Beam Ultra and Ace Ultra: Sonos introduces soundbar and headphones
3/9/2026
Translation: machine translated
With the Beam Ultra and Ace Ultra, Sonos is launching a new soundbar and headphones – including new software.
Sonos is expanding its multiroom system for the IFA tech trade show with two new devices: the Beam Ultra soundbar and the Ace Ultra headphones. Both are launching with Sonos' new software «Sonos 27». You can pre-order them now – they will be shipped starting September 29th.
Beam Ultra: Nine drivers in a compact housing
Sonos' new soundbar stays true to the brand's look and is designed for smaller living rooms. It is just 6.5 centimeters high, 75 centimeters wide, and 10.5 centimeters deep. Furthermore, at 2.88 kilograms, it is a lightweight in this segment.
Inside, Sonos has installed a total of nine drivers: five standard tweeters and four flat tweeters. Due to their design, the latter are positioned on the sides for stereo separation, but also serve as upfiring tweeters. There is also a centrally mounted tweeter designed to ensure clear dialogue. This is called AI-enhanced dialogue. At the push of a button, the original dialogue is highlighted. However, this does not apply to the rest of the sound. They do not want to «meddle with AI» more than necessary, as was stated at the live demo in Berlin. The Beam Ultra supports the 7.1.2 Dolby Atmos standard. However, you will only hear this if the soundbar is connected to the TV via HDMI-eARC and if the content you are watching is encoded accordingly.
Source: Sonos
In addition, Sonos has installed a microphone array with beamforming. Besides voice control, this is used for measuring the room (Sonos Trueplay). The sound is adjusted based on the distance from walls and other objects, as well as the room's acoustics. You can, however, completely disconnect the microphone array from power using a specially created switch. For further sound adjustments, you can use the EQ in the Sonos app.
In addition to WiFi 6, the Beam Ultra also supports Bluetooth 5.3. If you want to connect your smartphone directly to the soundbar, you can do so via USB-C. Both Android and iOS devices are supported – as is AirPlay 2.
Sonos Ace Ultra: Switch to the speaker at the push of a button
The Sonos headphones are entering their second round. The over-ear model uses a 40-millimeter driver developed by Sonos itself and has a total of 10 microphones on board for noise cancelling and telephony. The manufacturer states the battery life is 35 hours with noise cancellation activated. If you want to use the headphones wired, you can do so via USB-C or the included 3.5-millimeter jack cable. Despite the cable, you must keep the headphones switched on. Bluetooth is also supported – Sonos has not yet revealed which generation or which codecs. What is clear is that for the iPhone, it will likely be AAC and SBC.
Source: Sonos
A new feature is the «Headphone Engine 2». With this, the headphones automatically connect to the Sonos system when you arrive home. Without needing a smartphone, you can «send» the sound to the speaker or soundbar in any room at the push of a button, or pull it back to your Ace Ultra from there. In addition to the well-known Trueplay, the Ace Ultra features «True Cinema». This allows the system to take the audio wirelessly from the Sonos soundbar when things need to be quieter.
Sonos is charging 649 francs for the Beam Ultra and 419 francs for the Ace Ultra.
Header image: Florian Bodoky
Florian Bodoky
Senior Editor
Florian.Bodoky@digitecgalaxus.chI've been tinkering with digital networks ever since I found out how to activate both telephone channels on the ISDN card for greater bandwidth. As for the analogue variety, I've been doing that since I learned to talk. Though Winterthur is my adoptive home city, my heart still bleeds red and blue.
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