What we liked
- The authentic Dolby Atmos effects
- The wide soundstage
- The clear dialogue
- The rich bass without a subwoofer
- The easy setup
- The many upgrade options
We would have liked
- An additional HDMI input
- An optical adapter included
Our expert’s opinion
With the Beam Ultra, Sonos has finally addressed the main limitation of the previous-generation Beam Gen 2. While the latter could decode a Dolby Atmos track, it had to simulate all vertical effects entirely through digital processing. This new 2026 soundbar features two true up-firing drivers, and the difference is immediately noticeable. The effects truly take on height, the soundstage gains depth, and the space becomes genuinely three-dimensional.
The Beam Ultra also impresses with the breadth it manages to produce from such a compact enclosure. The nine drivers deliver a wider, more precise, and significantly more immersive sound than its predecessor. The bass has also taken a major leap forward, making it feasible to use the soundbar on its own in a room of reasonable size.
Of course, this soundbar isn’t a replacement for a Sonos Arc Ultra in a large living room, and adding surround speakers is still essential to achieve a true 360° soundstage. But for those looking for a compact, simple, and scalable solution, the Sonos Beam Ultra is a credible alternative to the best Atmos soundbars on the market.
Five years after the Beam Gen 2, Sonos is updating its famous compact soundbar with the Sonos Beam Ultra. This new generation moves from an architecture largely based on virtualization to a true Dolby Atmos 7.1.2 system, with two drivers dedicated to vertical effects. It promises to create a truly three-dimensional soundstage, accompanied by richer bass and clearer dialogue thanks to artificial intelligence, all while maintaining a size suitable for living rooms where the Sonos Arc Ultra would be too large. Priced at €699, can this 2026 Sonos soundbar truly deliver a compelling Dolby Atmos experience despite its compact size?
Finally, real Atmos drivers
Launched in 2018, the first Sonos Beam quickly found its place alongside the very compact Sonos Ray and the ultimate Sonos Arc Ultra. Its main strength has always been its ability to deliver compelling sound quality and the connected features of the Sonos ecosystem in a discreet design that’s easy to place under the TV. Launched in 2021, the Sonos Beam Gen 2 introduced Dolby Atmos without fundamentally changing this design. It retained the same five drivers and primarily used its processor to create additional virtual channels. The result expanded the soundstage and provided a certain sense of height, but the Atmos effects were less pronounced than with a soundbar equipped with true vertical drivers, such as the Sonos Arc.
The new Sonos Beam Ultra is therefore a game-changer, now featuring nine drivers, each powered by its own class D digital amplifier. Its design allows it to operate in a 7.1.2-channel configuration, with two true Atmos channels directed toward the ceiling. Sonos retains the Beam’s compact design while enhancing its audio performance for both movies and music.
This configuration adds more depth to Dolby Atmos tracks: helicopters, airplanes, rain, debris, and the reverberations of a vast environment rise above the front soundstage with greater realism. As is always the case with reflection-based Atmos drivers, however, performance depends on the room. A horizontal ceiling at a standard height will provide the best results. With a very high, sloped, or highly absorbent ceiling, the perception of vertical effects will naturally be more subdued.
Sonos also offers a mode that simulates vertical effects when the top of the soundbar is blocked—for example, when it’s installed inside a TV cabinet. However, this mode proved less impressive, both in terms of vertical and surround sound effects. As a result, it is still best to leave enough space above the Beam Ultra to fully enjoy its ability to deliver 360° sound.
Nine drivers for a wider soundstage
The transition to Dolby Atmos 7.1.2 comes with an almost complete redesign of the acoustic architecture. The Sonos Beam Ultra now features nine drivers, compared to just five on the Beam Gen 2. Each driver is paired with its own class D digital amplification module.
First, there are five tweeters responsible for reproducing high and midrange frequencies. One front-firing tweeter is also dedicated exclusively to the center channel to keep dialogue centered on the screen. Two other tweeters are positioned on the sides and paired with waveguides. They project sound toward the sides of the room to significantly widen the soundstage and contribute to the virtual reproduction of the surround channels. Finally, the last two tweeters are directed upward and handle the reproduction of Dolby Atmos channels.
The bass is handled by four slim-profile woofers. This increase in the total surface area of the drivers allows the Beam Ultra to deliver more powerful low frequencies while maintaining a relatively compact enclosure. As a result, impacts, bass drums, and explosions sound truly impressive with this new generation model. The Sonos Beam Ultra alone manages to deliver truly physical lows, almost as if it’s accompanied by a small subwoofer.
The same compact format
Despite this significantly more ambitious design, the Sonos Beam Ultra remains true to the original concept. Measuring 75 cm wide, 10.5 cm deep, and just 6.3 cm thick, it maintains extremely compact dimensions for a Dolby Atmos 7.1.2 soundbar, making it easier to integrate into your setup than the Sonos Arc Ultra. In particular, its low profile allows it to be placed in front of most TVs without blocking the bottom of the screen or the infrared receiver. If the TV is wall-mounted, the Sonos Beam Ultra soundbar can easily be installed below it using the optional wall mount.
The finish remains true to Sonos’s signature style, with a sleek chassis available in matte black or white that effectively minimizes glare and light pollution. The honeycomb grille, which spans the front panel, now also covers a large portion of the top surface, cleverly concealing the multiple drivers. On top, the Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar features a new touch-sensitive interface. In the center, three controls let you play, pause, or skip tracks when listening to music (next or previous track). On the far right, the volume control has been carried over from the Sonos Arc Ultra, with controls arranged in a narrow groove. Simply swipe across the surface from left to right to increase the volume, or from right to left to decrease it. This approach is significantly more intuitive, especially in the dark or for users with vision impairment.
Keeping the connectors to a minimum
As is often the case with Sonos, the number of ports is intentionally limited. The Beam Ultra features a single HDMI eARC/ARC port for connecting to the TV. Once connected to the TV’s compatible HDMI input, it automatically retrieves the audio track from all sources: streaming apps built into the TV, Blu-ray players, game consoles, or media players. The eARC connection is recommended for playing the most demanding audio formats, particularly Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Atmos. The soundbar supports Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Atmos, multichannel PCM, and DTS Digital Surround. Our tests also revealed compatibility with DTS:X, as well as with Atmos music tracks played from compatible services such as Apple Music and Amazon Prime Music.
There is still no additional HDMI input for connecting a source directly to the soundbar. All devices must therefore go through the TV. This means you need a TV model capable of properly transmitting the various audio formats. An older TV equipped only with an optical output can still be connected to the Beam Ultra using the optional Sonos HDMI-to-optical adapter. However, this solution limits your options and does not allow you to enjoy Dolby Atmos. On the other hand, the Sonos Beam Ultra features a USB-C port that supports Sonos adapters for an Ethernet connection or a 3.5 mm analog mini-jack input for connecting a turntable or a CD player, for example.
Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6
Another notable improvement over the Beam Gen 2: the new Sonos Beam Ultra is finally Bluetooth 5.3-compatible. This makes it possible to stream audio directly from a smartphone, tablet, or computer without having to go through the home network or the Sonos app.
For multi-room playback, high-quality streaming, and connecting to other Sonos devices, the soundbar now uses Wi-Fi 6, with support for the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. Once set up in the Sonos app, the soundbar can be used as a wireless speaker when the TV is off. The Sonos app provides intuitive and comprehensive music control, giving you access to files shared on your local network, as well as most streaming services such as Deezer, Spotify, Amazon Prime Music, Apple Music, and high-resolution platforms like Qobuz and Tidal. For radio lovers, TuneIn offers a diverse selection of stations from around the world. With AirPlay 2 support, Apple device users can stream audio directly from their apps to the soundbar.
Multi-room and wireless home theater
The Beam Ultra naturally retains one of Sonos’s key strengths: its integration into an extremely comprehensive ecosystem for streaming music throughout the home or creating a true wireless home theater. In particular, you can pair it with a set of Sonos Era 100 speakers for surround channels—or, ideally, the Sonos Era 300, which, in addition to surround sound, reproduces rear Atmos effects thanks to dedicated drivers. Very convenient, Sonos has also recently made it possible to use its portable Sonos Move 2 and Sonos Play speakers for surround sound. This means you can set them up in the living room for a movie night and use them as Bluetooth speakers outside the home the rest of the time. Fans of deep bass can round out the system with the Sonos Sub Mini or Sonos Sub 4. That’s everything you need to create a wireless multi-channel home theater!
Acoustic calibration and numerous settings
The Sonos Beam Ultra naturally features Trueplay acoustic calibration, which analyzes how sound behaves in the room to automatically adjust the equalization and optimize sound reproduction based on the room’s acoustics. This calibration is now compatible with iOS and Android devices. Depending on the method used, the analysis can rely on the soundbar’s microphones or those on the smartphone to perform a more detailed measurement from different points within the listening area. This is particularly useful with Dolby Atmos channels, whose effectiveness depends heavily on the room’s layout and reflective surfaces. The Sonos app also lets you manually adjust bass and treble levels or activate the Loudness mode.
With the Beam Ultra, Sonos has also perfected voice reproduction. This new soundbar introduces an advanced version of the Dialogue Boost feature, which now uses artificial intelligence to identify human voices in the mix and bring them to the forefront when they might be drowned out by music or sound effects. Rather than simply boosting the center channel, the audio processing isolates voices to make them clearer without throwing the rest of the soundtrack out of balance. The intensity of this boost can be adjusted to four different levels via the app.
A Night Sound mode is also available. This mode compresses the dynamic range by reducing the volume of the loudest parts of the track while enhancing the quietest details. This makes it possible to watch a movie at a low volume without having to constantly adjust the volume between dialogue and explosions.
Voice assistants
Ease of use has always been at the heart of the Sonos ecosystem. The new Sonos Beam Ultra is no exception and can be controlled by voice using Amazon Alexa or Sonos Voice Control, in addition to the touch-sensitive controls and the app. To pick up voice commands, it uses its built-in array of microphones, which are also used for Trueplay calibration. Their sensitivity ensures reliable voice recognition, even when the soundbar is placed several meters away from the listening position or while music is playing.
Sonos is now taking things a step further by opening up its ecosystem to AI-powered assistants. Introduced with the Sonos 27 last September, the Sonos 27mcp connector allows users to connect a Sonos system to assistants such as ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini using the MCP protocol. This makes it possible to use natural language commands to play music, adjust the volume, group multiple rooms, or move playback from one speaker to another directly from the AI assistant. This development will be complemented by Sonos 27voice, the company’s new in-house voice assistant announced for fall 2026. More advanced than the current Sonos Voice Control, this assistant better understands natural language, contextual requests, and phrasing related to a mood or musical preference rather than strictly predefined commands.
Read: ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini can now control your Sonos speakers
Setting up the Sonos Beam Ultra
Sonos has always stood out for the user-friendly design of its devices. The Sonos Beam Ultra is no exception, offering quick and intuitive setup. Once connected to the TV, the Sonos app takes over, guiding the user step by step. For newcomers to the Sonos ecosystem, the first step is to create a Sonos account. The app automatically detects the soundbar nearby and plays a chime to indicate that pairing is successful. You can then rename it, specify the room in which it’s located, and access the settings.
If you want to create a wireless home theater system, the Sonos Beam Ultra can easily be paired with other Sonos devices. To set up the surround speakers, simply select their names from a drop-down menu and assign them a channel (left or right). Adding the subwoofer is just as simple. Once all components are connected, the app lets you adjust the volume of each surround speaker as well as the subwoofer.
For this test, we first listened to the Sonos Beam Ultra soundbar on its own, then gradually added the Sonos Sub 4 subwoofer and the Sonos Era 300 surround speakers to measure the actual impact of these devices. We watched content from the Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video apps installed on a Samsung TV connected via HDMI eARC.
Listening impressions
Thanks to its 9 drivers, the Sonos Beam Ultra impressed with its ability to produce a soundstage much wider than its physical dimensions would suggest. The side drivers effectively utilized wall reflections to expand the soundstage and create the impression that sound effects were coming from the far corners of the room. Sound localization was also more precise than with the Beam Gen 2. Lateral movement felt more seamless, and the various elements of the soundtrack stood out more clearly from one another. The center channel remained particularly stable, with dialogue staying firmly anchored to the screen, even as the effects multiplied all around them.
Enabling AI-powered voice enhancement took the experience even further. Even a slight adjustment was enough to improve clarity by a few decibels without making the dialogue sound artificially separated from the rest of the soundtrack. The highest settings will be especially useful at low volume, in a noisy room, or for users who have difficulty distinguishing voices.
Playing a Dolby Atmos track fully revealed how far this new generation has come. While the previous Beam Gen 2 could create a sense of space and lend some height to the soundstage, the effects remained rather subdued and blended in with the other audio elements. The Beam Ultra’s two vertical transducers added a whole new dimension. The sense of height became more tangible and, above all, more clearly defined, with a new level fully taking shape. In scenes that truly make use of the vertical channels, the soundstage rose clearly above the TV. Pouring rain seemed to fall from a higher area in the room, while flying objects followed trajectories that actually extended beyond the screen’s frame. The effects were still primarily centered on the front of the room, as with most Atmos soundbars that rely on reflection, but the difference compared with simple virtualization is very clear.
The side tweeters created a pleasant sense of openness and extended certain effects beyond the listening area. Consequently, the Beam Ultra could reproduce an immersive soundstage without requiring additional speakers. However, the laws of physics eventually imposed their limits when an effect was supposed to occur directly behind the listener. With a pair of Era 300s, the system reached a new level, with significantly more tangible surround effects and a more consistent soundstage, since these speakers can also help reproduce Dolby Atmos information at the back of the room.
The other pleasant surprise came from the low-frequency range. The four built-in woofers gave the Beam Ultra significantly better bass response than the previous generation. Despite its compact size, the soundbar was capable of delivering real impact to explosions and the most intense action scenes. In a small or medium-sized room, pairing it with a subwoofer is therefore no longer an absolute necessity.
Sonos Beam Ultra or Sonos Arc Ultra?
Naturally, the new Beam Ultra reduces the gap with the Sonos Arc Ultra. The latter, however, remains much more powerful. With its 14 drivers and 9.1.4-channel sound reproduction, it offers an even wider soundstage and has more resources to bring effects to life in a large room. Its Sound Motion system also allows it to produce bass with impressive depth for a soundbar. At nearly 1.18 m wide, the Arc Ultra is, however, better suited for large-screen TVs and spacious living rooms. Its price of €1,099 also places it in a different category.
The Beam Ultra is a particularly well-suited option for 48 to 65 inch TVs and small to medium-sized rooms. In this setting, its 7.1.2 soundstage is expansive enough to create a highly immersive cinematic experience without the soundbar visually dominating the setup. The €400 difference can also be invested in a pair of surround speakers or a Sonos Sub Mini—two upgrades that are likely to enhance immersion more than an Arc Ultra used on its own in certain setups.
Who is the Sonos Beam Ultra designed for?
The Sonos Beam Ultra is primarily designed for users looking for a true Dolby Atmos experience without having to install a bulky soundbar under their TV. Its 7.1.2 configuration allows you to fully enjoy Dolby Atmos content from Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Apple TV+, or UHD Blu-ray discs in much better quality than with a soundbar that relies solely on virtualization.
It’s also a particularly appealing way to gradually enter the Sonos ecosystem. Used on its own, it already delivers a wide soundstage, true vertical effects, and impressive bass. It can then be expanded by adding a Sub Mini, followed by a pair of surround speakers. Owners of a Beam Gen 2 who regularly enjoy Dolby Atmos content now have a compelling reason to consider an upgrade to experience a much more immersive listening experience.
FAQ – Frequently asked questions
The main difference lies in the acoustic architecture. The Beam Gen 2 uses five drivers and creates virtual Dolby Atmos vertical channels. The Beam Ultra features nine drivers, including two up-firing drivers specifically designed to deliver vertical effects. It therefore delivers true Dolby Atmos 7.1.2 sound.
Yes. Two tweeters are angled upward and use directional waveguides to project sound toward the ceiling. The sound is then reflected back toward the listening area to create vertical effects.
Not necessarily. The four built-in woofers produce surprisingly rich bass for a soundbar of this size. In a small or medium-sized room, it can work perfectly well on its own. However, a Sonos Sub Mini or Sub 4 provides more impact and extension in the sub-bass range.
Yes. The Beam Ultra can be paired with various compatible Sonos speakers to create a wireless surround sound system. The Era 100 offers a compact solution, while the Era 300 also delivers Dolby Atmos effects from the rear. For a portable system, you can use the battery-powered Sonos Move 2 or Sonos Play speakers for a movie night.
Yes. Unlike the Beam Gen 2, the Beam Ultra includes Bluetooth 5.3 in addition to Wi-Fi 6 and Apple AirPlay 2.
