Sonos Beam Ultra: Queen of small living rooms
1/10/2026
Translation: machine translated
Pictures: Florian Bodoky
The Sonos Beam Ultra supports Dolby Atmos – and is only 75 centimeters long. Especially in combination with the Play speakers and the new Ace Ultra headphones, I can say: the cinema feeling has arrived even in small living rooms.
Although I had a positive introduction to Sennheiser's Ambeo Mini a few years ago, I am generally skeptical about small soundbars. The demo of Sonos's pint-sized soundbar at IFA in Berlin sounded good, but I still suspected that "AI Enhanced Dialogues" might just be a psychoacoustic illusion. Despite my reservations, the Beam Ultra manages to become the "Sonos Arc for the small living room" at a significantly more affordable price.
Compact, simple, and well-built
Matte plastic, rounded edges, a grille across the entire front: the Beam Ultra comes across as simple and unobtrusive. That's a good thing, because it should sound good and not distract from the actual movie enjoyment. At 75 × 6.3 × 10.5 centimeters, it is deep and narrow enough that I can place it in front of the TV without it protruding into the field of view of the screen. The bar does not obstruct the TV image. A deal-breaker for me. It weighs only 2.88 kilos, so you can easily move it around if you like. It looks proportionally consistent under my 65-inch TV. I don't like huge bars.
The build quality is flawless and sturdy. Even when I trip and lean on it, nothing creaks. The only downside: the black version I am testing is prone to fingerprints. So if you want to move it around often, you should consider opting for the white version.
The top of the bar is finely perforated on the left and right. The two upfiring drivers work underneath. Also on the top are touch surfaces with which I control play/pause, skip/search, Bluetooth, or the microphone. At the rounded indentation on the right, I control the volume. I use them relatively rarely. Because that's what the remote control or the Sonos app is for. Sonos does not include a separate remote control for the soundbar. Thanks to eARC, I can control the soundbar with the TV remote anyway.
The design: clear dialogues and Dolby Atmos
Inside the Beam Ultra, nine drivers are at work. Specifically, five tweeters (two of them upfiring) and four woofers, each with its own amplifier. Sonos speaks of a 7.1.2 configuration. The newly designed center speaker is considered the heart for movie fans: a coaxial driver where the tweeter sits directly in the woofer. Voices are supposed to come from one point and be reproduced more clearly – so that you can hear them even when the surroundings are particularly loud.
What is missing, however, is HDMI passthrough. So if you want to connect a console or a TV box, it has to run through the TV. Fortunately, modern-equipped TVs now have enough HDMI ports. Furthermore, Sonos still does not support DTS:X – in this regard, my previous favorite dwarf, the Sennheiser Ambeo Mini, is still ahead. But there is Dolby Atmos. Unless your TV belongs to the type that is limited to an optical output. Then you have to do without Atmos and also need an adapter. If this is the case, you should invest money in a new TV anyway before considering such a soundbar.
Sound: the cinema in the cubbyhole
Since the Beam Ultra is a soundbar, I test primarily with movies. On the program were: "Blade Runner 2049", "Top Gun: Maverick", and "Mad Max: Fury Road". All with an Atmos soundtrack. In between, I listen to some music so that the Beam Ultra can show how the sound sounds without explosions.
The first "wow" moment comes quickly. In "Blade Runner 2049", K walks through the rainy streets, advertising holograms flicker above him. The noises usually stick literally to the TV. In this setup, I have the feeling they are hovering above it, partly over my head. I haven't trusted a soundbar of this size to do that until now. I feel similarly with "Maverick". I catch myself looking up and searching for the fighter jets. Sure, it doesn't replace a real ceiling speaker.
The tweeters are finely resolved and do not hiss. Raindrops, clinking metal, buzzing drones – everything comes across precisely and with air. Even at really high volume, nothing sounds sharp or tinny. A tip, however: the upfiring drivers must not be covered. So refrain from placing the soundbar UNDER your TV. Free space to a flat ceiling, that's the secret recipe.
Even more important is the realization regarding the dialogues. Especially if you have a wide volume range, it can be tedious. Whisper, volume up. Explosion, volume down. And before you know it, the rubberized volume button on your remote is worn out. Here, the new center does a pretty good job even without AI. The voices sound natural and nicely detached from the background. I hear this particularly well when a few radio messages are transmitted in Maverick, even though the aircraft engines are roaring in the background. This way, the voices always come nicely from the center.
The AI enhancement has four levels. The software is supposed to lift the voices even better from the rest of the audio mix. Not just boost, but supposedly detach. I also like the dialogues with activated AI enhancement. When it gets really loud, I still understand what is being said. However: Since I already like the reproduction of the dialogues without AI enhancement, I find it difficult to weight this factor honestly. I have no instruments to measure any differences. I understand the dialogues well, they do not get lost in the noise. The corresponding button is placed in a central position on the app: in the middle of the playback screen. If you are listening to music, I would switch off the AI enhancement. There I actually hear a difference – for the worse.
Meanwhile, the Beam Ultra rumbles quite a bit. Even without a subwoofer, the engines of the War Rigs in Fury Road hum, the explosions have a controlled but clear punch. The bass remains clean and separated, it does not "over-rumble" any dialogues. I like that. However, you must be aware that this gut-punching deep bass that you might experience in the cinema is simply not possible with a 75-centimeter soundbar. If you want that, you get an additional external subwoofer.
But you don't come up short. On the contrary: the bass convinced the sound engineers themselves so much that they installed a special feature. The night sound. When neighbors are sleeping, you can activate the night sound feature. This cuts the extremes at both ends. The deep bass is reduced so that nothing rumbles through walls or floors. And extreme highs are also tamed. However, not simply by throttling the volume, because quiet passages and dialogues remain easy to understand. Only the dynamic range shrinks. As a result, the film also loses some of its impact, but that is intentional. You save the big explosion epic for earlier in the evening.
The Sonos app: mandatory if you want to expand your system
After the app debacle of the last few years, I am always a bit nervous about Sonos setups. But at first, completely wrongly. Putting the bar into operation doesn't take that long. Connect cables, switch on power, open app, connect to Wi-Fi, done. After a few minutes, the whole thing is running.
For this test, I want to complete my TV audio setup – with rear speakers for the bar and the new Sonos Ace Ultra headphones. I need a bit longer for that. Because sometimes the app doesn't want to recognize devices. As in my case, the new headphones. Although it is already connected to the mobile phone via Bluetooth – so it undoubtedly works – the Sonos app needs a few attempts before it wants to welcome the Ace Ultra into the circle of the Sonos family. Meaning: "kill" the app, then reinstall the app, start all over again. With the rear speakers, I do this in two steps. After the system recognizes the speakers, I first have to assign them to the right room so that I can use them as rear speakers for the Beam Ultra. The app eventually comes up with this idea itself, but I have to give it time. Subsequently, Trueplay is also important. The quick version of the configuration measures the room via the built-in microphones within seconds. The detailed version asks me to move through the room to be able to check the acoustic conditions. That paid off incredibly well for me. The sound adapts to my living room: wooden floor, wooden walls, and a large glass front.
Once you have put that behind you, the app is a joy. It looks tidier than before. The most important switches are placed in a prominent position. Bass, treble, level, loudness, speech enhancement, or the night sound. There is a nice detail with the volume: If I place two fingers on the display at the same time and move them, a virtual wheel appears that makes the sound louder or quieter. A gimmick, but you get used to it quickly.
Sonos Play and Ace Ultra: The cinema feeling is complete
Sonos wouldn't be Sonos if the individual components couldn't be coupled with each other. For example, the Play speakers. If you have these in your multiroom system, you can place them behind your sofa, assign them to the same room as the Beam Ultra in the app, and then use them as surround speakers. That is worth it, because this creates even more spaciousness when watching movies. You also have rain noises behind and next to you. Cars drive past you and the acoustic conditions of the room in which the film characters are located are felt to be those of your living room as well. Even in quiet scenes with atmosphere, the Plays make a huge difference. The Beam Ultra is strong, with rears, the cinema feeling finally moves in.
However – and here comes the big "but": the placement and thus also the size of the room is decisive. In my approximately 25-square-meter living room, I have to place the Plays on the backrest of the sofa or on the furniture to the side of my sofa. A "further back" does not exist for me. The result is that the effects rattle a bit and are intrusive. Especially in loud scenes. The rears don't detach enough, but crow into my ear separately. Only when I moved the sofa further forward for this test did the desired effect occur. The level drops and the rear sound blends more harmoniously into the overall picture. Since that is not a permanent solution, I have to do without it later. Therefore: before you consider this setup, make sure that the size and layout of your room can actually stage these rear speakers sensibly.
If I want to watch or listen to something after bedtime, I can do that with Sonos headphones. With the new Sonos Ace Ultra, I can redirect the sound from the soundbar to the Ace Ultra by pressing the corresponding button on the headphones. The app is not needed for this. This was still necessary with its predecessor. Cool: I can also "take" the sound with me. By pressing a button, I get it from the bar to the Ace Ultra. When I then go into another room with a Sonos speaker and press the button on the headphones, the Ace Ultra sends the sound to the speaker in that room. And because the whole thing works via Wi-Fi and not Bluetooth, I don't hear any delay.
I have identified a small weakness, however: the synthetic leather on the headphones partly transmits noises to the ear. When the ear cup rubs against my (very shortly shorn) hair, I hear a slight scratching noise – at least until I have brought the Ace Ultra into the right shape.
In a nutshell
I do not miss anything
The Beam Ultra is not a warmed-up Beam 2nd Gen, nor is it a shrunken Arc. It occupies its own niche and takes small soundbars to a new level. The dedicated height channels deliver Atmos noticeably well, and the bass is strong considering its size. Furthermore, the new center channel is a gift to anyone who often struggles to understand dialogue amidst an overwhelming soundscape. Added to this are practical features like Night Mode, the Ace Ultra, or using Plays as temporary rear speakers. Yes, 649 francs is not pocket change, but there are few devices of this size and quality available for a comparable price.
Pro
- True height channels with convincing Atmos
- Tight, powerful bass even without a sub
- Clear dialogue thanks to center driver
- Night sound is cool
Contra
- No HDMI passthrough
- No DTS:X
Header image: Florian Bodoky
Florian Bodoky
Senior Editor
Florian.Bodoky@digitecgalaxus.chI've been tinkering with digital networks ever since I found out how to activate both telephone channels on the ISDN card for greater bandwidth. As for the analogue variety, I've been doing that since I learned to talk. Though Winterthur is my adoptive home city, my heart still bleeds red and blue.
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