Which is best for you?

• Apple HomePod (2nd era)

  Finest for Apple followers

  Properly-rounded premium audio performance

  Need a good speaker with Dolby Atmos and spatial audio? The Apple HomePod 2 presents that with just a few different nice-to-have options, like sensors and Matter help.

  Execs

  • Extra tweeters
  • Helps Dolby Atmos

  Cons

  • No Google, Alexa, or Android compatibility
  • Pricier

• 

  Sonos Period 100

  Finest for Alexa customers

  Excellent sound with sturdy connectivity

  The Sonos Period 100 is a improbable good bookshelf speaker with sturdy connectivity choices. It sounds wealthy and crisp with a full soundstage.

  Execs

  • Inexpensive
  • Bigger woofer

  Cons

  • No spatial audio
  • Ethernet/line-in requires dongle (offered individually)

Few good dwelling devices are as thrilling and versatile as good audio system. Each the Apple HomePod 2 and the Sonos Period 100 supply terrific sound, respectable connectivity choices, and delightful designs that’ll slot in with your house decor, all whereas exhibiting off how nice your favourite music albums sound.

The HomePod 2 is a classy and good selection for anybody already entrenched in Apple’s good dwelling ecosystem; likewise, the Sonos Period 100 is a sturdy Alexa-powered speaker for these in that individual ecosystem. However which of those good audio system is best, and what options does every supply? Let’s have a look.

Value, availability, and specs

Apple’s HomePod 2 retails for $300 and is out there at most main shops, like Finest Purchase and Walmart. You can too buy it instantly by Apple’s web site, however it’s not at the moment out there on Amazon. Alternatively, the Sonos Period 100 goes for $250 and is out there by Amazon, Finest Purchase, and different main retailers. And sure, you may as well decide to snag the Period 100 on Sonos’ web site.

Design

At first look, the HomePod 2 and the Sonos Period 100 have comparable cylindrical designs and are each out there in both black or white colorways. Each audio system are additionally arrange with contact controls, fairly than bodily buttons, for navigation. Plus, the wired audio system every use their very own proprietary know-how to research the room you place them in and optimize their EQ settings for the perfect audio listening expertise.

Apple HomePod 2 design

With a barely shorter and rounder construct than the Sonos, the Apple speaker measures 5.6 x 5.6 x 6.6 inches and sports activities a grippy lattice end. It additionally weighs a bit extra, at 5.16 kilos. And though it doesn’t have any ports, it does have a detachable energy cable and a shiny contact floor up high. You may see it gentle up with a rainbow of colours everytime you speak to it, each time Siri talks to you, or everytime you use a contact management (like to show down the quantity).

Talking of controls, the contact management space takes up all the show, in contrast to its predecessor. You should utilize a one-tap contact to play or pause, two faucets to skip ahead, three to return a observe, maintain to activate Siri, and faucet and maintain the “+” or “-” to regulate the quantity. The Apple speaker additionally helps 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, and the Matter good dwelling commonplace.

Sonos Period 100 design

The Sonos Period 100 brings a barely upgraded look from its predecessor, the Sonos One. Along with its smooth trendy design, this matte-finish speaker rocks a capacitive contact quantity slider in addition to contact controls for enjoying, pausing, skipping again or ahead, and grouping or ungrouping different Sonos merchandise. And the built-in LEDs intuitively point out system connection, microphone exercise, and mute standing.

The Period 100 measures 7.18 x 4.72 x 5.14 inches, making it barely taller than Apple’s speaker however with a smaller footprint. It additionally weighs much less, too, clocking in at simply 4.44 kilos. This slimmer design makes it higher fitted to sitting on a desk or bookshelf, because it’ll take up a bit much less area. Remember, nonetheless, that you will want to permit for somewhat further area to entry the bodily mic mute toggle on the again or the close by USB-C port; the USB-C port permits you to add both an Ethernet port or a 3.5mm line-in aux cable, though you may want the suitable dongle accent (offered individually) to allow that performance. The Sonos speaker additionally helps Bluetooth 5.0 and dual-band Wi-Fi 6.

{Hardware}

{Hardware}-wise, the HomePod 2 has some barely trimmed-down internals in comparison with its authentic design. It has a four-inch high-excursion woofer, 5 horn-loaded neodymium tweeters, a low-frequency microphone for automated bass correction, and a four-microphone design for far-field Siri utilization. Apple’s superior computational room-sensing know-how mechanically detects the place you place it (whether or not centrally on a espresso desk or proper up in opposition to a wall) and tunes the audio in actual time.

Contained in the Period 100 are three class-D digital amplifiers, two angled tweeters for crisp and correct frequency response, and one mid-woofer able to precisely sort out all the pieces from mid-range vocals to deep low-end bass. You may additionally discover a far-field mic array that makes use of superior beamforming and echo cancellation for voice controls and Sonos’ Trueplay acoustic EQ room-tuning. And though the Period 100 doesn’t help spatial audio, just like the HomePod 2, it does characteristic angled drivers that work comparably whenever you arrange two of them in a room.

Sound high quality

Each audio system are designed for on a regular basis eventualities, like taking part in music out of your favourite music streaming companies by way of your telephone or connecting them to your TV for a extra immersive film night time expertise. Though neither speaker is more likely to be rated as top-shelf audiophile tools, each sound fantastic and pack a well-rounded punch.

To make sure the audio sounds nearly as good as might be, each audio system use room-sensing know-how backed by computational audio algorithms to detect the place you place the audio system in a room. Every speaker notes issues like proximity to partitions after which mechanically adjusts and tunes the audio in real-time for that distinctive area. Apple takes that room-sensing know-how and makes use of a high-excursion 20mm woofer, a bass-EQ mic that mechanically tunes decrease frequencies in real-time, and an array of 5 beamforming tweeters across the base of the speaker which can be optimized for larger frequencies.

This setup ensures that the HomePod 2 delivers high-fidelity audio that constantly sounds wealthy, clear, detailed, and balanced throughout all frequencies. Add in its help for Dolby Atmos and spatial audio, and you’ve got a rock-solid and immersive speaker setup that seamlessly integrates along with your Apple TV 4K and different devices in that good dwelling ecosystem.

With the Sonos Period 100, you get a woofer that is larger than that of its predecessor. Furthermore, from the companion cellular app, you possibly can manually fine-tune the speaker’s EQ and entry the TruePlay room sensing characteristic to assist tune and optimize audio on your room’s distinctive setup.

Observe that the Period 100 lacks Dolby Atmos and spatial audio. Nevertheless, you possibly can simply pair it up with different Sonos soundbars and audio system in your house theater setup that characteristic Dolby Atmos and spatial audio (many do). However even in case you do not pair it, the speaker will nonetheless impress with its loud quantity capability, bassy mid-woofer, and dual-angled tweeters that assist create a large soundstage. Both speaker makes for an incredible bookshelf speaker or addition to your TV setup, particularly in case you pair them with a second speaker or perhaps a soundbar.

Efficiency

Sure, each audio system look nice and sound even higher, however what else do they provide up? And the way simple are they to make use of day-to-day? The HomePod 2 and Period 100 convey some enjoyable and distinctive options to the desk whereas making some attention-grabbing selections alongside the best way.

The Apple HomePod 2, most notably, presents help for the Matter commonplace and is able to hit the bottom working as your new good dwelling hub on your HomeKit devices. Though Siri is your solely voice assistant possibility right here, that is one of many speaker’s best strengths for anybody already embedded inside Apple’s ecosystem. The HomePod 2 is able to work with Apple Music, iTunes purchases, Apple podcasts, your iCloud Music Library, and numerous third-party streaming music companies and radio stations. It additionally helps AirPlay, permitting you to simply play content material from different gadgets (like your iPad) on this speaker or with a number of Apple audio system throughout your house.

The HomePod 2 additionally comes with further options, resembling the power to acknowledge seems like your voice or a smoke alarm — and an accelerometer for automated sound adjustment. Additionally, its two inner sensors for detecting the present indoor temperature and humidity ranges will present correct, real-time solutions whenever you ask Siri what the temperature is. Whereas such options have no actual bearing on the in any other case audio-focused performance of those audio system, they’re undeniably helpful, particularly if you wish to pair them with, say, a sensible dwelling thermostat.

Nevertheless, we lament that the HomePod 2 lacks bodily ports and buttons. Whereas capacitive contact controls are on each audio system, the HomePod doesn’t supply a devoted bodily change for disconnecting microphone {hardware} or a port for connecting exterior audio sources, like a turntable (each of that are options of the Period 100). This makes the HomePod 2 higher fitted to solo play or pairing with an Apple TV — however a dud for enjoying your vinyl assortment.

The Sonos Period 100, in the meantime, cuts straight to the chase. It skips extras like inner sensors and focuses on providing a wider array of working programs and gadgets, audio supply selections, voice assistant choices (however not Google Assistant), safety features, and pairable Sonos audio system. It even overlaps with the Apple HomePod 2 at occasions, supporting a wide range of Apple options, like AirPlay 2 for streaming media.

This speaker permits you to use Amazon Alexa because the voice assistant, or the corporate’s proprietary Sonos Voice Management for anybody who desires to make use of voice instructions. It additionally presents two privateness choices you possibly can toggle on demand: faucet the speech bubble atop the speaker to deactivate the voice assistant (although it does nonetheless maintain particular mic-enabled options like Trueplay up and working), or toggle the change on the again of the speaker to disconnect all microphone {hardware}.

The Period 100 comes commonplace with Sonos Radio and permits you to simply play audio from any system or streaming service, like Spotify, Tidal, Amazon Prime Music, Apple Music, and Audible. Plus, you possibly can join by way of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or the USB-C port. This final possibility permits you to join issues like turntables and computer systems by way of a easy aux wire. Though you could buy the sold-separately Sonos Line-In Adapter for that, it is nonetheless good to have the choice, because it permits a much more customizable setup.

Which is best for you?

With their comparable design, audio capabilities, and common performance, it is laborious to select an outright winner on this head-to-head comparability. It will possible come all the way down to which good dwelling ecosystem you select (or are already in), whether or not you care about having spatial audio with out including one more system, and, in fact, the associated fee.

Should you’re all in on Apple’s product ecosystem, need your house theater setup’s audio to be pushed by Dolby Atmos, love spatial audio, need huge sound for a small area, and have 50 further bucks to spare, you merely cannot go flawed with the fashionable and highly effective Apple HomePod 2.

You are certain to have a terrific music listening expertise with the Sonos Period 100’s slimmer design, a a lot wider array of digital and bodily connectivity choices, the feature-laden Sonos companion app, and bigger woofer. As well as, this speaker is cheaper, presents Alexa compatibility, helps Bluetooth and line-in connectivity, and ensures high-quality sound throughout all frequencies with a large soundstage.