Sonos and Shaoshupai Open Second Co-Testing Round for Beam Ultra and Ace Ultra

Beam Ultra keeps the compact body of the earlier Beam but adds nine drivers, four more than the previous Beam, and adds true 7.1.2 Dolby Atmos. It has two upward-firing height-channel units. Shaoshupai and Sonos said the soundbar's redesigned center channel carries four levels of adjustable AI voice enhancement in the Sonos app, and its Night Sound mode can lower loud sounds while lifting quiet dialogue. Beam Ultra can also be paired with a Sonos Sub for more low frequency, and under Sonos 27 some portable Sonos speakers, including the Play from the first test round, can be used as rear surrounds.

Ace Ultra is Sonos's new flagship over-ear headphone. It uses a 10-microphone array and adaptive active noise cancellation that the companies said is twice as strong as the previous Ace, adjusting cancellation in real time according to fit. It also offers an Aware Mode. Sonos says the headphones deliver 35 hours of listening with noise cancellation on, support fast charging that adds three hours from a three-minute charge, and weigh 322 grams. Ace Ultra is the first headphone based on Headphone Engine 2, a new platform that lets the headphones connect directly to a Sonos system without a phone as an intermediary. A dedicated button pushes what is playing on Beam Ultra to Ace Ultra, and the Dolby Atmos signal is decoded and rendered for the headphones. With TrueCinema measurement, Sonos says the headphone soundstage and immersion are close to those of the speaker. Headphone Engine 2 also supports two headphones at once, so two people can share full Atmos without turning on speakers; combined with Arc Ultra's Night Sound, the setup is aimed at late-night listening without disturbing others.

The second round is limited to 10 testers. Each selected tester receives one Beam Ultra and one Ace Ultra, forming a 'living-room cinema plus private headphones' combination. A CNY 699 deposit is required after selection. Applicants must fill out the questionnaire by October 17, and selected participants will be contacted by Shaoshupai staff to pay the deposit and arrange shipping. The trial lasts 16 days, and the original article is due by November 5. Shaoshupai said results will be published on its homepage within days after the submission deadline. Applicants who have not received notice by October 19 will not be selected.

The program offers one Best Experience Officer award, which refunds the deposit and allows the winner to keep the Ace Ultra, valued at CNY 4,299. Two Excellent Experience Officer awards refund deposits and give each winner a Sonos Play, valued at CNY 2,999. All experience articles will receive the standard payment for homepage-recommended community articles. Every tester who submits an article will also receive a special purchase discount and may either return the equipment for a full refund or pay the difference to keep a product, with the final price following official guidance. Previous outstanding authors from the Sonos Play test have priority for this round.

The terms state that the test products remain Sonos property during the trial and may only be used for testing and evaluation. Participants must return the products and accessories in good condition after the trial, or face possible compensation claims for serious damage or loss caused by human factors. Articles must be original, objective and free of plagiarism, AI-generated content or fabricated data. By submitting an article, participants grant Shaoshupai and its partners, including Sonos, a worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free license to publish, reproduce, adapt or distribute the content on any media platform, while authorship remains with the creator.

Shaoshupai also said the first Sonos Play co-testing results had been announced and congratulated three authors. A separately published winning article for that round described the Sonos Play as a 1.3-kg portable speaker with a 45W USB-C plug, a charging base, IP67 protection and automatic Trueplay. The author wrote that he carried it among the living room, bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom, and compared it with two HomePod minis already in his home. The article is part of the first-round results, while the second-round solicitation asks family-theater users, Sonos veterans and audio-ecosystem writers to focus on Beam Ultra's 7.1.2 Atmos performance, AI voice enhancement at different volumes and sources, Ace Ultra's adaptive noise cancellation and long-wear comfort, sound handoff between Beam Ultra and Ace Ultra, TrueCinema private viewing, seamless transfer with other Sonos speakers, Trueplay tuning, the Sonos 27 app and cross-platform streaming integration.