Sonos has two new audio system occurring sale Tuesday, March 28, and so they’re each vital new fashions that occupy a few key spots within the general Sonos line-up: The Period 100 is actually the alternative for the Sonos One, arguably the ‘default’ starter speaker for anybody seeking to construct out a Sonos system. The Period 300, its bigger sibling, is the primary Sonos speaker to assist spatial audio, and occupies a spot someplace between the now-defunct Play:3 and the Sonos 5. We took each for a check drive, and located loads of causes to get enthusiastic about Sonos’ Period period.

The fundamentals

The Sonos Period 100 principally drops in as a alternative for the Sonos One within the current product lineup, and it’s received a design to match. In contrast to the Sonos One, the Period 100 is a real rounded cylinder (as an alternative of a 3D rounded rectangle just like the One) and is barely taller than the One, however with a extra svelte look general due to being extra slim side-to-side.

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The Period 100 connects through wifi to your Sonos system, and consists of Apple AirPlay 2 like its predecessor. It additionally has a mic and helps Sonos’ personal voice management in addition to Amazon Alexa (in contrast to on older gadgets, Google Assistant is not an possibility). It has a bodily change for disabling the mic, on prime of the contact management mute from prior fashions, and the redesigned prime contact floor a devoted quantity slider, play/pause and skip controls.

New to the Period 100, and the Period 300, are two further connection choices: Bluetooth, and bodily line-in. These are each welcome, however it’s vital to notice the USB-C port used for line-in on each requires the addition of the Sonos Line-In Adapter for connecting to three.5 mm sources. I believed that because it was USB-C, it will be simple to simply join a supply like a MacBook Professional instantly and have it acknowledged as an exterior audio machine, however that doesn’t work – nor does utilizing current USB-C-to-3.5 mm audio adapters that I had readily available.

The Period 100 additionally features two separate tweeters for the primary time in a speaker this dimension from Sonos, in addition to a bigger subwoofer. The outcome needs to be extra readability and pure sound vs the Sonos One. Extra on how that delivers later one.

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The Sonos Period 300 is a way more net-new speaker for the corporate, although it roughly occupies the place within the lineup left behind by the discontinuation of the Play:3, which was not instantly changed with one other mannequin at or close to its worth level. The Period 300 is kind of completely different, nonetheless, each when it comes to its design – which appears to be like like an hourglass laid on its facet – and when it comes to its characteristic set, because it consists of assist for spatial audio for the primary time.

Sonos designed the internals of the Period 300, which packs 4 tweeters dealing with in all instructions however down, in addition to a pair of woofers, to have the ability to fill a room with sound from a single level. It could actually reproduce each stereo and spatial mixes, and doesn’t artificially manipulate stereo to sound spatialized, fortunately. Sonos additionally supplied the Period 300 with the flexibility to behave as rears for a Sonos encompass setup, which implies you probably have a principally limitless finances you may get two plus an arc, and a Sonos Sub to create a digital 7.1.4 sound system.

In fact, each the Period 100 and Period 300 can be a part of an current Sonos setup and achieve entry to all of the synced multi-room playback options that Sonos is know for. Each additionally characteristic auto-TruePlay tuning that makes use of the built-in mic to regulate sound to greatest suit your room. Additionally, you probably have the enter adapters, you’ll be able to play again audio out of your line-in supply throughout your varied Sonos audio system.

Design

Each these Sonos audio system obtain new highs for the model when it comes to design, in my view. The Period 100 is a straight throughout the plate, elementary bookshelf speaker with only a trace of edge due to the rectangular form. It appears extra innocuous in situ throughout a variety of home settings, together with within the kitchen or arrange as rears, due to some refined tweaks, like the truth that the speaker grill goes nearly all the best way to the highest of the speaker, in contrast to on the Sonos One which had a band of stable floor nearer the higher edge.

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The brand new quantity rocker indentation is a welcome change and provides some tactile profit to distinguishing it from the ahead/again buttons, and the refined vertical emblem on the entrance grill is a pleasant little bit of branding that doesn’t mar an in any other case very covert look.

For the Period 300, Sonos clearly went a bit extra adventurous, arising with this form that tapers to the center after which re-expands out in direction of the again. That is doubtless a minimum of partially purposeful in addition to aesthetic, to offer the Period 300 with its spatial audio and top channel encompass capabilities. It makes for a way more placing design vs. the Period 100, however it’s one which I feel works fairly properly in a variety of settings. It’s positively a bit extra attention-grabbing, however because it finally ends up trying like a contemporary architectural mini sculpture, that’s by no means a nasty factor. In truth, I might say the Period 300 is possibly the best-looking speaker Sonos has ever made.

Options & Efficiency

Let’s get the fundamentals out of the best way first: Sonos’ new audio system are simply as dependable when it comes to the core Sonos magic as any which have come earlier than. They supply rock-solid multi-room synced audio playback, and can combine immediately along with your current setup ought to you might have one.

Okay, with that out of the best way, let’s discuss what these audio system uniquely present that Sonos’ current lineup hasn’t supplied.

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The Period 100 has inside {hardware} modifications that the corporate claims offers higher sound vs. the Sonos One. Based mostly on testing, that does certainly appear to be the case – with a pair caveats. The primary is that I might say in case you’re trying to make use of an Period 100 by itself, you positively get lots higher audio high quality vs. a Sonos One appearing solo. The added tweeter and greater woofer do ship extra correct sound with much less muddied mixes, particularly at decrease volumes.

If you happen to’re debating whether or not or to not improve an current Sonos One pair to Period 100s, I feel issues get much more murky. The very fact is that in most settings, for many setups, you doubtless gained’t get sufficient of a distinction in general skilled audio high quality to justify the worth of upgrading. However in case you’re coming to it new, or upgrading from a a lot older pair of Play:1s, it’s positively a great-sounding speaker – alone or collectively.

As for the Period 300, it’s far simpler to advocate this extra broadly, partially as a result of there’s nothing actually equal in Sonos’ current historical past to check it towards. It genuinely offers terrific, room-filling sound with stunning readability and class given its footprint and dimension. The Period 300 is a superb sole speaker for any room the place you wish to on audio (vs. having a soundbar or residence theatre system for a TV) and I discovered it was even corresponding to the dearer and wonderful Sonos 5 that the corporate nonetheless sells when it comes to general high quality.

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In fact, the Sonos Period 300’s huge fancy new characteristic is assist for spatial audio, which it offers in case you use Amazon Music Limitless as a supply, or Apple Music through a forthcoming replace, for tracks mastered with Dolby Atmos Audio. I examined this with appropriate tracks from Amazon Music Limitless, and located that it does certainly make a distinction and sounds nice – I simply couldn’t actually say for sure that it sounds higher than the identical track rendered in stereo solely. To be honest, that’s typically been the case for me and spatial audio – with Apple’s AirPod lineup and Apple Music I can positively inform the distinction, however can’t normally say definitively that I choose one vs. the opposite. I wouldn’t make spatial audio assist the deciding think about a purchase order, however your mileage might differ there relying on the way you personally really feel concerning the know-how.

Backside line

Sonos has hardly ever had an actual miss with its product lineup, and each the Period 100 and the Period 300 stand as clear hits. The Period 100 is a brilliant and refined evolution of the corporate’s ‘default’ starter providing, and the Period 300 is a novel and outperforming product in a sea of choices that features Apple’s just-updated HomePod. Whereas every sounds nice in its personal proper, the differentiator for Sonos will at all times be the pliability of its multi-room audio know-how, and that is still an enormous spotlight of each of those merchandise which you can’t actually get anyplace else. I want that Sonos had both simply made the aux inputs on the again 3.5mm (the argument towards being that with USB-C, in addition they assist Ethernet adapters for wired community connections), or that they’d included their proprietary adapters within the field, however the truth that they’ve these choices, in addition to Bluetooth, is a serious nice-to-have improve that has been missing in most of Sonos’ lineup for years.

You gained’t be upset with both of those audio system, and as at all times with Sonos merchandise, in case you’ve received the cash they carry out much more spectacularly in stereo pairs. The Period 300 specifically is a brilliant robust providing with few actual opponents on the market.