Compare Edifier ES60 vs Sonos Era 100 SL

The IP66 dust protection is viewed positively for portable use, even if it is not the highest ruggedness rating in the category.

With no IP dust-protection rating, the Era 100 SL is best treated as an indoor stationary speaker rather than gear for dusty or rugged environments.

AirPlay is absent, but one reviewer said that omission was not a dealbreaker given the speaker’s other connection options.

AirPlay 2 is especially useful in Apple households, making it easy to send audio from Apple devices and include the speaker alongside other AirPlay-compatible gear.

At roughly a kilogram, the ES60 has noticeable heft but remains portable for most reviewers. It fits in backpacks and is easy to move around, though one customer wished for a smaller form.

At roughly 4.3 pounds, the Era 100 SL feels reassuringly substantial for its size, but that heft reinforces its role as a stationary home speaker rather than something meant to travel.

High-volume behavior depends on the listener and material. Some found no noticeable distortion or heard the speaker stay composed, while others reported compression, harsh treble, or thinner bass near the top of the range.

High-volume composure is a strength, with clean output and little obvious distortion even when the speaker is pushed hard.

Vocals are often clear and forward enough to follow easily, but some tracks expose reduced accuracy or separation compared with the strongest competitors.

Vocals come through clearly and remain well separated from instruments, giving the speaker a strong midrange presentation for vocal-heavy music.

Detail is mixed by source. Some listeners praise excellent clarity and refinement, while more critical reviewers say the ES60 misses the nuance available from similarly priced rivals.

The Era 100 SL pulls out vocals, instruments, and small production details impressively for its price and size, though pricier wired speakers can still reveal more.

Most reviewers find the ES60 easy to fit into desks, kitchens, travel, and general home use. A charging-resume issue and some PC/size quirks are notable exceptions.

For app- or touch-control users, daily operation is simple and natural. The streamlined mic-free approach is particularly appealing to people already comfortable controlling music from a phone.

Microphone quality is serviceable rather than standout. Voices remain understandable, but reviewers describe the mic as somewhat muffled and less clear than hoped.

The missing microphone is intentionally polarizing: some users welcome paying less for hardware they would never use, while others miss hands-free control in kitchens, bedrooms, and offices.

On dense rock material, the ES60 stayed controlled enough to deliver a well-rounded listening experience rather than becoming overwhelmed.

Vocals, synths, and acoustic textures blend into a coherent whole, giving busy tracks a nicely integrated presentation instead of making individual elements fight for attention.

Build quality is consistently strong, with reviewers describing the ES60 as solid, premium, well made, and better finished than its price or size might suggest.

The Era 100 SL feels like a well-built, premium stationary speaker despite its lower price. Its solid construction and focused feature set are generally seen as thoughtful rather than cheapened.

Most reviewers like or recommend the ES60, especially for its style and energetic sound. The more cautious verdicts center on battery life, treble balance, EQ limits, and full-price competition.

Overall satisfaction is very high, especially as an affordable way to enter or expand a Sonos system. The main caveats come from removed smart features rather than the speaker’s core audio performance.

Tuning draws mixed reactions: many hear a warm, balanced sound with clear mids and punchy bass, while others find the treble too aggressive, mids recessed, or the default sound over-bassy.

The overall tuning is praised as balanced and energetic, with clear mids and controlled highs. A few listeners heard occasional treble clutter or bass energy bleeding slightly into the midrange.

The ES60 plays unexpectedly loud for its size and can fill bedrooms, living rooms, garages, and even larger social spaces. Wired USB-C playback can be noticeably quieter for at least one owner.

The Era 100 SL sounds much bigger than its compact cabinet suggests, comfortably filling a room and staying enjoyable even at higher volume levels.

Presentation is consistently positive, with neat, well-organized packaging that reinforces the premium impression before the speaker is even used.

The unboxing experience was praised as clean and polished, with sturdy presentation and little unnecessary mess.

Stereo pairing is appealing and, for one owner using two ES60s, genuinely satisfying enough to earn an enthusiastic recommendation.

Sonos ecosystem integration is a standout strength, with easy grouping, stereo pairing, multiroom playback, and smooth expansion alongside existing Sonos speakers.

Top-panel controls earned strong praise for quick response, easy operation, and satisfying feedback.

The capacitive controls are widely praised for reliable response, with the swipe-style volume slider standing out as especially intuitive and smooth.

One reviewer singled out the ES60’s dynamism as especially impressive, helping the compact speaker sound larger and more energetic than expected.

The speaker’s delivery is described as powerful and confident, helping its compact cabinet produce a surprisingly energetic presentation.

The ES60 is particularly well suited to desks, bedrooms, nightstands, bookshelves, and other small-to-medium spaces because it produces far more volume than its footprint suggests.

Its compact footprint fits easily on desks, shelves, and counters, while still producing enough output to work comfortably in smaller living spaces.

IP66 is considered useful for rain, splashes, poolside use, and outdoor listening. Multiple reviewers note that rivals with IP67 or IP68 ratings offer stronger protection against submersion.

The lack of an IP rating limits where the Era 100 SL can safely be used, making it a poor fit for outdoor or wet environments.

Design is the strongest point of agreement: reviewers repeatedly praise the retro styling, faux leather, metal grille, gold accents, and premium feel. The ES60 is often treated as a speaker that doubles as a décor piece.

Its compact, minimalist cylindrical design is widely liked for blending into rooms without demanding attention. Build and finish also earn praise, though the understated look is deliberately conservative.

Standard Bluetooth pairing was described as straightforward, though without the faster platform-specific pairing conveniences some users may expect.

Bluetooth is useful for quick, casual playback, but Wi-Fi remains the better everyday choice because it unlocks the full Sonos feature set.

Physical controls are usually simple, tactile, and easy to use. The main weakness is that volume-button behavior can be inconvenient when the speaker is connected to a PC over USB.

Touch controls cover the core playback functions cleanly, letting users adjust volume, pause, play, and navigate tracks with simple gestures.

Music playback is generally enjoyable, with strong bass, good scale, and engaging dynamics. The main reservation is that more critical listeners hear less nuance and refinement than top rivals.

For music, the Era 100 SL delivers strong clarity, scale, and value for its size. A traditional stereo system can still provide greater realism, and buyers wanting maximum versatility may prefer a different Sonos model.

The ConneX app is usually described as easy or useful, but experiences vary: one firmware update was very slow, one source flagged regional availability, and a customer called the app limited.

The Sonos app is still inconsistent. It can feel stable and straightforward during setup and playback, but lag, buried settings, occasional bugs, and limited customization can make the software feel less polished than the speaker itself.

EQ control is one of the most repeated complaints. The four presets can be useful, but many reviewers say they change too little and strongly miss a true manual or custom EQ.

EQ control is a recurring weakness. The Sonos app largely limits adjustment to bass and treble, leaving anyone who wants midrange, multiband, or parametric control with little room to fine-tune the sound.

Bluetooth performance is consistently positive where tested, with fast pairing, seamless connections, and no reported dropouts in those use cases.

Bluetooth pairing was described as particularly fuss-free, supporting the speaker’s role as an easy fallback when Wi-Fi streaming is not needed.

Codec support is a recurring limitation: the ES60 is criticized for SBC-only Bluetooth with no AAC, LDAC, or aptX options.

Bluetooth is convenient for casual playback, but codec support is basic, with no higher-resolution options such as aptX HD or LDAC.

An owner using two ES60s reported being thrilled with the stereo result, providing a strong real-world endorsement of paired operation.

Adding the Era 100 SL to an existing Sonos group is quick and dependable, and multi-speaker setups stay synchronized without notable fuss.

Imaging is mixed: some reviewers criticize weak vocal and instrument separation, while another heard a noticeably wider soundstage from the front/rear tweeter layout.

A single speaker creates useful width, but opinions differ on how convincing its left-right separation is from farther away. Pairing two units is consistently described as the way to get a proper stereo image.

USB-C audio is a widely appreciated extra, often praised for stable, cleaner playback and desktop flexibility. One customer, however, found USB-C output much quieter than Bluetooth.

Line-in is handy for turntables and other analog sources, but it requires a separately purchased USB-C adapter, adding cost and inconvenience for wired setups.

USB-C playback up to 48kHz was praised for sounding cleaner and sharper from a laptop.

Wi-Fi playback supports lossless music from major services, giving the Era 100 SL stronger quality options than basic Bluetooth streaming alone.

Overall sound earns broad praise for scale, clarity, warmth, and bass impact from a compact enclosure. Critical voices still point to treble harshness, weaker vocal nuance, and limited refinement versus leading rivals.

Sound quality is the clearest strength, with a clear, spacious, powerful, and detailed presentation for the size and price and very little sonic sacrifice versus the standard Era 100.

The speaker also works well at modest levels, with quarter-volume listening repeatedly described as comfortable and suitable for personal spaces.

Low-volume listening remains satisfying, with bass retaining useful weight even at quieter levels where compact speakers can start to sound thin.

Bass is one of the ES60’s clearest strengths, repeatedly described as punchy, warm, powerful, and impressive for the size. A few listeners wanted deeper extension or noted thinning at very high volume.

Bass is punchy and substantial for the cabinet size, with tighter control than the older Era 100 in some listening comparisons. The tradeoff is limited true sub-bass depth and occasional low-end spill into the midrange.

A customer reported a serious charging-resume problem: after reaching full charge, the speaker would not automatically begin charging again without reconnecting the cable.

The proprietary recessed power connection drew criticism because losing the supplied angled cable makes replacement less convenient than using a standard cord.

Several reviewers and customers see strong value when focusing on the big sound, build, and design, especially at lower prices. Full-price value is less universally convincing.

The Era 100 SL is a satisfying lower-cost way to expand a Sonos system while keeping strong sound quality and most of the core feature set.

Initial Bluetooth setup was extremely quick in one hands-on test, connecting successfully in under ten seconds on the first try.

Setup is consistently simple, usually taking only a few minutes in the Sonos app. Adding, updating, and grouping the speaker is straightforward and largely trouble-free.

Movies and video playback were reported to stay in sync without distracting delay. The latency problem appears mainly in fast-paced gaming rather than normal video watching.

The front-and-rear driver layout gives the ES60 convincing room coverage and fairly consistent sound from multiple angles. Placement still matters if you want the strongest frontal presentation.

Era 100 SL surrounds add useful immersion on their own, but action-heavy home theater setups benefit from adding a subwoofer for deeper low-end impact.

Sonos’ ability to expand across different models and generations is praised because adding the Era 100 SL does not force owners to replace existing compatible gear.

The enclosure is described as rigid and well damped, with solid construction that helps suppress resonances and reinforces the speaker’s premium feel.

Fast-paced gaming is a clear weak spot, with noticeable audio delay reported in PUBG-style play even though movies and ordinary video stay acceptably synchronized.

The included carrying strap or lanyard is generally liked as a practical, premium-feeling portability extra.

Using Era 100 SL units as rear surrounds is one of their best use cases, adding immersion, integrating easily with Sonos soundbars, and costing less than mic-equipped alternatives.

Ambient lighting is usually praised as tasteful, cozy, and well matched to the design, though one reviewer wanted more color options.

The compact cabinet is easy enough to reposition around the home, but this is not a portable speaker: it has no battery and is designed to remain plugged in.

One reviewer specifically disliked that no wall charger is supplied in the box, leaving charging speed dependent on the adapter already available.

The complete absence of microphones is a genuine privacy benefit for buyers who do not want always-listening hardware, turning the mic-free design into a feature rather than just a cost cut.

Trueplay can noticeably polish the Era 100 SL’s sound, but the missing microphones make iOS access the key dividing line. iPhone users generally find tuning effective and easy, while Android users repeatedly lose this advantage.

Hands-free calls are generally usable and sometimes very clear, but other tests found the mic muffled. One owner also notes that microphone use is unavailable during USB-C audio playback.

Battery opinions are sharply split. Several reviewers found roughly nine hours adequate or even good, while others called it underwhelming, terrible, or a major weakness—especially at higher volume.

The included USB-C cable is appreciated, with one reviewer specifically calling it sturdy and high quality.

Charging feedback is mostly positive, with reviewers saying USB-C charging is quick, though one wanted faster charging.

USB-C charging is normally convenient and quick, but one customer reported a frustrating failure to resume charging automatically after the battery reached full.

Multipoint worked smoothly in hands-on testing, including seamless switching between two connected devices after playback was paused.

Removing the microphones eliminates built-in Alexa and Sonos Voice Control. That is a minor sacrifice for people who rarely use voice commands, but a meaningful loss for anyone who relies on hands-free control.

Wi-Fi playback is valued for continuing independently of phone activity, reinforcing the Era 100 SL’s strength as a home-network speaker rather than a Bluetooth-only device.

The enclosure is generally viewed as sturdy and rugged, with reviewers expecting it to handle normal portable knocks and occasional drops.