Sonos and Beats both announced new additions to their premium audio lineups. Sonos introduced the Beam Ultra soundbar and Ace Ultra headphones, while Apple’s Beats brand launched the customizable, fitness-focused Beats 360 over-ear ANC headphones. Here’s a closer look at what each brings to the table.
Sonos Brings True Atmos to the Compact Beam Ultra
The new Sonos Beam Ultra keeps the compact 30-inch size of the Beam (Gen 2) but overhauls the internal design. It now uses a nine-driver array with dedicated upward-firing and front-facing drivers. The result is a 7.1.2 Dolby Atmos surround sound setup with real overhead premium audio, not just virtualized height channels.
The Beam Ultra keeps a low-profile look and adds an upper grille for the new height drivers. Sonos has added an AI-powered Speech Enhancement feature with four levels to help keep dialogue clear. The soundbar now supports Bluetooth 5.3, Line-in, and makes Trueplay room tuning available for both iOS and Android.
The Premium Step-Up: Sonos Ace Ultra
Sonos also launched the Ace Ultra, a $449 upgrade over the standard Ace headphones. The over-ear model uses a 10-microphone array for active noise cancellation, putting it in line with other leading brands.
The Ace Ultra delivers 35 hours of battery life with ANC on and uses deeper ear cups for better comfort. The headphones can connect directly to the Sonos home system over Wi-Fi using Headphone Engine 2, so users can switch audio from TV to headphones with a button press. Sonos has also made the Content Key on the ear cup larger for easier volume and playback control.
Beats 360: Customization Meets Fitness
Apple’s Beats brand has launched the $349.99 Beats 360, its new flagship over-ear headphone. The Beats 360 features a hardware customization system that lets users swap ear cushions and the headband for different colors and materials. Buyers can pick between Performance Knit cushions for workouts and UltraPlush engineered leather for daily use.
Designed with active lifestyles in mind, the Beats 360 are the brand’s first over-ear headphones to feature an IPX4 rating, providing genuine sweat and water resistance. Internally, they run on the Gen 4 Beats platform, featuring custom drivers and personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking. The headphones deliver 32 hours of battery life and an adaptive ANC system that offers 1.75x more noise cancellation than the Beats Studio Pro. Crucially, Beats continues to bridge the ecosystem gap, offering comprehensive integration for both iOS and Android users right out of the box.
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