Sonos Beam Ultra delivers impressive Dolby Atmos in first listen
Sonos has unveiled the $699 Beam Ultra soundbar, which impressed in an early demo with enhanced bass and clear Atmos details. The first impressions are positive, though the author notes press events often offer ideal listening conditions.
Sonos used its open house event to introduce several products, including the Beam Ultra soundbar priced at $699, the Ace Ultra headphones at $449, and a handful of app updates. The main show floor wasn't a great place to judge audio, but a private demo in a smaller room gave a better idea of what the Beam Ultra can do.
Set about six feet away, the 7.1.2 soundbar was put through a few Dolby Atmos demos. The opening of Widow's Bay showed off deeper bass, clearer vocals, and the soundbar's Atmos abilities. Details like walkie-talkie chatter, subtle sound effects, and the rising tension of the score came through without getting lost.
Even for a relatively compact soundbar, the audio was impressive — not just in quality but also in how Sonos managed to bounce sound around the room using side- and top-firing drivers. The Beam Ultra looks much like previous Beams, but now has holes on top for its upward-firing speakers.
The demo also paired two Play portable speakers wirelessly to the Beam Ultra, placed behind the audience as rear channels for a scene from Sinners. This setup could work for people with a smaller living room who don't want permanently mounted rear satellites, and it gets loud enough. Adding extra speakers seemed to let the Beam Ultra focus on a balanced, full sound with better directional audio than the Beam Gen 2, which has to virtualize spatial audio because it lacks side- and upward-firing speakers.
The author, who bought a Vizio Elevate SE last year, was surprised by how punchy the Beam Ultra sounded. In fact, it sometimes sounded almost too good — the presence of Sonos subwoofers and additional speakers in the room was hard to ignore, even though the team said they weren't used. The real test will be how it performs at home as the only Sonos speaker.
The Beam Ultra sits between the $499 Beam Gen 2 (currently $399) and the $1,099 Arc Ultra (currently $899) in price and hardware. It offers a proper Atmos experience without spending close to $1,000 or leaving the Sonos ecosystem. The soundbar launches September 29, with preorders available at Best Buy, B&H Photo, Sonos, and Amazon.
