Sonos is making one of its biggest ecosystem plays in years, unveiling the Beam Ultra soundbar and Ace Ultra headphones alongside Sonos 27, a major software update designed to make its connected audio system more intelligent, flexible and considerably more ambitious.
The hardware is immediately attention-grabbing, but Sonos 27 may prove to be the more important part of the announcement. Rather than treating speakers, soundbars and headphones as isolated products, Sonos is pushing harder towards an audio operating system where sound can follow users around the home, devices can change roles, and third-party AI assistants can interact with the system.
Beam Ultra takes the familiar compact Beam concept and gives it a substantial home-cinema upgrade. The new soundbar packs nine Class-D-powered drivers — four more than Beam — comprising five tweeters and four low-profile woofers. Two dedicated upward-firing tweeters allow it to deliver true 7.1.2-channel Dolby Atmos from a relatively compact chassis measuring 750mm wide. Sonos is also introducing a redesigned centre channel and four selectable levels of AI Speech Enhancement, alongside Night Sound and Trueplay room tuning.
That combination could make Beam Ultra particularly interesting for people who want convincing Atmos without accommodating a much larger soundbar. It also supports Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, HDMI eARC/ARC, AirPlay 2 and USB-C connectivity. Owners can expand it with a Sonos Sub and rear speakers, but Sonos 27 introduces a more unusual option: compatible portable speakers can now become surrounds.
Sonos Positioning Technology uses high-frequency sound to determine a speaker’s location and adjust its role accordingly. Move a compatible portable speaker into the appropriate position and it can become a rear surround. Portable surrounds will initially support Move 2 and Sonos Play when the feature begins rolling out on September 8.
Ace Ultra represents an equally significant rethink of Sonos headphones. Inside each ear cup is a Sonos-designed 40mm driver, with support for spatial audio, Dolby Atmos with compatible content and aptX Lossless on supported hardware. A ten-microphone array powers Adaptive ANC, with Sonos claiming significantly stronger cancellation than the original Ace at selected frequencies. Adaptive EQ also compensates for changes in fit caused by factors such as glasses, hair and movement.
Battery life reaches a claimed 35 hours with ANC enabled, while a three-minute rapid charge can provide up to three additional hours of listening. More importantly, Ace Ultra introduces Headphone Engine 2, incorporating redesigned Wi-Fi hardware that allows the headphones to connect directly to the Sonos system. The Early Access headphone-linking feature lets users push audio from a nearby Sonos speaker to Ace Ultra, then send it back again with another press — without requiring a phone to remain in range.
Sonos 27 ties those ideas together. Sonos 27voice provides the company’s own music-focused assistant, while Sonos 27mcp is designed to connect outside AI assistants and agents, including ChatGPT, to a Sonos system. Sonos has also previewed Custom Agents, although the announcement does not provide a launch date for that feature. A redesigned Sonos app begins rolling out September 8, with Sonos 27mcp also entering Early Access that day.
Beam Ultra and Ace Ultra arrive globally on September 29. Beam Ultra costs $699, while Ace Ultra is priced at $449.
The exciting part isn’t simply that Sonos has two new premium products. It’s that Beam Ultra, Ace Ultra and Sonos 27 reveal a much broader idea of what a Sonos system could become: speakers that understand where they are, headphones that participate directly in whole-home audio, and AI assistants that aren’t necessarily controlled by Sonos itself. The hardware arrives this month; how well that increasingly ambitious software ecosystem works in real homes will be the bigger test.
