Sonos has announced its new Ace Ultra headphones ($449) and Beam Ultra soundbar ($699), both shipping September 29, alongside a rebranded software platform called Sonos 27 that includes five new features designed to deliver whole-home integration and AI-powered conversational computing. The move marks a significant recovery attempt for Sonos after a rough stretch.
The original Ace launched in 2024 to solid reviews for sound quality and active noise cancellation but fell far short commercially, selling around 200,000 units against an internal target of one million. The headphones suffered from poor integration with the wider Sonos system, arriving just months after the company’s disastrous app redesign in early 2024. CEO Tom Conrad acknowledged that the first-generation Ace lacked the whole-home integration and differentiation needed to compete, and has since articulated Sonos’ opportunity as conversational computing and predictive intelligence in the home, with devices serving as hardware that understands how a household lives.
Ace Ultra Adds AI Voice Support and Enhanced Noise Cancellation
The Ace Ultra carries forward the original’s design but adds meaningful hardware upgrades. The headphones feature a Sonos-designed driver for deep, rich, detailed sound, high-resolution wireless audio with ultra-low latency, and up to 2x more Active Noise Cancellation than the 2024 model. They ship in Black, White, Agave, and Sand.
The Ace Ultra is expected to support voice commands via third-party AI chatbots. This places the headphones as a hardware gateway for AI-powered interaction in the home.
The Beam Ultra soundbar costs $699 in Black and White finishes. It is the company’s new mid-size soundbar, built with nine custom drivers, including two dedicated up-firing drivers that deliver true 7.1.2 Dolby Atmos and warmer bass. A redesigned center channel brings clearer dialogue, with four levels of AI Speech Enhancement for when you want more clarity and Night Sound for late nights. Beam Ultra has flexibility at its core, so users can extend it later by adding a Sub for deeper bass or rear surrounds.
Sonos 27 Rebrands the Platform with AI and Whole-Home Features
Sonos 27 is the official rebranding of Sonos’ existing software platform with five new capabilities shipping this fall:
- Headphone Linking (Early Access): Move audio between the Ace Ultra and compatible Sonos speakers or speaker groups over the same WiFi with a button press.
- Portable Surrounds: Turn two compatible portable Sonos speakers into wireless rear surround speakers for movies, then move them back without wires, permanent setup, or furniture rearrangement.
- Personal Listening: AI-assisted audio personalization features (specifics to be detailed).
- Sonos 27 Voice: AI voice command and control capabilities (specifics to be detailed).
- Sonos MCP: Control platform enhancement (specifics to be detailed).
Fixing the Integration Problem That Killed the First Ace
Headphone Linking and Portable Surrounds directly address the original Ace’s central weakness as it was a capable standalone device that felt disconnected from the rest of a Sonos home setup. By letting users move audio between headphones and speakers, or repurpose portable hardware as surround channels, Sonos is finally delivering the integrated experience that should have shipped in 2024. The Sonos 27 rebrand suggests that integration, not just hardware, is now central to the company’s strategy.
The pricing positions both products at the premium end of their respective categories, $449 for headphones and $699 for a compact soundbar, betting that improved audio engineering, deeper system integration, and AI-powered software features justify the cost. Pre-orders open with September 29 availability across retailers.
