Sonos Era 100 vs Sonos One: Is the upgrade worth it?

Which speaker is better: the legendary Sonos One or the new Sonos Era 100?

Since its market launch in 2017, the Sonos One has been the manufacturer’s standard speaker, so to speak.

As the smallest, stationary speaker, it was perfect for the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and even for the living room, home theater, restaurants and stores in a stereo combination.

Six years later, Sonos has now launched its successor, the Era 100. The new features are not just visual, but also affect the sound and the technology inside.

In this comparison, I’ll show you how the Sonos One differs from the Sonos Era 100.

Operation: Era 100 vs One

Both speakers can be controlled identically via the Sonos app: volume, sound, settings, rooms and streaming sources such as Spotify, radio stations, Apple Music or TV sound.

However, there are major differences when it comes to operating the device directly. Both speakers can be controlled intuitively and quickly using the buttons on the top. However, the Era 100 has more control options.

The Sonos One only has four buttons on the top: volume up and down, play/pause and a button to mute the integrated microphones (not on the One SL).

If you quickly swipe your finger over the volume buttons, you can skip backwards or forwards a track.

The Sonos Era 100 offers more – and in my opinion, better buttons. The volume can no longer only be changed step by step by tapping + or -. You can now also swipe your finger over the indentation and change the volume even faster and more intuitively.

In addition to play/pause and the mute button for the microphones, there are separate buttons to skip forwards or backwards between songs.

There is also a Bluetooth button on the back of the Era 100 and another haptic switch to permanently disconnect the integrated microphones from the system.

Ports & connection

Both speakers can be connected to the router via Wi-Fi, so you can stream music wirelessly to the devices. Either via the Sonos app or via other connections such as Apple’s AirPlay 2.

However, the Sonos Era 100 has been given an additional connection option: Bluetooth. Something that almost every cheap speaker has been able to do for at least ten years has only now been introduced by Sonos.

Various devices such as cell phones, tablets or computers can be quickly and easily connected to the speaker via Bluetooth to play music or the sound of films and series.

The Bluetooth connection works perfectly and is an excellent feature , especially for Android users.

Another shortcoming of the Sonos One has been eliminated with the Era 100: Previously, no external devices could be connected via cable; you had to take a costly detour via additional devices.

The Era 100 now has a USB-C connection. With a separately available adapter, external sources such as turntables, computers or games consoles can now be connected via a 3.5mm jack plug.

The device can also be connected to a router or repeater via this adapter using a LAN cable.

SonosNet

However, the new Era 100 not only has advantages but also disadvantages.

Most Sonos speakers could previously be brought into the so-called SonosNet: If a speaker was connected directly to the router via LAN cable, all other speakers automatically set up their own, separate WLAN.

This ensured much more stable connections and prevented annoying dropouts. The Sonos One could also be integrated into this special WLAN.

The new Sonos Era 100 can no longer be connected to SonosNet . Not even if you connect it to the router via an adapter with a LAN cable.

You can see whether a device is in this special SonosNet in the app under Settings -> System -> About my system. If the device says “WM:0” it is in SonosNet, if it says “WM:1” it is in the normal WLAN.

The larger Era 300 can also no longer be integrated into SonosNet. This suggests that the manufacturer is moving away from this technology in the long term.

I have already heard from some sources that the number of connection problems is increasing again.

Hopefully Sonos will address this issue with further firmware updates and improve the stability of the WLAN connection.

Voice assistants

Both the Sonos One and the new Sonos Era 100 can be controlled using various voice assistants. This is ensured by several microphones integrated on the top.

There are three different assistants to choose from with the Sonos One: The in-house Sonos Voice Control, which only processes data locally on the device and does not analyze it on the Internet. Amazon’s Alexa and the Google Assistant are also available.

The Sonos Era 100 also has Amazon Alexa and Sonos Voice Control on board, but no longer the Google Assistant.

It can only be assumed that this is due to a long-standing legal dispute between Google and Sonos. It is possible that the assistant will also be removed from other devices in the future.

Mute switch

If you don’t want to use the voice assistants, you can deactivate them on both devices by tapping the button on the top.

The Era 100 also has a switch on the back that permanently disconnects the microphones from the power circuit.

Sound

Let’s not kid ourselves: The functions mentioned above are good and important, but ultimately what counts with a high-quality speaker is the sound quality. And this much in advance: the sound quality of both speakers is excellent.

I compared both devices in detail with the reference songs from my test playlist.

The Sonos One sounds simply outstanding for its size: clear treble and rich bass. If you connect two of them to form a stereo pair, the sound becomes even more impressive.

The new Era 100 actually goes one better in terms of sound and sounds better in some areas.

But I’m really talking about details that you can hear in high-quality music recordings at higher volumes.

If you listen to the radio at background volume in the kitchen, you won’t notice any difference.

The Era 100 sounds even finer and more detailed in the higher ranges, and the bass is even more powerful than with the Sonos One. No wonder: the woofer in the Era 100 is 25% larger and the overall volume of the cabinet has also increased.

The biggest difference, however, is in the high-frequency range: while the Sonos One only had one tweeter cone, the Era 100 comes with two cones, which are angled slightly to the right and left and thus provide a stereo effect – if that is possible in this small room.

A real stereo effect is only created when two speakers are connected to form a stereo pair.

Automatic sound adjustment

The same speaker can sound different in different rooms. Automatic sound adjustment ensures that the device is optimally set to the conditions of the room.

The Sonos One can only be tuned with an Apple iPhone via the so-called TruePlay. Two types of sound adjustment are available for the new Era 100.

Quick tuning – the speaker listens to itself briefly via the internal microphones and adjusts the sound. And advanced tuning, which still requires an iPhone.

Conclusion

Both the Sonos One and the Sonos Era 100 are fantastic speakers that offer excellent sound, a sophisticated app and simple operation.

Anyone looking for a small speaker for background music in the kitchen, children’s room or bathroom will be absolutely satisfied with the Sonos One.

Especially as the device is also quite a bit cheaper – especially if you opt for the Sonos One SL without voice control.

If you place extremely high demands on the sound, often concentrate on listening to high-quality recordings in good quality or even want to connect two speakers to form a stereo pair, the Era 100 is the better choice.

If you want to connect external audio sources to the speaker via cable, the Era 100 is also a must. Only here is it possible to connect external devices, albeit only with the separately available adapter.

For users of Android phones, the new Era 100 also makes more sense than the Sonos One. It not only offers the option of connecting via Bluetooth, but also automatic sound adjustment with the integrated microphones.