WiiM just unveiled the ultimate Sonos Era 100 rival — meet the hi-res Sound Lite

• 100W output and Hi-Res Audio
• Room correction, stereo pairing and home theater integration
• $229 / £229 / €369

WiiM has unveiled the WiiM Sound Lite, a new and compact smart speaker – and it's hard not to see a resemblance to the Sonos Era 100. But there's nothing 'Lite' about the power output: this smallish speaker puts out a punchy 100W. It also delivers up to 24-bit/192 kHz hi-res playback, thus matching the resolution capabilities of the Era 100.

As you'd expect from WiiM, the Sound Lite integrates well with existing WiiM products such as the WiiM Sound, WiiM Amp, WiiM Speaker and WiiM Sub Pro via the WiiM app – it could work solo, in a stereo pair or serve as the surround/center speaker in a 5.1 home theater setup. Basically, if the ultimate aim of the game is multi-room audio throughout your home, WiiM can help you get that, with its ever-expanding lineup.

The WiiM Sound Lite is very flexible overall: it supports a wide range of streaming including Spotify, Amazon Music, TIDAL, Qobuz and YouTube Music, plus Google Cast, Alexa multi-room and Roon Ready.

WiiM Sound Lite: key features and pricing

The WiiM Sound Pro is a minimalist design that doesn't really draw attention to itself; it's a familiar-looking squat cylinder in black or white with the manual controls on top. Inside there's a 4-inch long-throw woofer and dual 1-inch silk dome tweeters, and the built-in RoomFit room correction adjusts the audio output based on the acoustic characteristics of where you've placed the speaker.

In addition to the obligatory Bluetooth (5.3) the WiiM Sound Lite also has Wi-Fi 6E and 100Mbps Ethernet – all specs which could see it jump straight into our best wireless speakers guide, if the sound is good.

As mentioned briefly above, it can be used solo, in a stereo pair or in a multi-speaker or multi-room setup. and you can use it as the centre or surround speaker in a WiiM Dolby 5.1 home theater setup. It's also compatible with the WiiM Voice Remote 2, which is sold separately.

Trying to work out whether it's time to make the switch from Sonos to WiiM? We've got a Sonos vs WiiM dedicated guide for you, which should help.

The WiiM Sound Lite is competitively priced though: it's $229 / £229 / €269 (about AU$460). It'll go on sale on Amazon and other selected retailers on Christmas Day.

The best stereo speakers all budgets

➡️ Read our full guide to the best stereo speakers
1. Best overall:
Q Acoustics M40 HD
2. Best compact:
Dali Rubikore 2
3. Best desktop speakers
Creative Pebble Nova
4. Best budget buy:
Q Acoustics M20 HD

Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.