Nuance Audio Plus, Beats 360 and Sonos Ultra products launch with upgrades and tradeoffs

The Nuance Audio Plus is available in the United States in Square, Pathos and Upturn frame styles and five colors: shiny black, shiny burgundy, deep blue, amber and olive green, The Verge reported. Pricing starts at $829, with prescription lenses costing extra, while the standard Nuance Audio remains available starting at $699. The new model adds improved sound boosting, better voice clarity in noisy environments, extra on-device controls and up to 10 hours of battery life. The companion app offers Frontal mode for face-to-face conversations and All-Around mode for surrounding sound, along with four pre-configured amplification settings and three levels of noise reduction. New on-frame controls include a power slider and separate volume controls; folding the temple arms puts the glasses in sleep mode, and unfolding them powers them back up. The glasses can answer incoming voice calls directly only when paired with an iPhone, not with Android, according to The Verge.

Beats released the Beats 360 at $349.99 and permanently reduced the Beats Studio Pro to $299.99, though 9to5Mac noted retailers were already selling the Studio Pro for less, including $169.95 on Amazon. The Beats 360 use Beats silicon and support automatic device switching with an Apple Account, Hey Siri and Find My. Compared with the Studio Pro, 9to5Mac said they are 12dB louder, offer 1.75 times more active noise cancellation, support Adaptive EQ in iOS 27, are the first Beats headphones with IPX4 sweat and water resistance, include spatial audio with dynamic head tracking and last about eight hours longer with ANC on. They come in Cloud, Sky, Black and Pink. The main feature is customization: ear cushions and the head cushion can be swapped, with two cushion types, UltraPlush and Performance Knit. 9to5Mac reported each set costs $49.99 and that a launch promotion offers them for $9.99 while supplies last; Engadget listed the cushion kits at $50. 9to5Mac said there are 32 total ways to mix the base colors, or up to 256 if headband and earcup cushions are mixed, while Engadget reported Beats cites over 250 possible color configurations.

Engadget said the Beats 360 use a new true-wireless design, with each side carrying its own battery, antenna and processing technology. The headphones have physical buttons, but Engadget found them difficult to locate quickly by touch. On iOS, software features are built into the operating system; Android users get fast pairing and ecosystem pairing natively but need the Beats app for customization, widgets, Locate My Beats and firmware updates. A separate Engadget comparison said the Beats 360 weigh 294 grams and are mostly plastic, compared with the AirPods Max 2 at 386 grams and aluminum. The AirPods Max 2 offer slightly clearer and louder sound, deeper bass, Adaptive Audio and wired or lossless audio through USB-C, while the Beats 360 lack wired connectivity and lossless passthrough, according to Engadget. Both offer similar active noise cancellation and Apple features such as quick pairing, automatic device switching and Find My, Engadget said.

Sonos released the Ace Ultra headphones at $449, two years after the original Ace. TechRadar said the Ace Ultra are far more musical than the original, with enhanced custom 40mm drivers, a new headphone engine, better battery life, better noise cancellation and more detailed EQ. They last up to 35 hours with ANC on, have a replaceable battery and support rapid charging that provides three hours of playback from a three-minute charge. Ten microphones support adaptive ANC and transparency, and EQ options include an eight-band equalizer and adaptive EQ. Wi-Fi features include TV Audio Swap from compatible Sonos soundbars and new Headphone Linking from compatible speakers such as Sonos Play; audio must be initiated from the Sonos app. TechRadar said some rivals, including the Sony WH-1000XM6 and Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3, still provide slightly more detail, and that the case does not match the headphones' premium look. Engadget said the biggest addition is that the Ace Ultra can act as a full member of a Sonos system over Wi-Fi, and that during testing it still had 45 percent battery after 19 hours with ANC on almost the entire time.

The Sonos Beam Ultra soundbar costs $699 in the United States, £699 in the United Kingdom and AU$1,099 in Australia, according to TechRadar. It is a 7.1.2 setup with nine drivers, including two upward-firing tweeters for true Dolby Atmos, four woofers and nine amplifiers, Engadget and TechRadar reported. It remains 2.5 inches tall and weighs 6.35 pounds, while the second-generation Beam is now priced at $499. Reviewers said the Beam Ultra delivers expansive Atmos effects, clear dialogue with Speech Enhancement, deep bass and sound that can resemble a smaller Sonos Arc. TechRadar said it lacks HDMI passthrough and DTS:X support. It supports TruePlay, adjustable height effects, a height-effect simulation mode when there is less than four inches of space above, Night mode and voice assistants. It connects through HDMI eARC and includes a far-field microphone for assistants and Sonos Control with a physical switch; using the bundled HDMI-to-optical adapter provides basic surround sound but loses Dolby Atmos. It can pair compatible speakers as surrounds and use TV Audio Swap to send sound to Sonos Ace or Ace Ultra headphones, reviewers said.