Sonos Beam Ultra Review: A Compact Soundbar Built to Cover TV, Streaming and Vinyl

The review said Sonos kept physical controls despite app and voice operation, including a recessed volume slider, playback buttons and a dedicated Bluetooth pairing button on the back. The soundbar supports AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth 5.3, and a physical switch can cut microphone power at the hardware level. Inside the 75-cm cabinet are nine drivers powered by nine Class-D amplifiers, including two upward-firing drivers with directional horns that send sound toward the ceiling.

On stereo playback, the review found clear vocal focus and tight bass, but dense rock tracks such as Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" sounded crowded, with harder mid-high frequencies than a large bookshelf speaker. With Dolby Atmos material, the soundstage expanded upward and to the sides. The review highlighted native Dolby Atmos streaming from Apple Music inside the Sonos app, a feature it said most other soundbars lack without an Apple TV 4K. Loudness enhancement is on by default and can be switched off for a flatter response.

For TV use, the review said the upward-firing units extended helicopter effects above the screen in "No Time to Die" and separated near and distant sounds in "All Quiet on the Western Front." But in "Interstellar," the single bar still hit a physical ceiling, and some low dialogue could be pulled under a heavy low-frequency score. The review said virtual front surround remains different from a real rear-speaker system.

Sonos has also added a USB-C port that, with a separately sold adapter, accepts analog audio from CD players or turntables; the signal is digitized inside the speaker. The review said Bluetooth audio received by the Beam Ultra can be grouped and broadcast to older Sonos speakers in other rooms over Wi-Fi. Older Sonos One speakers and a previous Sub can join a Dolby Atmos setup, and Trueplay tuning, four levels of AI speech enhancement and Night Sound are available in the app.

The review positioned the Beam Ultra as an upgrade over the Beam Gen 2 and below the Arc line, with a smaller footprint for small living rooms but without the low-frequency depth and scale of the flagship Arc Ultra. It said the soundbar cannot replace separate audiophile bookshelf speakers, but it can cover TV audio, Wi-Fi streaming, Bluetooth playback and analog input from physical media in one unit.