Sonos introduces new headphones, soundbar, and software in its biggest announcement in years

At an arena successful New York City, Sonos announced 2 caller audio products — the Sonos Beam Ultra soundbar and Sonos Ace Ultra headphones, specifications of which were found successful an FCC filing successful early August — and a awesome update to its audio operating strategy dubbed Sonos 27. It’s the biggest azygous Sonos announcement since 2024, erstwhile a caller app rollout upset its customers and sent it into damage power mode.

Software changes are halfway to Sonos’ announcements, pinch the institution leaning heavy into AI integration pinch Sonos 27. This includes the company’s ain Sonos 27voice adjunct that it built in-house for euphony and strategy control. It’s coming arsenic an early access, opt-in characteristic this fall. There’s besides Sonos 27mcp, which gives the expertise to link immoderate existing AI models specified arsenic ChatGPT aliases Google Gemini — though for immoderate logic Google Assistant is still not natively supported. Sonos 27mcp launches successful early entree connected September 8th.

In addition, users will beryllium capable to create up to 10 of their ain agents done Sonos 27 to run, pinch whichever exemplary they choose. These civilization agents tin beryllium fixed different voices and roles. Brandon Holley, elder head of merchandise development, gave examples of having a moody detective springiness you the greeting news aliases a motivational coach susurration motivational aspirations erstwhile you aftermath up. Custom agents won’t beryllium disposable until sometime successful 2027.

Both Sonos 27mcp and the civilization agents look to grow the customization and power of a Sonos strategy beyond what the app and Sonos 27voice is tin of.

All products compatible pinch the existent Sonos app tin beryllium controlled pinch Sonos 27mcp, and everything pinch a microphone useful pinch Sonos 27voice. When the Sonos civilization agents are available, they’ll activity everyplace Sonos 27voice is enabled.

There are 2 caller features being added to Sonos Fabric, which is the sanction fixed to its whole-home connected system. The wireless Play and Move 2 portable speakers tin beryllium utilized arsenic situation sound speakers successful a location theatre system. Once successful place, the speakers will automatically configure to their caller positions and roles arsenic situation speakers without needing to initiate setup successful the Sonos app. It’s not imaginable to usage this characteristic pinch a azygous Play aliases Move 2.

Compatible Sonos headphones will now beryllium included successful a Sonos location strategy and support moving sound betwixt speakers and headphones — the strategy senses the closest speaker and will walk the audio from it to the headphones. Headphone linking, arsenic Sonos calls it, will rotation retired arsenic an early entree characteristic connected September 29th. Sonos hints that this is conscionable the opening of added features, but nary further specifications astir imaginable early options were given.

Improvements proceed to travel to the app, arsenic well, again pinch feedback from the community, including the Sonos subreddit. Home, system, and hunt tabs will beryllium added crossed the bottommost of the screen, and a room benignant action tin beryllium pinned to the apical for easier entree to a customizable list. There’s a cool characteristic that calls backmost to beingness audio components: a virtual measurement knob, you power pinch 2 fingers for illustration you would successful the existent world. It’s not a awesome value of life improvement, but it’s thing that adds characteristic and fun, and thing I’ll astir apt usage regularly. The caller navigation, room sorts, and virtual measurement knob starts rolling retired connected September 8 (although the measurement knob will only motorboat connected iOS astatine that time).

Lockscreen controls for measurement and play/pause are besides returning to the app, and started rolling retired connected August 17th. System wellness views to thief troubleshoot issues and presets will rotation retired astatine immoderate constituent later this fall.

It’s not conscionable package announcements, though, arsenic Sonos has 2 caller products coming — the long-rumored Ace Ultra headphones and Beam Ultra soundbar.

The Sonos Ace Ultra are what the original Sonos Ace should person been from the opening — an integrated portion of the Sonos ecosystem. They are built upon Sonos’ Headphone Engine 2, which allows them to usage the headphone linking characteristic rolling retired astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic the headphones merchandise connected September 29th. A fastener connected the headphones allows audio to beryllium passed betwixt a speaker and the headphones. No telephone is basal if it’s retired of reach.

They look very akin to the Ace, pinch what appears to beryllium somewhat different fastener placement connected the near receptor cup. The Ace Ultra are besides a small bigger, pinch a small much abstraction successful the receptor cup, and 10 grams heavier. They person recently custom-designed 40mm drivers and 10 microphones for sound power (two much than the Ace) which Sonos claims makes their ANC doubly arsenic effective astatine sound cancellation than the Ace pinch “the frequencies that really matter,” arsenic Brandon Holley told me. Those frequencies hap to beryllium 65Hz (the wide wave of an HVAC) wherever the Sonos Ace Ultra are 2.2 times much effective, and 120Hz — the airplane drone scope — wherever they’re 1.8 times better. No accusation is provided for capacity pinch the chatter you mightiness brushwood astatine the java shop, for example.

An adaptive EQ adjusts the sound, compensating for immoderate aerial leaks successful the headphones’ fresh owed to glasses, jewelry, aliases hair. It includes some a 3-band and 8-band EQ to customize the sound for your taste. In summation to SBC and AAC codecs, the Ace Ultra supports aptX Adaptive Lossless complete Bluetooth, and 16-bit/48kHz precocious solution erstwhile connected pinch USB-C.

Battery life has improved by 5 hours, pinch the Sonos Ace Ultra offering up to 35 hours of listening pinch ANC on. A accelerated complaint of 3 minutes gets an further 3 hours of listening time.

Instead of conscionable achromatic and white, the Ace Ultra are besides disposable successful a muted bluish agave and beige soil color. The headphones merchandise connected September 29th for $449.

The Beam Ultra is simply a wholly redesigned 7.1.2 compact soundbar (as opposed to the 5.0 configuration of its predecessor), including 2 up-firing drivers to support Dolby Atmos spatial audio. The halfway transmission mid-tweeter features a caller waveguide, mechanic and acoustic design, and DSP, which includes 4 levels of AI reside enhancement for clarity.

While the Beam Ultra still has a compact design, to accommodate the further speakers it is conscionable nether 4 inches longer than the Beam Gen 2. It comes successful a achromatic aliases achromatic matte finish, and will beryllium disposable for acquisition connected September 29th for $699.

With the headphones’ deeper integration into the Sonos ecosystem and the summation of up-firing drivers to the Beam Ultra, it looks for illustration Sonos has made immoderate awesome improvements to already coagulated products. But I won’t cognize for judge until I tin excavation into them for reviews. The app updates — peculiarly the AI integration — I’m a spot much cautious about. But Sonos is making the correct move by rolling retired the updates complete time, allowing its users to opt successful to early entree alternatively of dumping it connected everyone astatine once. This much measured attack could beryllium what wins backmost the masses.