The Sonos Era 100 SL nixes the microphones, shaves roughly a grand off the price, and somehow loses very little in the process. You're still getting the same rich, room-filling sound as the original Era 100, which makes it a very obvious starting point for Sonos newbies. At R5,000, it's well worth your consideration.
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Design
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Audio output
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Connectivity
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Set-up
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Value
The Sonos name is justly famous. For years, it has ruled the consumer audio market, delivering high-end audio experiences for similarly high-end prices. Many of these have already enriched the ears of the Stuff team. The Sonos Era 100 SL is the latest speaker from the company to treat our ears, bearing a price that didn’t make us want to throw ourselves out the window. R5,000 is the number you’re looking for.
By no means are we calling the Era 100 SL cheap. But for what you’re getting, we think Sonos has actually been rather generous. Like the regular Era 100 that the SL model replicates, it gives off a sense of being well-made. Because it is. All it’s ‘missing’ here is a microphone to handle voice controls. We… prefer that, actually.
If it ain’t broke…
Nobody looking at the Era 100 SL could fault its stunning, if fairly girthy, pure black shell. It certainly feels premium, if nothing else, mostly due to the metallic black grille that wraps around the cylindrical body. Up top, you’ll find a matte plastic housing the touch controls, rather than anything cold to the touch.
In looks, the Era 100 SL is almost an exact copy of its older sibling. Barring the removal of the voice control button up top, it’s left the remaining controls well alone. It’s a simple bunch, sure, but we never found ourselves wanting more. It’s got the power to play, pause, and skip tracks right from its head, while the touch bar handles volume control on the fly. Some LED backlighting would’ve gone a long way here, though, Sonos.
Sonos’ Era 100 SL does exist in white, but we fear how much dust it would accumulate. Or rather, how much we’d see it accumulate. With the pure black colourway on our review model, we were kept in blissful ignorance, allowing us to bask even deeper in Sonos’ superior sound.
With no battery to speak of and a roughly 1.95kg frame, the Era 100 SL is greatly limited in its portability. It’s doable, but you’ll need to lug the power cord, too. Allow the Era 100 SL to fully embrace the set-up it’s upgrading (preferably near the Wi-Fi router), and you’ll have a new friend for life.
You’ll need to hang onto the power cord that ships with the Era 100 SL. It’s nothing more than a figure-8 cord, but with how Sonos has angled the port — right beneath the speaker — using your own cord becomes a lot harder. Using Sonos’ already-bent cord allows it to sit flush with the speaker, reducing clutter.
Same ol’ Sonos sound
A solid design isn’t what you’re buying the Sonos name for, though. It’s what’s inside that counts. And what’s inside the Era 100 SL is rather impressive. You’ve got two angled tweeters for stereo separation, three D-class amplifiers, and a dedicated mid-woofer to deliver quality vocals and deep, controlled bass. Sonos’ custom waveguides do a good job of spreading the sound around the room evenly, offering a pretty wide soundstage.
In essence, it’s got the special sauce that made the older Era 100 so worth it for audio geeks. The main difference being that the Era 100 SL brings it to the masses for about a grand less than its older sibling. It’s culled the microphone to make that happen, but that doesn’t truly play into the audio quality. Not in that way, anyway.
We immediately dropped the Era 100 SL into the deep end to see what it was really made of. Radiohead’s The National Anthem seemed the best way to do it. Soul-searching electronic instrumentals are the crux of Kid A’s finest, though it isn’t long before a mixture of acoustic and, at times, brass instrumentals step in. Combine that with Yorke’s oftentimes whiny vocals, and that deep-but-glorious bassline, and you’ve got the perfect track.
To nobody’s surprise, the Era 100 SL took it under its wing without complaint. The result was a frankly awesome blend that never strayed away from its intent. The SL did an excellent job of singling out every instrument without overshadowing one or another. Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams handled similarly, never losing those snazzy guitar riffs or the subtle drums that feel like the heart of the track. All of it sounded… great.
Neither our neighbours nor we had any trouble hearing the Era 100 SL once it got pumping — well before it touched the 100 mark. There’s more than enough volume to keep any party going, especially if you’ve got a couple other Sonos speakers spread throughout the place. For many of you, though, the Era 100 SL is that entry point. If that’s the case, fear not. Even at full blast, the Era 100 SL never muddied the tracks we threw its way.
The Era 100 SL is not without some fault. Those angled tweeters did their job — meaning we could hear when a sound came from either the left or right, but notably only when we were up close. Move away, and that separation is lost, often causing the sounds to feel like they’re all stemming from a single point. We didn’t mind all that much — and it’s far from being a dealbreaker for the average listener.
When we loaded Massive Attack’s Angel into the queue, we found that the SL’s lack of a dedicated sub meant that it couldn’t quite keep up with the lower, punchier bass lines as much as we’d have liked. It still makes a good go of it, delivering an above-average experience that still paled in comparison to the SL’s standout qualities. The SL’s overall effect is definitely a pleasant one, if not downright magical, considering the more affordable price tag.
Don’t judge a Sonos speaker by the Sonos app
Like most other Sonos products, we had zero issue in setting it up. Simply plug it in, download the Sonos app, and tap on the speaker you’re hooking up. The speaker plays a short audio PIN, and voila — it’s connected. Now comes the nasty bit. Using the Sonos app, which feels more like pulling teeth than any app really has any right to.
See, the Era 100 SL supports both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but there’s obvious pressure to stick with Wi-Fi for good. For one thing, setting up the speaker requires a Wi-Fi connection to get it up and running. For another, to really get the most out of your speaker, you’ll need to use the app. Bluetooth just won’t cut it.
Once set up, we did our best to stay out of the app’s way. Connecting to the speaker from inside Spotify is the easiest way to avoid the oftentimes laggy app. So that’s what we did. But if you’re desperate to put that custom EQ to use… Users can adjust the bass and treble easily enough, though serious audio nerds might scoff at the bare-bones customisation. We hardly ever strayed from the default profile.
Easily the biggest travesty of the SL is its lack of Trueplay. Or rather, its lack of Trueplay for some users. The original Era 100 put that microphone to good use, automatically calibrating to the room. Thus, providing the best tunes possible. Without a microphone, Sonos has had to be a little sneaky, to our detriment.
See, users setting up their SL with iOS or iPadOS don’t have to forego Trueplay. Instead, they’re using their device’s microphone to carry out the tuning, something Android devices can’t do. The ‘why’ is a mystery — Androids have microphones — but it’s still something to consider if you’re an Android owner.
Sonos Era 100 SL verdict
The Sonos Era 100 SL is exactly what we thought it would be. It packs in the same excellent sound that made the Era 100 such a hit, but with a more affordable price tag and no microphone to speak to. If all you’re after is a sturdy Wi-Fi speaker that’ll happily fill the room with crisp vocals and enough volume to upset the upstairs neighbours, you can’t really go wrong here. Sure, the app is still Sonos’ weakest point everywhere and the lack of Trueplay does sting as an Android owner, but neither does enough to dull the shine of the Era 100 SL.
If voice controls are a dealbreaker, perhaps the regular Era 100 is more your speed. But you should really consider saving that extra grand that Sonos has shaved off. The Era 100 SL trims away the fat that people didn’t really want in the first place — all while keeping the important bit: the sound. At R5,000, it’s one of the easiest ways to buy into the Sonos ecosystem without feeling like you’ve been duped in the process.
