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Sonos's $699 Beam Ultra makes the most sense in homes that already own Play speakers
Sonos's $699 Beam Ultra can use Play and Move 2 speakers as wireless surrounds, according to Gizmodo's review. Households that already own them get surround sound for the price of the bar alone, though deeper bass still means buying a subwoofer.
The Product Desk · Product desk
What happened
- The Beam Ultra has nine drivers, up from five in the Beam Gen 2.
- Gizmodo's reviewer found the bar's low end decent but lighter than Bose's Lifestyle Ultra soundbar.
- The review listed TV Audio Swap and Speech Enhancement among the Beam Ultra's features that work well.
- The review's other complaint was the bar's buttons, which it said could use some work.
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Why it matters
- cost Sonos's cheaper subwoofer adds about 71% to the bar's price, so a buyer who finds the low end thin pays most of a second bar's cost to fix it within Sonos's range.
- capability A Play bought earlier this year for music can now take a home-theater role through a software update, so speakers Sonos already sold count toward the soundbar's value.
- decision Buyers who rank bass first have a reason to audition Bose's bar before committing to a Beam Ultra plus a Sonos subwoofer.
The Gizmodo reviewer already had two Sonos Play speakers at home. Making them rear channels for the Beam Ultra meant tapping the bar in the Sonos app and selecting "Add surrounds," after which "the rest kind of took care of itself" [9]. "It's a huge upgrade and feels even bigger because of how easy Sonos made it," the reviewer wrote [10].
Sonos describes the bar in terms of channels, listing its sound as 7.1.2 with "true Dolby Atmos" [4]. Asked to name what felt new, the reviewer would have pointed elsewhere, and did in writing: "Outside of the new hardware, the biggest way the Beam Ultra feels like an upgrade is a few new features." Play and Move 2 compatibility was named as a favorite [14].
What this user actually did was reach for speakers already in the house. The Play only came out earlier this year [15]. Adding both units "really upped the game significantly," the reviewer wrote, with effects panned to either side "like a real home theater should act" [16]. The feature reached the bar through a software update [2].
Bass costs extra. Sonos says the Beam Ultra has "warmer bass" than the previous generation. The reviewer had no Gen 2 on hand to check [5]. For more low end, the review points to the Sub Mini at $499 or the Sub 4 at $899 [7]. A Beam Ultra with the smaller sub comes to $1,198 [1], and with the larger one to $1,598 [2]. The reviewer wrote that "as is the case with any Sonos setup, you're going to need fairly deep pockets to fill out your audio array" [8].
The testing took place in a small apartment with ceilings around 10 feet [13]. Of the bar on its own, the reviewer wrote: "There was definitely a sense of space" [17]. The review does not give the Play's price, so a buyer with no Sonos speakers has to price the surrounds separately.
Two facts about the buyer's own home sort the purchase: whether a Play or Move 2 is already there, and whether the bar's own low end fills the room.
- Speakers owned, bass enough: $699 buys surround sound, the setup the reviewer called "the way to go" [1][16]. - Speakers owned, more bass wanted: $1,198 at minimum, with the surrounds already paid for [1]. - No Sonos speakers, bass enough: $699 for a single bar, with surrounds as a later purchase [1]. - No Sonos speakers, more bass wanted: $1,198 to $1,598 before any surrounds [1][2]. The review's complaint that the bar is a bit "pricey when you consider adding a Sonos subwoofer" falls hardest on this buyer [12].
What to watch
- Whether Sonos brings Play and Move 2 surround pairing to older soundbars such as the Beam Gen 2, which would weaken the case for upgrading.
- Any bundle pricing for the Beam Ultra with a Sub Mini or Play speakers, which would move the cost of each buyer type.
- Reviews in larger rooms that test Sonos's "warmer bass" claim directly against the Beam Gen 2.