Sonos recently dropped the recommended retail price of its Era 100 smart speaker and Ray soundbar.
The company didn’t say much publicly about the price decrease, but when the vigilant folks in the Sonos subreddit spotted the decrease in other countries, we reached out to Sonos’ local distributor, Planetworld, to confirm if South Africa would benefit.
On that note, we’ve got some good news.
Sonos lowers the barrier of entry
We’ve confirmed that both the Era 100 and Ray have had R1,000 lobbed off their original recommended retail prices. That means both now have a new RRP of R6,000. This isn’t a limited-time deal either; that will be the new recommended price going forward.
The Era 100, which launched in 2023 to replace the outgoing Sonos One Gen 2, is currently Sonos’ cheapest point of entry to its smart speaker range. With three drivers in total – a mid-woofer and two tweeters for left and right channels – it offers improved audio quality and better stereo separation than its discontinued sibling. It also offers line-in support, local Bluetooth playback, and slightly more intuitive physical controls.
The Ray, launched in early 2022, is the Era 100 equivalent to Sonos’ soundbar range. It originally launched with an RRP of R6,500, which was later increased to R7,000. The original price and later increase were a little harder to swallow, considering it lacks Bluetooth playback and an HDMI input. But, as we said in our review at the time, “when you’re coming from piddly little TV speakers, the improvement is notable enough to make you fear for your neighbours.”
It’s worth noting that these new prices from Planetworld are only recommendations and that retailers might use this as an opportunity to make a few extra bucks from customers who are none the wiser. Thankfully, The Digital Experience has wasted no time reducing the prices of the Era 100 and Ray, which can both be had for R6,000.
