Modern technology gives us many things.

Which is right for you?

  • Apple HomePod (2nd generation)

    Best for Apple fans

    Well-rounded premium audio functionality

    Want a smart speaker with Dolby Atmos and spatial audio? The Apple HomePod 2 offers that with a few other nice-to-have features, like sensors and Matter support.

    Pros

    • More tweeters
    • Supports Dolby Atmos
    Cons

    • No Google, Alexa, or Android compatibility
    • Pricier
  • sonos-era-100-smart-speaker-1by1

    Sonos Era 100

    Best for Alexa users

    Outstanding sound with robust connectivity

    The Sonos Era 100 is a fantastic smart bookshelf speaker with robust connectivity options. It sounds rich and crisp with a full soundstage.

    Pros

    • Less expensive
    • Larger woofer
    Cons

    • No spatial audio
    • Ethernet/line-in requires dongle (sold separately)

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Few smart home gadgets are as exciting and versatile as smart speakers. Both the Apple HomePod 2 and the Sonos Era 100 offer terrific sound, decent connectivity options, and beautiful designs that’ll fit in with your home decor, all while showing off how great your favorite music albums sound.


The HomePod 2 is a stylish and smart choice for anyone already entrenched in Apple’s smart home ecosystem; likewise, the Sonos Era 100 is a robust Alexa-powered speaker for those in that particular ecosystem. But which of these smart speakers is better, and what features does each offer? Let’s take a look.


Price, availability, and specs

Apple’s HomePod 2 retails for $300 and is available at most major outlets, like Best Buy and Walmart. You can also purchase it directly through Apple’s website, but it is not currently available on Amazon. Alternatively, the Sonos Era 100 goes for $250 and is available through Amazon, Best Buy, and other major retailers. And yes, you can also opt to snag the Era 100 on Sonos’ website.

Speaker

Apple HomePod 2

Sonos Era 100

Audio

5 tweeters, 1 woofer

2 tweeters, 1 mid-woofer

Voice assistants

Siri

Alexa, Sonos Voice Control

Connectivity

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0

Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0

Controls

Touch: play, pause, skip, skip back, Siri, volume

Touch: play, pause, skip, replay, volume, mute voice assistant, (un)group other speakers // Physical: Bluetooth pairing, mute mic switch

Ports

None

USB-C, Line-in

Spatial audio

Yes, with Dolby Atmos

No

Multi-room support

Yes, with Apple AirPlay

Yes, with Sonos or Apple AirPlay 2

Dimensions

6.6 x 5.6 x 5.6 inches

4.7 x 5.1 x 7.7 inches

Weight

5.16 lbs

4.4 pounds

Price

$299

$249

Design

sonos-era-100-smart-speaker-turntable

At first glance, the HomePod 2 and the Sonos Era 100 have similar cylindrical designs and are both available in either black or white colorways. Both speakers are also set up with touch controls, rather than physical buttons, for navigation. Plus, the wired speakers each use their own proprietary technology to analyze the room you place them in and optimize their EQ settings for the best audio listening experience.

Apple HomePod 2 design

With a slightly shorter and rounder build than the Sonos, the Apple speaker measures 5.6 x 5.6 x 6.6 inches and sports a grippy lattice finish. It also weighs a bit more, at 5.16 pounds. And although it does not have any ports, it does have a removable power cable and a shiny touch surface up top. You’ll see it light up with a rainbow of colors whenever you talk to it, whenever Siri talks to you, or whenever you use a touch control (like to turn down the volume).

Speaking of controls, the touch control area takes up the entire display, unlike its predecessor. You can use a one-tap touch to play or pause, two taps to skip forward, three to go back a track, hold to activate Siri, and tap and hold the “+” or “-” to adjust the volume. The Apple speaker also supports 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, and the Matter smart home standard.

Sonos Era 100 design

The Sonos Era 100 brings a slightly upgraded look from its predecessor, the Sonos One. In addition to its sleek modern design, this matte-finish speaker rocks a capacitive touch volume slider as well as touch controls for playing, pausing, skipping back or forward, and grouping or ungrouping other Sonos products. And the built-in LEDs intuitively indicate device connection, microphone activity, and mute status.

The Era 100 measures 7.18 x 4.72 x 5.14 inches, making it slightly taller than Apple’s speaker but with a smaller footprint. It also weighs less, too, clocking in at just 4.44 pounds. This slimmer design makes it better suited for sitting on a desk or bookshelf, as it’ll take up a bit less space. Keep in mind, however, that you’ll need to allow for a little extra space to access the physical mic mute toggle at the back or the nearby USB-C port; the USB-C port allows you to add either an Ethernet port or a 3.5mm line-in aux cable, although you’ll need the compatible dongle accessory (sold separately) to enable that functionality. The Sonos speaker also supports Bluetooth 5.0 and dual-band Wi-Fi 6.

Hardware

Hardware-wise, the HomePod 2 has some slightly trimmed-down internals compared to its original design. It has a four-inch high-excursion woofer, five horn-loaded neodymium tweeters, a low-frequency microphone for automated bass correction, and a four-microphone design for far-field Siri usage. Apple’s advanced computational room-sensing technology automatically detects where you place it (whether centrally on a coffee table or right up against a wall) and tunes the audio in real time.

Inside the Era 100 are three class-D digital amplifiers, two angled tweeters for crisp and accurate frequency response, and one mid-woofer ready to accurately tackle everything from mid-range vocals to deep low-end bass. You’ll also find a far-field mic array that uses advanced beamforming and echo cancellation for voice controls and Sonos’ Trueplay acoustic EQ room-tuning. And although the Era 100 does not support spatial audio, like the HomePod 2, it does feature angled drivers that work comparably when you set up two of them in a room.

Sound quality

sonos-era-100-smart-speaker-adjusting-volume

Both speakers are designed for everyday scenarios, like playing music from your favorite music streaming services via your phone or connecting them to your TV for a more immersive movie night experience. Although neither speaker is likely to be rated as top-shelf audiophile equipment, both sound wonderful and pack a well-rounded punch.

To ensure the audio sounds as good as can be, both speakers use room-sensing technology backed by computational audio algorithms to detect where you place the speakers in a room. Each speaker notes things like proximity to walls and then automatically adjusts and tunes the audio in real-time for that unique space. Apple takes that room-sensing technology and uses a high-excursion 20mm woofer, a bass-EQ mic that automatically tunes lower frequencies in real-time, and an array of five beamforming tweeters around the base of the speaker that are optimized for higher frequencies.

This setup ensures that the HomePod 2 delivers high-fidelity audio that consistently sounds rich, clear, detailed, and balanced across all frequencies. Add in its support for Dolby Atmos and spatial audio, and you have a rock-solid and immersive speaker setup that seamlessly integrates with your Apple TV 4K and other gadgets in that smart home ecosystem.

With the Sonos Era 100, you get a woofer that’s bigger than that of its predecessor. Moreover, from the companion mobile app, you can manually fine-tune the speaker’s EQ and access the TruePlay room sensing feature to help tune and optimize audio for your room’s unique setup.

Note that the Era 100 lacks Dolby Atmos and spatial audio. However, you can easily pair it up with other Sonos soundbars and speakers in your home theater setup that feature Dolby Atmos and spatial audio (many do). But even if you don’t pair it, the speaker will still impress with its loud volume capacity, bassy mid-woofer, and dual-angled tweeters that help create a wide soundstage. Either speaker makes for a great bookshelf speaker or addition to your TV setup, especially if you pair them with a second speaker or even a soundbar.

Performance

apple-homepod-2-smart-speaker-stereo-by-tv

Yes, both speakers look great and sound even better, but what else do they offer up? And how easy are they to use day-to-day? The HomePod 2 and Era 100 bring some fun and unique features to the table while making some interesting choices along the way.

The Apple HomePod 2, most notably, offers support for the Matter standard and is ready to hit the ground running as your new smart home hub for your HomeKit gadgets. Although Siri is your only voice assistant option here, that’s one of the speaker’s greatest strengths for anyone already embedded within Apple’s ecosystem. The HomePod 2 is ready to work with Apple Music, iTunes purchases, Apple podcasts, your iCloud Music Library, and various third-party streaming music services and radio stations. It also supports AirPlay, allowing you to easily play content from other devices (like your iPad) on this speaker or with multiple Apple speakers across your home.

The HomePod 2 also comes with extra features, such as the ability to recognize sounds like your voice or a smoke alarm — and an accelerometer for automatic sound adjustment. Also, its two internal sensors for detecting the current indoor temperature and humidity levels will provide accurate, real-time answers when you ask Siri what the temperature is. While such features don’t have any real bearing on the otherwise audio-focused functionality of these speakers, they’re undeniably useful, especially if you want to pair them with, say, a smart home thermostat.

However, we lament that the HomePod 2 lacks physical ports and buttons. While capacitive touch controls are on both speakers, the HomePod does not offer a dedicated physical switch for disconnecting microphone hardware or a port for connecting external audio sources, like a turntable (both of which are features of the Era 100). This makes the HomePod 2 better suited for solo play or pairing with an Apple TV — but a dud for playing your vinyl collection.

The Sonos Era 100, meanwhile, cuts straight to the chase. It skips extras like internal sensors and focuses on offering a wider array of operating systems and devices, audio source choices, voice assistant options (but not Google Assistant), security features, and pairable Sonos speakers. It even overlaps with the Apple HomePod 2 at times, supporting a variety of Apple features, like AirPlay 2 for streaming media.

This speaker allows you to use Amazon Alexa as the voice assistant, or the company’s proprietary Sonos Voice Control for anyone who wants to use voice commands. It also offers two privacy options you can toggle on demand: tap the speech bubble atop the speaker to deactivate the voice assistant (though it does still keep special mic-enabled features like Trueplay up and running), or toggle the switch on the back of the speaker to disconnect all microphone hardware.

The Era 100 comes standard with Sonos Radio and allows you to easily play audio from any device or streaming service, like Spotify, Tidal, Amazon Prime Music, Apple Music, and Audible. Plus, you can connect via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or the USB-C port. This last option allows you to connect things like turntables and computers via a simple aux cord. Although you must purchase the sold-separately Sonos Line-In Adapter for that, it’s still nice to have the option, as it allows a far more customizable setup.

Which is right for you?

With their similar design, audio capabilities, and general functionality, it’s hard to pick an outright winner in this head-to-head comparison. It’ll likely come down to which smart home ecosystem you choose (or are already in), whether you care about having spatial audio without adding yet another device, and, of course, the cost.

If you’re all in on Apple’s product ecosystem, want your home theater setup’s audio to be driven by Dolby Atmos, love spatial audio, want big sound for a small space, and have 50 extra bucks to spare, you simply can’t go wrong with the stylish and powerful Apple HomePod 2.

apple-homepod-2nd-gen

Apple HomePod (2nd generation)

Best for Apple fans

Well-rounded premium audio functionality

Want a smart speaker with Dolby Atmos and spatial audio? The Apple HomePod 2 offers that with a few other nice-to-have features, like sensors and Matter support.

You’re sure to have a terrific music listening experience with the Sonos Era 100’s slimmer design, a much wider array of digital and physical connectivity options, the feature-laden Sonos companion app, and larger woofer. In addition, this speaker is less expensive, offers Alexa compatibility, supports Bluetooth and line-in connectivity, and ensures high-quality sound across all frequencies with a wide soundstage.

sonos-era-100-smart-speaker-1by1

Sonos Era 100

Great for Alexa users

Outstanding sound with robust connectivity

The Sonos Era 100 is a fantastic smart bookshelf speaker with robust connectivity options. It sounds rich and crisp with a full soundstage.



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