Sonos Announces $449 Ace Ultra and $699 Beam Ultra: Wi-Fi Headphone Linking, Up-Firing Drivers, Still No DTS:X

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Sep 2, 2026· updated Sep 2, 2026

Sonos held a pre-launch press event on 1 September 2026 to introduce two new products: the Ace Ultra over-ear wireless headphones at $449, and the Beam Ultra soundbar at $699 in the US and £699 in the UK. Preorders opened the same day, and both products reach general availability on 29 September 2026.

Neither product displaces its predecessor. The original Sonos Ace stays in the range at $399, and the Beam Gen 2 remains on sale below the Beam Ultra. For price context, Sonos launched the Arc Ultra at £999/$999 and the Beam Gen 2 at £449/$449.

Ace Ultra: a replaceable battery and a direct Wi-Fi link

The Ace Ultra arrives in four finishes — Black, Soft White, Agave and Sand — and uses a custom 40mm dynamic driver in each earcup, redesigned from the transducer in the original Ace. Sonos says the new driver delivers deeper bass and greater detail; that is the manufacturer's own claim rather than a measured result, and nobody outside Sonos has published listening impressions of either product yet.

Noise cancelling runs off ten microphones with adaptive processing. Sonos claims the Ace Ultra achieves up to twice the cancellation of the original Ace at frequencies up to 65Hz — again, a company figure, not an independent measurement. An adaptive EQ system compensates for changes in fit caused by glasses, hair or movement, and the app offers a choice of 3-band or 8-band manual EQ.

The detail most likely to interest anyone who has watched premium wireless headphones age badly is the user-replaceable battery. The original Ace offered replaceable earcushions only; the Ace Ultra extends that to the 1,060mAh lithium-ion cell itself. Rated runtime is 35 hours with ANC or Aware Mode engaged, up from 30 hours on the original. A three-minute charge is quoted as delivering three hours of playback, with a full charge taking up to three hours.

Connectivity moves to Bluetooth 6.0, up from 5.4, with Qualcomm aptX Lossless, Wi-Fi and USB-C audio. A USB-C-to-3.5mm cable is included in the box. Weight is 322g, ten grams more than the 312g original.

Headphone Linking

The headline software feature is Headphone Linking, a direct Wi-Fi connection between the Ace Ultra and compatible Sonos products that can move audio between devices without requiring the phone to stay in range. Sonos is launching this as an Early Access feature, so it should be understood as a work in progress rather than a finished, fully shipped capability.

Carried over from the original Ace: spatial audio and Dolby Atmos, dynamic head tracking via Sonos Intelligent Motion Processing, TrueCinema, TV Audio Swap with compatible Sonos soundbars, and Aware Mode with Voice Boost.

Beam Ultra: nine drivers, nine amplifiers, real height channels

The Beam Ultra is the first Beam with genuine up-firing height drivers. Where the Beam Gen 2 created height cues through processing alone, the Ultra uses nine drivers — five tweeters and four low-profile woofers. Two tweeters fire upward through directional horns for Atmos height information, a pair fires sideways for stereo separation, and a single forward-facing tweeter handles centre imaging. Behind them sit nine amplifiers, up from five in the Beam Gen 2.

Sonos describes the result as a 7.1.2 Dolby Atmos presentation from what it calls a mid-size soundbar. Brandon Holley, Senior Director of Product Development at Sonos, also told What Hi-Fi? that the bar was designed deliberately not to block the television screen when placed on a surface. Full dimensions were not released at the event.

Supported formats are Dolby Atmos (via Dolby Digital Plus or Dolby TrueHD), Dolby Digital, Dolby TrueHD, multichannel PCM and DTS Digital Surround. Connectivity covers a single HDMI eARC/ARC port with no passthrough, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 and AirPlay 2, plus a USB-C port that accepts analogue input via the optional Sonos Line-In Adapter or Ethernet via the Sonos Combo Adapter.

Feature-wise, the Beam Ultra brings AI Speech Enhancement with four selectable levels, a redesigned centre channel, a Night Sound mode that compresses dynamic range, Trueplay calibration, and pairing with other Sonos products — including the Ace Ultra.

The DTS:X question, answered on the record

DTS:X is still absent. What is different this time is that Sonos addressed it directly rather than letting the omission speak for itself. Asked by What Hi-Fi? whether DTS:X might arrive later, Holley said: "The door isn't closed for us, but just in terms of delivering the value that we think our customers are specifically asking for, that's what Beam Ultra has today."

That is not a commitment, but it is more than the silence the company has previously offered on the subject. For anyone whose disc collection or streaming habits lean on DTS:X, the practical position remains unchanged at launch: Dolby Atmos yes, DTS Digital Surround yes, DTS:X no.

Holley also pushed back on the idea that a soundbar is a home-cinema device first and a music device second: "We treat music as important as we do home theatre performance, and so we want it to sound great musically as a soundbar as well."

What we don't know yet

Plenty. No independent review, measurement or listening session exists for either product — What Hi-Fi? states plainly that it has not had the Beam Ultra in its test room, and expects to see the bar at IFA in Berlin, which is the outlet's expectation rather than a Sonos announcement. Beam Ultra dimensions were not published. And while both sources mention Sonos OS 27 in passing as the software carrying features such as portable surrounds and TV Audio Swap, neither gives a full feature list or a release date for it.

One loose end does now tie off: the FCC filing for model RM052 that surfaced in August, showing Wi-Fi onboard and pointing to a September launch event, has been overtaken by the announcement itself.

Frequently asked questions

How much do the Sonos Ace Ultra and Beam Ultra cost and when do they ship?

The Sonos Ace Ultra headphones are priced at $449 and the Sonos Beam Ultra soundbar at $699 in the US and £699 in the UK. Both were announced at a press event on 1 September 2026, with preorders opening that day and general availability beginning on 29 September 2026.

Does the Sonos Beam Ultra support DTS:X?

No. The Sonos Beam Ultra supports Dolby Atmos via Dolby Digital Plus or Dolby TrueHD, plus Dolby Digital, Dolby TrueHD, multichannel PCM and DTS Digital Surround — but not DTS:X. Sonos product development director Brandon Holley said the door isn't closed on adding it, without committing to any timeline.

What is different between the Sonos Ace and the Sonos Ace Ultra?

The Sonos Ace Ultra adds a user-replaceable battery, redesigned custom 40mm drivers, ten microphones for adaptive ANC, Bluetooth 6.0 instead of 5.4, and 35 hours of battery life versus 30. It weighs 322g against 312g. The original Sonos Ace remains on sale at $399.

What driver layout does the Sonos Beam Ultra use?

The Sonos Beam Ultra uses nine drivers — five tweeters and four low-profile woofers — powered by nine amplifiers. Two tweeters fire upward through directional horns for Dolby Atmos height, a pair fires sideways for stereo separation, and one forward-facing tweeter handles centre imaging. Sonos describes this as a 7.1.2 Atmos presentation.

What is Sonos Headphone Linking on the Ace Ultra?

Headphone Linking is a feature of the Sonos Ace Ultra that creates a direct Wi-Fi connection to compatible Sonos products, moving audio between devices without requiring a phone to be in range. Sonos is launching Headphone Linking as an Early Access feature rather than a fully finished capability.