes but many people don’t want to pay that price just to not use those features. I’ll wait for the SL versions of they ever release any.
@@Javier03Li one of its top feature is being able to true play itself using the built in microphones. Definitely don't expect SL anytime soon.
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
You’ll be good with one. Adding another is more about creating a stereo pair as opposed to increasing volume (although that’ll naturally happen, obviously).
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
Nope, I’m confident there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just the way it’s EQ’d - it’s incredibly bass heavy to the point of overkill on certain tracks.
@@MarkEllisReviews apple has a solution for that. there is a reduce bass option in the settings of the home app.
@@bodigames …which essentially removes all bass response.
How do they compare to Amazon Echo Studio?
Streets ahead in sound but Alexa wins.
You can do special,audio Dolby atmos with one speaker , Please test it it, you don’t need 2 speakers
Brilliant kit, I have far too much already😬🤣
Hey Mark, what's the name of your work desk please?
Which one? ;)
@@MarkEllisReviews that's the height adjustable desk featured in 8:04
Would you recommend it as a good product for daily workspace use? Also the name of your chair will help.
Cheers 🥂
The chair is from Hinomi (have a look through my vids - I reviewed it recently). The desk is from Flexispot. Both highly recommended.
@@MarkEllisReviews thanks a lot for your response. Definitely watching it. Great reviews as always 👍🏿 🙂
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.
Stereo pair test please?!! 🤔😁
My Play 1's and Soundbar work perfect..why would I need these?
Worth mentioning is that Homepods have never been available in Central Europe (Poland, Hungary, Czech Rep. etc.) while Sonos speakers are. Easy choice then. I don’t quite understand policy here, no Siri in local languages, no homepods and some other gear, not mentioning services and offers limited to basic. Well, on the other hand it’s only 70 mio. people market…
because you people in Central/Eastern Europe (no offense) don't have the money to pay 350 euro's for a homepod.
Your market is not interesting enough for Apple. Too little people will buy a homepod in those countries.
Sledgehammer is a great test track for new speakers!!!
Sonos five gen 2 is not the same as era 300s.
Sonos five is way bigger with bigger woofers etc.
But the era 300s are such a winner right now interms of dolby atmos etc.
Please read the pinned comment.
Did you try Dolby Atmos music from Apple Music on the Era 300? That is supposed to be a completely different experience.
A slight correction…. The Era 300 is not a replacement for the Sonos Five it sits between the new Era 100 and the Sonos Five
That quote is directly from Sonos during a press event, mate.
@@MarkEllisReviews he got schooled 😂
@@morells09 See pinned comment. There's lots to take in with this stuff and with such short periods during which to get these reviews out (including abandoning time with my young family on Friday night and Saturday to get this out) _if_ that's a miscommunication (on either mine or Sonos' part) and it's the only small error in this vid, I'll take it 😉
Yeah it’s a bit of a blooper. No intent to replace the Fives with the Era 300. But we will forgive the error. 😊
@@BBushell similar quotes in the press suggest that Sonos expect Five sales to be driven to the Sonos Era 300 instead, so I don’t accept that it’s a “blooper”, I’m afraid. There’s a lot to this behind the scenes, as you might suspect.
Actually the ERA 300 replaces the PLAY 3. The Sonos 5 will sill be sold as a product.
nice, but thee excuse that you could not play because copyright thing was cheeeeeeesyyyy, just play some of 60000 million songs copy right free. This new stuffs from Sonos looks good tho.
That’s exactly what I did mate.
The era 300 are not a replacement for the Five at all. It's replacing the Play 3.
The Era 500 whenever that comes out will probably be the replacement for the Five.
Please read the pinned comment. And, to my knowledge, there has been no official confirmation that the Era 300 replaces the Play 3.
Sonos is much more expandable and has more features. That being said, I'm still a HomePod guy since I'm not much of an audiophile. I prefer simple setups with little maintenance and configuration. I do hear of people having issues with HomePods as movie speakers, so hopefully Apple works the bugs out.
come on you havent needed a bridge for over a decade
He said those days are long gone. A decade is long gone. He was only highlighting how far sonos has came along over the years.
What's it like to be 'that guy', Brett?
@@realScottThomas Some common sense - thanks, Scott!
Play 1s were by no means the early days of Sonos.
There’s always one, isn’t there. At least tell us what _was_, buddy!
Sonos will never get another $ of mine. Have a Gen 1 Play 5 that has unbelievably good sound that is now pretty much a bookend because they've obsoleted it via software.
? They still work just not on S2. Why have they turned into bookends for you?
Anything is better than Homepod, such a colossal failure by Apple