Sonos Era 100 Smart Speaker

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The Sonos Era 100 is a direct successor to the Sonos One. Sound quality is equivalent to a Sonos Move, which isn’t surprising considering they have similar internal components: two tweeters, a mid-woofer, and three class-D digital amps. The Era 100 also supports Dolby Atmos when it is paired with an Arc or Beam soundbar. It has a built-in microphone and can be voice controlled; it can also be used as a smart speaker for both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

Sonos Ray (White Only)

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Thanks to its diminutive 22″ length, the Sonos Ray soundbar fits just about anywhere with just about any size TV. Despite its compact size, it still pumps out room-filling audio with its two tweeters and two woofers. The Sonos Ray has built-in WiFi so it can double up as a home audio speaker through the Sonos app, Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, and more. Note that the Sonos Ray does not have built-in smart functionality.

Sonos Arc SL

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The Arc is Sonos’ flagship product. This is a premium soundbar and it shows. This 45″ soundbar houses eleven precisely engineered internal speakers, including two dedicated height channels. It’s Dolby Atmos ready, and there’s enough power here that you can probably get away without a subwoofer. However, the Sonos Arc can be wirelessly paired up with other Sonos speakers and subs to add even more sound distribution. The Arc has a built-in mic so it can accept voice commands and is Amazon Alexa compatible. The Arc SL is the same speaker but with no microphone, so it doesn’t accept voice commands and isn’t smart assistant apable.

Sonos Beam (Gen 2)

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The Sonos Beam is a smaller 26″ soundbar that houses four elliptical midwoofers, one central tweeter and three passive bass radiators. It’s also Dolby Atmos ready. Unlike the Arc SL, the Beam is equipped with microphones, so it can function as a smart speaker that supports both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

Sonos Sub (Gen 3)

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If you want to add ground-shaking bass to your Sonos setup, there’s still nothing better than a separate standalone subwoofer. The Sub 3 boasts plenty of power in the form of two 5″x8″ woofers and a ported design that allows for a louder and deeper low-end. It simply can’t be emulated by a standard bookshelf speaker or soundbar alone.

Why is Sonos so popular?

If you’re looking for an easy solution to add great sound to your home, then you’ve probably already heard of Sonos. Sonos speakers are very easy to set up, don’t take a large amount of space, and most importantly, offer distortion-free room-filling audio. We picked Sonos as our best soundbar of 2024.

Sound quality vs size

Despite the fact that Sonos products are compact and don’t take up much space in your house, they offer surprisingly loud and distortion-free audio. They’re definitely pricier than budget options, but the sound quality is more akin to audio products that cost hundreds more or take up much more space.

Easy setup

Sonos devices are usually simple plug and play. All you have to do is plug in a power cable (if even that’s necessary) and one connection to your TV (if even that’s necessary), download the Sonos app, and you’re done. Generally a receiver isn’t required; the soundbars are designed to plug right into your TV and the speakers are designed to work wirelessly. For something like a 5.1ch home theater setup, you don’t have to deal with a mess of cables. Individual Sonos speakers can pair with your soundbar and be used as rear satellites, and the subwoofer is also wireless so it can be positioned virtually anywhere in your room.

Communication between devices

Practically all Sonos speakers can communicate with each other. That means you can pair different Sonos speakers in different rooms for multi-room capability. Or you can pair two speakers for stereo output. Or you can pair speakers to your soundbar to be used as a 5.1ch setup. It’s all seamlessly done through the app.

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn’t hunting for deals for other people at work, he’s hunting for deals for himself during his free time.