Sonos Era 100 SL Review: Who's It Right For?
Launched alongside the Sonos Play, the Sonos Era 100 SL follows a very simple idea: take everything that made the Era 100 such a good speaker, remove the microphones, lower the price, and leave the sound untouched.
After testing it side by side with the standard Era 100, that’s exactly what Sonos seems to have done.
At £169, the Era 100 SL is now the lowest-priced speaker in the current Sonos lineup, undercutting both the Era 100 and the Roam 2. And for the right buyer, it might actually be the smarter option.
The Era 100 SL keeps the same speaker architecture and acoustic design as the standard Era 100, but removes a feature many users don't necessarily rely on: voice control.
At Smart Home Sounds we've tested and reviewed Sonos speakers for years, and we've now put the Era 100 SL through the same side-by-side testing we use across the rest of the range. Here's what we found.
Sonos Era 100 SL Review: SHS 60-Second Summary:  RRP: £169 (see latest pricing) The best thing about the Sonos Era 100 SL is that it removes one specific feature set (microphones and voice control) of the standard Era 100 and passes the saving directly to you. If you don't need voice assistants, you're getting 100% of the Era 100's sound for £30 less. For specific use cases like rear surrounds, stereo pairs, and turntable setups, it's the smarter buy in the range. There are trade-offs, of course. You lose voice control, and Android users miss out on TruePlay Quick Tuning because there are no built-in microphones. But if those features don’t matter to you, the Era 100 SL is well worth considering. | |
| Pros: ✓ Identical sound to the Era 100 ✓ £30 cheaper per speaker (£60 per pair) ✓ Most affordable speaker in the lineup ✓ A natural fit for home cinema rear surround use | Cons: ✕ No voice control ✕ No Quick Tune Trueplay for Android ✕ Bluetooth & Line-in disabled when used as rears |
Why the Sonos Era 100 SL Exists
Sonos has a long history of SL variants. The Sonos One SL came before this, removing mics from the Sonos One in exactly the same way. The logic hasn't changed: microphones add cost, and not every buyer needs them.
If you already have voice control through a Sonos soundbar, or you simply never use it, you've been paying for something that adds nothing to your experience.
From what we’ve seen over years of selling Sonos, the people who tend to get the most out of SL models are usually the ones adding to an existing setup rather than starting from scratch. Rear surround buyers, stereo-pair buyers, and people who just want a neat way to bring a turntable into Sonos all tend to fall into that camp.
For those buyers the SL isn't just the cheaper option. It's just the right one.
Read More: How to Play Vinyl on Sonos
Sonos Era 100 vs Sonos Era 100 SL: What’s Actually Different?
The main difference between the Sonos Era 100 and the Era 100 SL comes down to the removal of built-in microphones.
The “SL” branding stands for Speechless, meaning the Era 100 SL speaker does not include voice assistant support.
In practical terms this means:
- No built-in microphones
- No hands-free voice control
- No Quick Trueplay tuning for Android
With no internal mics, you lose out on voice assistant support for hands-free control.
It also means the Era 100 SL can’t perform Quick Trueplay, which uses the speaker’s internal microphones to automatically tune the sound. So for Android users, you won’t be able to run any Trueplay on this speaker.
Trueplay will only be available for iOS users using a compatible iOS device.
If you're not bothered about those features then you can save £30 opting for the SL version over the standard Era 100.
Read More: Sonos Era 100 vs Era 100 SL: Which Should You Buy?
Sonos Era 100 SL Review: Design and Build
Put the Era 100 and the Era 100 SL side by side and, from most angles, they look almost identical.
Same shape. Same dimensions. Same grille. Same indented volume slider across the top. Same black and white finishes.
And that’s important, because the SL doesn’t feel like a cheaper-feeling product at all.
Sonos hasn’t stripped this back visually or made it feel more basic to the touch. It still feels like a premium wireless speaker, and all the little quality-of-life bits that made the Era 100 nice to live with are still here too.
The volume slider is a good example. If you’re coming from older Sonos kit, it’s still one of the nicer control updates Sonos has made in recent years. A quick swipe gets you to a comfortable volume much faster than lots of repeated tapping, and it just feels more natural in use.
The main physical difference is on the top panel. The standard Era 100 has the full microphone array, including the voice control button and the pinhole mics used for Sonos Voice Control, Alexa and Quick Trueplay. On the Era 100 SL, that whole mic setup is gone. You still get the same play/pause controls, track controls and volume slider, but there’s no voice control button and no microphone hardware.
So while the two speakers look very similar overall, the top panel does give the game away if you know what you’re looking for.
You still get the USB-C line-in port on the back as well, which means the Era 100 SL can still be used with Sonos’ Line-In Adapter or Combo Adapter for turntables and other wired sources.
Sonos Era 100 SL Review: Sound Performance
The thing we love most about the Era 100 SL is that it sounds identical to the Sonos Era 100. This isn't just a marketing claim, the speaker architecture that made the Era 100 such a big step up from the Sonos One is fully intact. You've got:
- Two angled tweeters for genuine stereo separation
- A dedicated mid-woofer for vocals and deep, controlled bass
- Three Class-D amplifiers
- Custom waveguides that spread sound evenly for a wide, room-filling soundstage
The absence of microphones has no effect on sound output. The bass has the same punch, the stereo separation is just as convincing, and it's just as enjoyable to listen to as the standard Era 100.
We've covered the Era 100's sound performance in detail in our full Sonos Era 100 review, including specific listening notes, genre testing and Sonos home cinema comparisons. Every word of that review applies directly to the SL. If sound quality is your main concern, the Era 100 SL gives you nothing to worry about.
Setup and App Experience
Setup follows the standard Sonos process: download the Sonos app, plug in the speaker, follow the prompts. Takes a few minutes and requires no technical knowledge.
The absence of microphones makes one part of this slightly simpler. There's no voice assistant configuration step, no microphone permissions, no wake word to set up. Connect it to your WiFi, name the room, done.
In the app, the SL behaves exactly like any other Sonos speaker. Group it with other speakers for multi-room playback, set it up as a stereo pair, or assign it as a rear surround in a home cinema system.
All the standard EQ adjustments (bass, treble, loudness) are available. The speaker shows up in the app with no indication that it's an SL rather than a standard Era 100.
Bluetooth pairing is equally painless. We tested this with both a Mac and an Android device and had no lag at all, which matters if you're planning to use it as a desktop speaker for video calls or streaming.
Living Without Voice Control and Trueplay: What You Need to Know
Because the Era 100 SL has no built-in microphones, you lose two things:
- Voice Control
- Quick Trueplay tuning
That means Sonos Voice Control, Alexa and Siri are not available here at all.
For plenty of people, that won’t matter. Lots of Sonos owners never use voice control in the first place. But if you rely on it regularly, this is the clearest reason to buy the standard Era 100 instead.
Trueplay is the more nuanced one.
The Era 100 SL can’t run Quick Trueplay on its own, because there are no microphones inside the speaker. But if you’re an iPhone or iPad user, you can still run Advanced Trueplay using your device instead. In our testing, that actually produced the better result anyway, with tighter bass and a cleaner overall sound in the corners of our test space. It only takes a couple of minutes, so it’s well worth doing.
If you’re on Android, you don’t get that same option on a standalone Era 100 SL. So if room tuning matters to you and this is going to be your only speaker, that’s a genuine reason to spend more on the standard Era 100.
There is one useful workaround, though.
If the Era 100 SL is part of a wider Sonos setup that already includes another mic-enabled Sonos product, like a soundbar or a standard Era 100, Quick Trueplay can still optimise the wider system, including the SL.
So the short version is this:
- No mics = no voice control
- No mics = no Quick Trueplay on the SL by itself
- iPhone and iPad users can still run Advanced Trueplay
- Android users can’t, unless the SL is part of a wider system with another mic-enabled Sonos product
| SHS Top Tip: If you’re on Android, you could always borrow a friend’s iPhone to run Trueplay for you — it works, but it’s not exactly the most convenient long-term solution. |
For a full breakdown of how that changes things in different setups, take a look at our Era 100 vs Era 100 SL comparison guide.
How It Performed in Our Testing:
We tested the Era 100 SL in three key ways:
- as a standalone speaker
- as part of a stereo pair
- as rear surrounds with the Arc Ultra and Beam (Gen 2)
As a standalone speaker it performs exactly as the spec sheet suggests : identical to the Era 100 in every listening scenario we put it through.
As rear surrounds with the Arc Ultra, the SLs produced exactly the same wide, immersive surround field as a pair of standard Era 100s. That test confirmed what we suspected going in: paying extra for microphones in rear speakers is money spent on a feature that will never fire in a Sonos home cinema setup. The £60 saving on a pair is real and comes with no downside.
The turntable test was the other highlight. At £169, the SL is now the most affordable way into a Sonos turntable setup. Not long ago that kind of integration typically meant buying a more expensive component.
Connect the line-in adapter and you can stream vinyl to any speaker in your Sonos system, not just the room the deck sits in. For vinyl listeners with no interest in voice control it's a strong option at a price point that didn't exist before.
Where the Era 100 SL Makes Most Sense
Rear surrounds for a Sonos soundbar
This is probably the most obvious fit.
If you’re adding rear speakers to a Sonos Arc, Arc Ultra or Beam (Gen 2), the soundbar already handles voice control for the room. Paying extra for microphones in the rear speakers makes very little sense. In that setup, the Era 100 SL is the smarter buy.
Stereo Pairs
Two Era 100 SLs together give you exactly the same stereo presentation as two standard Era 100s. If voice control isn’t important in that room, the saving is £60 with no acoustic downside.
There’s also a nice middle-ground option here: one standard Era 100 and one Era 100 SL. That lets you keep voice control in the room, preserve full stereo performance, and still save £30 versus buying two standard models.
Turntable setups
This is another really strong use case.
The Era 100 SL is now the most affordable way into a Sonos turntable system. Add the right line-in adapter and you can stream vinyl to the rest of your Sonos setup without paying for voice features you might never use.
First-time Sonos buyers
At £169, this is also one of the easiest ways into Sonos full stop.
If you’re starting your first multi-room system, or just want a single wireless speaker with proper Sonos ecosystem access, the Era 100 SL makes a lot of sense as long as you’re clear on the Voice Control and Android TruePlay limitations.
Sonos Era 100 SL Review: Our Verdict
The Sonos Era 100 SL does exactly what it sets out to do. It delivers the sound quality that has made the Era 100 one of the most popular speakers in the Sonos lineup, at a lower price, for buyers who don't need the microphone-dependent features.
This is not a compromise product. It's a more targeted one. In our view, the Era 100 SL has the potential to become one of the biggest sellers in the Sonos lineup. For a large number of buyers it's the right speaker at the right price, because they're not paying for something that adds nothing to their listening experience.
The only buyers who should steer clear are Android users who want Trueplay on a standalone speaker, and those who rely on hands-free voice control. For everyone else, the SL is well worth serious consideration.
At Smart Home Sounds, all Sonos speakers come with a FREE 6-year extended warranty, our 30-day Listen Better Promise, and free next-day delivery. Our team of Sonos experts is available via live chat, phone, or email for a personal recommendation on your setup.
Shop Sonos Era 100 SL | Compare Era 100 vs Era 100 SL | View All Sonos Speakers
Deciding between the two models? Read our Sonos Era 100 vs Era 100 SL comparison for a full scenario-by-scenario breakdown.
Part of Sonos’ Latest Launch
The Era 100 SL launched alongside the Sonos Play, a portable speaker positioned between the Roam 2 and Move 2. With an RRP of £299, it’s a compelling option which offers both portable usability and wireless home capabilities.
You can read our full review here:
Sonos Era 100 SL FAQs:
Q. Does the Sonos Era 100 SL sound as good as the Era 100?
A. Yes. The Era 100 SL uses identical internal components: same tweeters, woofer, amplifiers, and waveguides as the standard Era 100. The sound is indistinguishable between the two.
Q. What does SL stand for on the Sonos Era 100 SL?
A. SL stands for Speechless, reflecting the absence of built-in microphones and voice control.
Q. Can Android users use Trueplay on the Era 100 SL?
A. Not on a standalone Era 100 SL. With no built-in microphones, Quick Tune Trueplay is unavailable. iOS users can still run Advanced Trueplay using an iPhone or iPad. Android users can access Trueplay if the SL is part of a system that also includes a mic-enabled Sonos device, such as a soundbar or standard Era 100.
Q. Can you connect a turntable to the Sonos Era 100 SL?
A. Yes. The Era 100 SL has a USB-C line-in port and works with the Sonos Line-In Adapter and Sonos Combo Adapter. Once connected, you can stream audio from your turntable to any speaker in your Sonos system.
Q. Can you pair an Era 100 SL with a standard Era 100?
A. Yes. The two can be paired as a stereo pair. The standard Era 100 in the pair handles voice control for the room, and Quick Tune Trueplay will optimise both speakers. A useful option for buyers who want to save money without losing voice assistant support entirely.
Q. Is the Era 100 SL compatible with all Sonos soundbars?
A. Yes. The Era 100 SL works as a rear surround speaker with the Sonos Arc Ultra, Sonos Arc, Sonos Beam Gen 2, and Sonos Ray via the Sonos S2 app.
Q. Is the Era 100 SL worth it?
A. For buyers who don't use voice control, yes. You get the full Era 100 sound at a £30 saving per speaker. For Android users who want Trueplay on a standalone speaker, or regular voice control users, the standard Era 100 is the better choice.
Planning a Sonos-based multi-room system and want guidance on the right approach? We can help.
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