So the new Sonos Era 300 is a very impressive dolby atmos smart speaker with a very interesting
speaker set up.
But the Era 300 is pretty big and it is a little pricey.
But today, lets see how the Sonos Era 300 stacks up to other very popular and great
sounding smart speakers like the Apple HomePod Gen 2 and the Bose Smart Speaker 500.
Regarding pricing, the Sonos Era 300 is the most expensive speaker here coming in at $450.
Behind it is the bose Smart Speaker 500 which is the oldest speaker here and it retails
for $380 and then there’s the HomePod Gen 2 which retails for $300.
Now I don’t expect any of these speakers to go on sale all that often…but if you
want to pick any of these speakers up they’ll be linked down below.
Now first I think its super important that we talk about connectivity.
With the HomePod, this is a speaker that is best used with an iPhone especially cause
of it heavy Siri integration, and cause you can only stream music to it with airplay.
Now the Sonos is also best used with an iPhone cause it also mainly relies on airplay to
stream music to it… but you can still use an android device with the Sonos cause you
can either download the Sonos app on your phone and stream music to it through the Sonos
app… or you can connect to the Sonos speaker by using bluetooth.
But then theres the bose which plays nice with both iPhone and android.
The bose has airplay 2 support so you can stream music to it if your iPhone is connected
to the same wifi network as your speaker… but the bose also has chrome cast support,
so you can also stream music to it if you’re using an android device.
But also, the bose has bluetooth.
Now I know that it sounds very basic that im having to point out that you can connect
to either the Sonos or Bose with Bluetooth… but this is a big deal for Sonos cause this
is actually new for Sonos.
And personally I think having bluetooth on your smart speaker is important, cause this
way, if you want to share your speaker with someone, you don’t have to give them your
wifi password.
Now continuing on the topic of connectivity, the Bose has a built in audio jack, so you
can use this speaker with a wired connection right out of the box.
Where was with the Sonos… it has a USB C port… and if you want to use a wired connection
with this speaker, you have to buy Sonos’s audio jack adapter which is sold separately.
Which I personally think is ridiculous.
And finally, there’s the HomePod which can only be used wirelessly.
However, with the HomePod, if you were to get 2 HomePods and if you were to get an apple
TV, you can always use them as a home theaters set up, which I am told is pretty underwhelming.
Where as with the Sonos, if you have a Sonos soundbar like either an Arc or a beam gen
2, then you can use 2 of the same Sonos speakers as rear satellite speakers… and with the
bose, you can’t actually use your bose speaker as a part of your home theater set up if you
have a bose soundbar… but you can use it to play music in sync.
Next up there’s the voice assistants on these speakers.
The only voice assistant that you can use with the HomePod is Siri… cause its apple,
duh.
With the Sonos you can use Sonos’s own voice assistant which is going to allow you to control
your speaker with just your voice… or you can also use Alexa.
But then there’s the Bose where you can use either Alexa or Google Assistant.
But with connectivity and voice assistants out of the way, we can finally start talking
about how these speakers sound.
Regarding speaker sets ups, the HomePod Gen 2 has a single upwards firing woofer and a
total of 5 tweeters that shoot out all around this speaker.
Then there’s the Bose which has two woofers that shoot out the sides of this speaker.
And then there’s the Era 300 which has the wildest speaker up here.
The Era 300 has two woofers that shoot out the sides, and it has a total of 5 tweeters
on it.
One shoots out the front, two shoots out the sides and slightly upwards and one shoots
outwards.
Now due to the Era 300’s unique speaker set up, I do highly recommend that you try
to place it somewhere where its going to have room to breath and somewhere where the top
of this speaker is going to have a direct line of sight to the ceiling.
Cause you want the upwards firing tweeter of this speaker to bounce sound off of the
ceiling.
With the Bose, since this speaker does shoot the majority of its sound out of the sides,
you also want to place it somewhere where its going to have room to breath… but then
there’s the HomePod.
Now ideally you also want place it in the center of your room or place it somewhere
where its going to have room to breath… but this one is a little more forgiving as
to where you place it.
Now before we jump into the sound test, I do have to point out that the Sonos does sound
a little flat with its stock eq.
But you can go in an adjust the bass and treble on this speaker.
And personally I like to use this speaker with is bass raised by 5 clicks.
Where as with the bose, this speaker does sound a little bright with its stock EQ…
but again you can adjust its bass and treble to your liking.
And persoanlly, i like to use this speaker with the bass raised up to 50 and with the
treble lowered by 20.
But now we’re going to jump into the sound test.
Both the Sonos and bose are playing at 75% volume, but so that the HomePod can keep up,
its going to be playing at max volume.
Sound test
So first, I think we’re going to have to address max volume performance.
In this soundtest, the HomePod was playing at max volume, where as these other two speakers
were playing at 75% volume.
The HomePod is going to be able to fill a small or medium sized room with sound but
it is going to struggle to fill a larger room with sound.
Where as the Bose Smart Speaker 500 does get noticeably louder than the HomePod… but
that’s partially cause this speaker does lean towards a brighter sound signature.
So even though it does get louder, it doesn’t sound as full.
But then there’s the Era 300 which does get loud enough to comfortably fill a large
room with sound… and unlike the Bose, it is going to sound full and concentrated.
Not just nasally with an over emphasis on the highs.
Now when it comes to the actual sound quality of these speakers.
Since the bose doesn’t have any tweeters on it, its instrument separation isn’t as
good as these other two speakers.
Like I mentioned earlier, this speaker does like to lean towards a brighter sound signature…
but surprisingly this speaker has a decent amount of physicality in its bass, all on
its own.
Then there’s the HomePod who’s instrument separation is noticeably better than the bose,
and this speaker also has an impressive amount of physicality in its bass and I think that
cause of the placement of its woofer.
Nonetheless, the vocals on the HomePod are very well defined and this speaker does a
noticeably better job of giving details to the instrumentals…
something that the bose does struggle with.
And finally there’s the Sonos Era 300 which I feel has the best instrument separation
here.
Since sound is coming at you from all different directions, this speaker does sound noticeably
more open than these other two speakers, and it also doesn’t put an over emphasis on
the highs.
And whether you’re listening to dolby atmos content or not, the Era 300 is still going
to sound noticeably more open than the HomePod which also has dolby atmos support.
Now what dolby atmos is, instead of your music just coming out of the left side of your speaker
and out of the right side, and everything just being on the same plan, dolby atmos gives
your music a sense of verticality to your music.
Now everything doesn’t automatically have dolby atmos support.
But wether you’re listening to dolby atmos content or not, the era 300 is going to sound
more open than both the HomePod and Bose.
My only critique about this speaker is that the physicality in its bass is a little lack
luster, especially for its size.
However, if you want to, you can always pair one of Sonos’s wireless subs to this speaker
and then you’re really going to be able to feel your music.
So with all of that being said, if you’re trying to choose between any of these three
speakers, and sound is your main priority, then the Sonos Era 300 is easily the best
choice here.
This speaker have the best instrument separation here and its going to have no problem filling
a larger room with sound cause it gets the loudest here.
And even at those higher volumes, the Era 300 still sound balanced and full, unlike
the bose.
But the thing about the Sonos, is that this speaker is better used with an iPhone… although,
now that this speaker has Bluetooth, it does play somewhat nice with android.
But if you want to have the best experience with the Sonos, you want to use it with an
iPhone.
But then there’s the homepod, and just as you’d expect, its meant to be used with
an iPhone.
The HomePod gen 2 is a very simple solution for any iPhone user that just wants a great
sounding speaker.
However, I would only recommend this speaker for small or medium sized rooms.
And finally there’s the bose which plays nice with both iPhone and Android, and it
has a built in audio jack, so you can use it with a wired connection right out of the
box.
No need to shell out extra cash for any adapters.
And this speaker also gets impressively loud.
However, at those higher volumes, this speaker does start to sound a little nasally.