By Fernando Fong
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Two years ago, American audio equipment manufacturer Sonos dropped the Era 100, as if it were answering a prayer we didn鈥檛 know we were making.
Fast-forward to 2025, and here鈥檚 the thing nobody鈥檚 talking about: this speaker isn鈥檛 just still relevant鈥攊t鈥檚 become the Swiss Army knife of home audio that actually makes sense.
Forget the technical jargon for a minute.
The Era 100 is basically that friend who shows up to every party and somehow makes everything better without trying too hard. You know the type.
At RM1,299 (down from its original RM1,599 price tag), it鈥檚 positioned in that sweet spot where you鈥檙e not eating instant noodles for a month, but you鈥檙e also not settling for something that sounds like it鈥檚 playing music through a tin can.
The real magic happens when you realise this isn鈥檛 just another Bluetooth speaker pretending to be smart. This is a speaker that actually learns your space.
That Trueplay feature? It鈥檚 like having a sound engineer visit your living room, except they don鈥檛 judge your furniture choices or ask for a cup of coffee.
Living With It: The Stuff That Actually Matters
Here鈥檚 what two years of real-world use have taught its users: the Era 100, available in black or white, is stupidly easy to live with.
You plop it down, and it figures out your room鈥檚 acoustics.
Suddenly, your Spotify playlist sounds like the artists are performing in your kitchen.
The stereo sound鈥攁 genuine upgrade from the mono Sonos One鈥攎eans you鈥檙e not just hearing music, you鈥檙e experiencing it.
Jazz sounds warm and intimate, rock has punch, and even your guilty pleasure pop songs get the respect they deserve.
The Connectivity Champion (With One Small Catch)
But here鈥檚 the lifestyle game-changer: it plays nice with everything.
Your iPhone, your Android, your laptop, even that ancient iPod you refuse to throw away.
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, direct connection鈥攊t鈥檚 like the diplomatic ambassador of audio devices.
There鈥檚 one minor hoop to jump through: even if you鈥檙e planning to use it purely as a Bluetooth speaker, you鈥檒l need to set it up through the Sonos app and connect it to Wi-Fi first.
It鈥檚 not a dealbreaker, just one of those 鈥渞eally, Sonos?鈥 moments that takes an extra five minutes of your life.
When One Becomes Two: The Stereo Sweet Spot
Here鈥檚 where things get interesting: while one Era 100 sounds great, two of them together create something special.
Pair them up for true stereo, and suddenly you鈥檙e not just listening to music鈥攜ou鈥檙e sitting in the sweet spot of your own personal concert hall.
The soundstage opens up, instruments find their proper places in the mix, and you start hearing details in songs you鈥檝e played a thousand times.
It鈥檚 the difference between watching a movie on your phone versus seeing it in a proper cinema.
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The 2025 Perspective: Why It Still Makes Sense
In a world where tech becomes obsolete faster than your gym membership, the Era 100 has aged like fine wine.
The price drop makes it even more compelling, and frankly, the audio quality that impressed reviewers in 2023 hasn鈥檛 deteriorated simply because newer models exist.
The voice control situation is a bit of a mixed bag鈥擥oogle Assistant got the boot, but Amazon Alexa and Sonos鈥檚 voice commands still work.
For most people, this means that 鈥淧lay my morning playlist鈥 still works, and that鈥檚 really all you need.
The Bottom Line: Does Your Life Need This?
If you鈥檙e still using your phone speaker to play music while cooking dinner, or if your current speaker setup makes everything sound like it鈥檚 being performed in a tunnel, then yes鈥攜our life probably needs this.
The Era 100 isn鈥檛 trying to be everything to everyone. It鈥檚 just trying to be really, really good at making your music sound the way it鈥檚 supposed to sound, in whatever space you call home.
And here鈥檚 a bonus that actually matters in real life: it doubles as the alarm clock you never knew you wanted.
Through the Sonos app, you can wake up to your favourite playlist instead of that jarring phone beep, set different alarms for different days, and even choose which room gets the wake-up call.
It鈥檚 the kind of feature that sounds small until you realise you鈥檙e starting every morning with music that actually sounds good.
Two years later, in a market flooded with smart speakers that are either too cheap to sound good or too expensive to justify, the Era 100 remains that rare thing: a product that does exactly what it promises, without the drama.
And sometimes, that鈥檚 exactly what you need.
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