Sonos Era 300

I've owned six Sonos speakers over the years and the Era 300 is the most impressive thing they've made. I put on an Apple Music Spatial Audio album and genuinely could not believe the sound was coming from a single speaker — instruments placed behind me, above me, to my sides. The acoustic architecture is remarkable. The only significant problem is the new Sonos app, which removed the sleep timer from the home screen and has been buggy since launch. The hardware is a 10/10. The software is a 5/10 right now and drags the experience down. Fingers crossed they fix it.

I switched from Spotify to Apple Music specifically to get the most from this speaker and I don't regret it. The spatial audio with supported albums is genuinely breathtaking — a completely different listening experience than stereo. The Sonos multi-room system continues to be the gold standard for reliability; my playlist transitions between rooms without a hiccup. The new Sonos app they launched in 2024 is frustrating — they removed my sleep timer feature and the redesign is less intuitive. I'm rating 4 stars because the software situation remains unresolved, but the hardware itself is 5-star worthy.

I have an Arc soundbar as the center of my living room system and added a pair of Era 300s as rear surrounds. The home theater transformation was dramatic. Movies with Dolby Atmos sound like they're mixed specifically for my room — helicopters overhead, footsteps behind you, explosions that feel genuinely directional. The upward-firing drivers in the Era 300 add a height channel that's surprisingly convincing in a well-treated room. Yes, it's an expensive surround setup, but the performance rivals dedicated home theater systems I've paid much more for.