Sonos Expands Home Theatre Lineup with $699 Beam Ultra Soundbar

Ask a home theatre owner to name the soundbar worth saving up for, and Sonos Arc Ultra usually tops the list, with the smaller Beam Gen 2 close behind for anyone short on shelf space. The Santa Barbara company earned that reputation on the back of Sound Motion, its transducer technology that crams deep bass into a compact chassis and drives the Arc Ultra’s 9.1.4 Dolby Atmos setup across 14 drivers. Fortunately, Chinese rivals and other soundbar makers have spent the past year trying to close that gap, but none have matched the prowess and precision of Sonos.

Just before IFA 2026 commences, Sonos expanded its audio lineup with the launch of Beam Ultra. The $699 soundbar sits between the $399 Beam (Gen 2) and the $899 Arc Ultra, with preorders open now ahead of a September 29 release. First reported by Engadget, the Beam Ultra keeps the same compact footprint as the Beam Gen 2, but comes with major upgrades inside. What Hi-Fi, which did a detailed piece on the same, reports that Sonos bumped the driver count from five to nine, adding a pair of dedicated up-firing drivers that bounce sound off the ceiling for a true 7.1.2 Dolby Atmos height layer, something the standard Beam has never offered. 

“Beam Ultra is a physical manifestation of what we mean when we say ‘sounds like Sonos’. It combines next-gen innovation, acoustic design, and audio engineering into something only decades of learning in real homes can create,” Tom Conrad, CEO of Sonos, states on the release. According to CNET, Sonos also redesigned the center channel for clearer dialogue and added four levels of AI Speech Enhancement, along with a Night Sound mode for late viewing.

Beyond audio, the Beam Ultra brings Wi-Fi 6 support and can be extended with a Sonos Sub or a pair of rear speakers, including compatible portable Sonos models that switch roles automatically when paired as surrounds. That said, there are some notable exclusions too. This includes HDMI passthrough and DTS:X support, implying the soundbar would rely on an HDMI eARC connection to handle audio coming directly from the TV.

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The Beam Ultra was announced alongside the Ace Ultra, a $449 pair of over-ear headphones. Both products go on sale September 29, in black or white finishes.