With the Sound range, it’s safe to say WiiM has entered the wireless speaker market swinging. Not only has it released the more audiophile-baiting WiiM Sound, but it simultaneously released a cheaper version, the WiiM Sound Lite. Given both are multi-room speakers with an unabashedly mid-market price, it’s pretty clear it’s gunning for Sonos with these devices. I couldn’t resist seeing how they stack up against their closest rival: the Sonos Era 100.
As you may have seen, I’ve already compared the full version of the Lite to Sonos’s speaker in my WiiM Sound vs Sonos Era 100 piece. And while you might think this comparison is going to be more of the same, it’s worth bearing in mind that the Lite is quite a different proposition.
Priced at $229 / £229 / AU$399, the Lite is much closer in cost to the Sonos Era 100’s $219 / £199 / AU$319 than the full WiiM Sound’s $299 / £299 / AU$499 list price. And while it’s had quite a bit of its price slashed, it hasn’t lost a whole lot of functionality to get there, making the Lite a much more nimble opponent for the Era 100 and a credible contender for a spot on our list of the best wireless speakers.
WiiM Sound Lite vs Sonos Era 100: features
Just like the WiiM Sound, the Sound Lite packs a 4-inch, 50W woofer for driving bass and a pair of angled, full-range 25W tweeters to broaden its stereo field. Meanwhile, the Sonos Era 100 is similar, containing a mid-woofer for both mid-range and bass and two angled tweeters, only this time with a waveguide frame to disperse sound across 180 degrees per tweeter.
Refreshingly, despite costing less, the Sound Lite offers connectivity as excellent as the full-fat Sound, and that includes its hi-res 24-bit/192kHz playback. It can also connect to WiiM, Google Cast, and Alexa multi-room systems, as well as stream directly from a wide array of services, including Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, TIDAL, Qobuz, Deezer, Napster, Pandora, Plex, SoundCloud, and more. On top of this, it offers a 3.5mm jack input, which is always handy if you’re likely to want to hook it up to external audio kit.
Unfortunately, there is a catch, and if you’re heavily invested in Apple’s ecosystem, it may be too big for you to overlook. The Sound Lite doesn’t support Apple Music or AirPlay 2, meaning you won’t be able to connect your iPhone or MacBook to the speaker via Wi-Fi. If you’re an Apple fan, you might find that a speaker like the Sonos Era 100 gives you far more flexibility.
On top of AirPlay 2, the Era 100 offers access to all the streaming services above and throws Apple Music support in for good measure. There are a few trade-offs here, too, though. While the Sonos is capable of lossless playback at 24-bit/48kHz, you won’t get the same super-high-quality as the WiiM, though it’s worth noting there’s debate around how much this extra quality is even discernible. And, regrettably, an analog in is also absent, although you can purchase an additional adapter to convert the Era 100’s USB port into either a 3.5mm jack or an Ethernet port.
Of course, both speakers come with additional functionality packaged into their apps. Each app offers multi-room connectivity and the ability to hook them up as part of a stereo pair.
EQ is handled a little differently by each brand. Sonos offers treble and bass adjustment and automatic loudness correction for increased bass at lower volumes. Conversely, WiiM offers much more granular control: not only does it come with a 10-band EQ, but its parametric EQ lets you create curves to boost or duck frequencies throughout the whole spectrum, which is seriously impressive. I tested it out in a pretty echoey room and was honestly blown away by how easy it was to smooth out errant frequencies this way.
Finally, both speakers offer room correction algorithms. The process of the Era 100’s advanced tuning mode involves pinwheeling your phone with your arm while you walk around the room, but it achieves pretty credible results. Testing it near a wall, I found it brought the high end more into focus and made the overall sound more cohesive. It also did an impressive job of taming the outrageously resonant bass when I placed the speaker in the middle of an acoustically reflective laminate floor.
Although I gave the WiiM Sound a hard time for its room correction, it seems to have been tightened up for the Sound Lite in a recent update. It may not be a sonic silver bullet, but it does seem to go a little further, occasionally boosting weaker frequencies rather than just trimming excessive ones back. Close to a wall, it sheared off some of the wooliness in its lower frequencies, while in the middle of the floor, it helped whip the overly doughy kick into shape. It’s not quite as sophisticated as Sonos’s algorithm, but it at least gives the sound some much-needed spit and polish.
Honestly, with some of the recent improvements to WiiM’s feature set, this isn’t as big a sweep for Sonos as it was when I tested the Sound. Honestly, if you’re an Apple user or room correction is your biggest priority, the Era 100 is your best bet. But that hi-res playback and parametric EQ means that audiophiles might now find the Sound Lite takes the upper hand.
WiiM Sound Lite vs Sonos Era 100: sound quality
You’re very unlikely to get sound quality that’s utterly unimpeachable. Instead, the WiiM Sound Lite and the Sonos Era 100 each have their individual sonic strengths
When I played Listen by Pola & Bryson & goddard., the Sound Lite made its arpeggiated synth sound utterly gorgeous, and there was more than a hint of bass harmonics. However, switching to the Era 100, it became clear what I was missing – not only did the drop of that D&B bassline sound suitably snarly, but there was something delicious dubby about the way that sub bubbled up every couple of bars.
Unfortunately, like a tragic hero, the Era 100’s strength is also its greatest flaw. While listening to Peace Talk by Maribou State, I found that its bass too often encroached on the mid-range – the heft of the guitar and flabbier low-end sometimes overwhelmed the synth and strings. Conversely, the balance the Sound Lite strikes is far more judicious, allowing these melodic elements more time in the spotlight and giving that gorgeous vocal even more gloss.
Nothing shows up a speaker’s sonic weaknesses faster than poorly controlled treble, so I’m glad that neither of these devices lumbered into that bear trap. Playing Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac, the Sound Lite kept the brightness of its high end carefully in check, with the strumming of the guitars and transient hats and snares never feeling over-exposed. The Sonos Era 100 couldn’t quite strike this balance, though, with the guitar feeling less crisp and the toms focusing on heft rather than bite.
Cumulatively, this sonic profile means the Era 100 seems to offer greater cohesion, but sometimes that comes at the expense of precision. For example, when I tested it on Wasting My Young Years by London Grammar, I noticed some instruments were forced to fight for attention. By contrast, the Sound Lite was a lot more airy – the vocals erupted upward in the mix, with the piano subtly underpinning them. It’s not quite the surgically precise separation of a speaker like the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Pro Edition, but it’s definitely decent given its price point.
Perhaps one area where the Era 100 is more balanced than the Sound Lite is listening angles. While neither showed any egregious deadspots in their soundstage, the WiiM’s treble fell off much faster as I moved to the sides of the device, whereas the Sonos was pretty consistent up until I strayed into the bassier area at the rear 90 degrees of the device.
Conversely, when it comes to stereo field, I’d give the Sound Lite the slight edge. Playing The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel, I struggled to identify any panning at all, with most of the sound seeming to emerge directly from the speaker’s center. By contrast, the Era 100 doesn’t have the widest soundstage I’ve heard, but I could at least perceive a slight spread to the drum and guitar parts, even though there was hardly a gulf between them.
Honestly, it’s hard to pick a clear winner here because the best option for you is going to depend so much on what you personally want out of a wireless speaker. Want spacious mids and considered expression but aren’t offended by milquetoast bass? Then the Sound Lite is absolutely a solid choice. But if your definition of a speaker is something bassy and brassy with omnidirectional sound, then the Era 100 will definitely be more your vibe.
WiiM Sound Lite vs Sonos Era 100: design
Naturally, when it comes to design, the situation here is not all that different from my WiiM Sound vs Sonos Era 100 piece. Not only is the Era 100 the exact same unit, but the Sound Lite has an almost identical form factor as its more premium stablemate.
The one big departure for the Sound Lite is that it doesn’t have the Sound’s porthole-style display. However, while this was a fun addition that helped the Sound stand out a little more, I wouldn’t say it’s a deal breaker. It’s nice to be able to see album art or photos on your speaker, but the resolution and vibrancy weren’t so eye-wateringly gorgeous that it’s truly unmissable. If your biggest priority is getting the best sonic bang for your buck, the display is probably the easiest thing to let go of.
Elsewhere, the WiiM and the Sonos come from very similar schools of design. Both have a cylindrical build with controls on their top face, and both come in black or white colorways. The Sound Lite has a little more bulk, weighing in at 2.5kg compared to the Era 100’s 2.02kg, and it comes wrapped in fabric rather than the latter’s metal grille. But otherwise, at first glance, they give a similar general impression.
There are some small points of difference in that control scheme, though. Each has the same basic functions laid out on its surface, with touch-capacitive buttons for pausing or playing content, adjusting volume, or skipping back and forth. However, the Sound Lite’s buttons are hidden until it detects your hand nearby, at which point they light up. On top of giving it a slightly classier look when the lights are off, this also means it’s easier to use in darker rooms.
That’s a definite point in the WiiM’s favor. But while its glass top panel gives it a slightly more premium look than the Era 100’s matt black plastic, it also shows up way more marks from your greasy mitts. I only prodded the odd button here and there to test the Sound Lite’s functionality, as I mostly operated it from the connected app, but it quickly resembled a scene from CSI as it got covered in oily fingerprints. Fortunately, it wipes clean pretty easily, but better keep a microfiber cloth handy just in case.
Neither speaker draws the line at physical or app control. The Era 100 comes with built-in voice control via either Sonos Voice Control or Amazon Alexa, which is always an enormous help when you’re feeling too lazy to reach for your phone or the device. The Sound Lite doesn’t offer voice control built into the unit itself, but if you buy its separate WiiM Voice Remote 2 Lite, its push-to-talk button lets you control the device via Alexa or Google Assistant.
While I’m a little disappointed the remote isn’t included in the box as it was for the WiiM Sound, I’d argue it’s still a worthy purchase at $39 / £39 / $79. It’s robustly crafted from aluminum and has wonderfully clicky buttons, making it a great choice for anyone who prefers a more tactile way of interacting with their gadgets than yet another phone app.
Personally, when it comes to design, I just about favor the Sound Lite. Light-up controls can help when you’re operating it in darker rooms, and its fabric-and-glass build looks a skosh classier to me. But I recognize that if you prefer to use voice control for your speaker, the Era 100’s on-device mic is far more convenient than having to fork over additional money for a remote.
WiiM Sound Lite VS Sonos Era 100: verdict
When comparing the full WiiM Sound to the Sonos Era 100, I definitely came down in favor of the latter. So it may seem odd that I’ve changed my tune now I’ve swapped in the supposedly ‘Lite’ version. However, I’d argue the Lite is anything but.
It has the same drivers, the same audio quality, and the same features – plus it’s had a couple of recent quality-of-life updates. The only thing that’s changed is that the display has disappeared, and, as I pointed out in my intro, the price has dropped from $299 / £299 / AU$499 down to $229 / £229 / AU$399. Getting essentially the same performance for a lower price changes the equation for me and brings both speakers much more in line with each other.
In light of this, I’d say the WiiM Sound Lite and Sonos Era 100 are fairly evenly matched, albeit with different strengths. If you’re an audiophile, you’ll likely find the Sound Lite’s hi-res streaming support and more open, expressive sound compelling – not to mention its granular parametric EQ. However, should you be into substantial bass, smarter room correction, or Apple’s ecosystem, I’d say you’ll get a lot more mileage out of the Era 100 instead.
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josh.russell@futurenet.com (Josh Russell)
