Sonos Beam Ultra vs Arc Ultra: which five-star soundbar should you buy?

Is it just us, or is everything Ultra nowadays? While Apple and Samsung have adopted the name (with the Watch Ultra and Galaxy S26 Ultra, respectively), no one has run with it quite like Sonos. First we had the Arc Ultra, then the Ace Ultra headphones and Beam Ultra soundbar. Confused? We don't blame you.

Ultra connotes the best in the range, so the Beam Ultra is positioned above the previous Beam soundbars, and Arc Ultra above the standard Arc. But while they might be the best in their respective lines, there are still some notable differences between the Beam Ultra and Arc Ultra. They are priced quite differently, after all.

Wondering which is for you? You've come to the right place. Here we'll compare the two five-star soundbars including a comparative listening test, so you can see how they compare and which you should buy. Let's dig in.

Sonos Beam Ultra vs Arc Ultra: tech specs comparison

Sonos Beam Ultra vs Arc Ultra: price

These two soundbars are priced quite differently. The Arc Ultra is Sonos' flagship soundbar, and has a price to match. It sells for £999 / $999 / AU$1799. The Beam Ultra, meanwhile, is positioned between the second-gen Beam (which remains on sale) and the Arc Ultra, with a price of £699 / $699 / AU$1099.

But sales season is coming. Of the two, the Arc Ultra is the more likely to be discounted – it's fallen to £719 before. If it falls that low again – with a possible difference of just £20 between the two 'bars – it'll be a seriously tempting proposition.

We can't imagine the brand new Beam Ultra will see any big money off, but you never know, it might see a slight fall. Stay tuned and we'll let you know.

** Winner: Sonos Beam Ultra **

Sonos Beam Ultra vs Arc Ultra: design

As you can see from the photos, there's no mistaking these two soundbars. The Arc Ultra is a bigger, more powerful proposition – it requires more space to accommodate.

The Beam Ultra is a little shorter (6.5cm to the Arc Ultra's 7.5cm) and a lot less wide (75cm to 118cm). But both are about 11cm deep.

The Arc Ultra looks more sleek too, while the Beam Ultra is more of a block with rounded-off corners. Te Arc Ultra's controls are hidden around the back, while for the Beam Ultra, Sonos has sensibly positioned them on the front, which makes them much easier to use. How much people use on-soundbar controls, however, is a subject for debate, and many will think the Arc Ultra's sleeker, more minimalist look is more than worth the lack of convenience.

The only control we would prefer was more accessible on the Arc Ultra is Bluetooth for pairing a phone or tablet. On the Beam Ultra, the button is on the lip, rather than around the back.

Remember, both of these soundbars have upwards-firing drivers, so don't position them on a shelf or you'll be shooting those height sound channels right into whatever's directly above them.

** Winner: Sonos Arc Ultra **

Sonos Beam Ultra vs Arc Ultra: features

The big sell of the Beam Ultra is that it has upwards-firing drivers, for a 'true' Dolby Atmos performance. But then so does the Arc Ultra. As you would imagine, the latter has the more powerful set-up: its 14 drivers dwarf the Beam Ultra's nine. The Arc Ultra's are arranged in a 9.1.4-channel configuration, while the Beam Ultra's are set up in 7.1.2.

Because of its size, the Arc Ultra is better suited to bigger TVs – Sonos says it's for TVs 50 inches and above, while the Beam Ultra is recommended for TVs up to 65 inches.

The Beam Ultra's centre channel has been redesigned – it now has a tweeter embedded in the woofer to add width and clarity.

Both Ultra soundbars lack DTS:X, and have a single HDMI eARC port meaning no HDMI passthrough. The Beam Ultra has a USB-C port too for hooking up additional sources like a CD player or turntable (although you will need the additional Line-In Adapter for these to work).

Both 'bars have wi-fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3.

The Arc Ultra has an additional SoundMotion woofer, which works differently to a standard driver. This creates a deeper bass than the Beam Ultra, as we'll see in the Sound section.

Both soundbars share a lot of features, including the Loudness feature (which boosts bass and treble at low volumes), Trueplay room calibration, AI Speech Enhancement and Night Sound. Both have voice controls too, though only the Arc Ultra supports Alexa for now (the Beam Ultra is limited to Sonos' voice controls, though Alexa support should arrive via a future firmware upgrade).

Both 'bars support music apps like Spotify and Tidal, and both can work as part of a bigger Sonos home cinema setup or multi-room system by pairing additional speakers. They can also both work with Sonos' Ace range of headphones for personal listening.

This one's close, but the USB-C port just edges it for the Beam Ultra.

** Winner: Sonos Beam Ultra **

Sonos Beam Ultra vs Arc Ultra: sound

Of course it's the sound that most people will be interested in. So how do these soundbars compare?

The Beam Ultra's new upwards-firing drivers deliver an added dimension to the Dolby Atmos performance. Sounds are placed with pin-point precision, which is doubly impressive when you consider just how small this soundbar is compared to the Arc Ultra.

There's detail aplenty, with the extra height adding a real sense of depth to the sounds. And the sound expands way beyond the confines of the soundbar itself.

"In No Time To Die, as an onslaught of helicopters moves in from above in pursuit of Bond, the overhead effects go much higher than our TV screen," we wrote in our Sonos Beam Ultra review. "Then, when an army of cars zoom across an open field, the sound extends to the corners of our test room and makes for an even more enveloping experience."

Bass is impressive for a 'bar of this size, with helicopter blade rotations lent a meaty thrum. And dialogue remains tonally accurate and expressive throughout, and clear even during more chaotic scenes.

But the Beam Ultra could project into a room more. Sonos isn't lying when it says it's best suited to mid-size living rooms of around 23-32.5 metres squared.

However, while undoubtedly impressive, the Beam Ultra sounds a little underwhelming when played side by side with the Arc Ultra. The bigger sibling's presentation is more authoritative and sophisticated – as you would hope it would be, given its higher price.

Its sound is even more precise than the Beam Ultra's, which helps music tracks in particular stay that bit more organised both rhythmically and spatially. Bass, too, is very impressive, with none of the chuffing that can plague lesser soundbars.

As we said in our Sonos Arc Ultra review: "It’s tight, tuneful and expressive in a way that is rare in the soundbar world."

Detail is a cut above. Watching Bladerunner 2049, "Incidental noises such as footsteps, a tooth being gently placed on a glass table, and the soft squeak of a rubber surgical gown as a character stretches out his arm are all delivered clearly and cleanly but in an unforced manner, contributing to the atmosphere without distracting." Which is exactly how it should be.

Low-level dynamics are handled deftly, with subtlety, and so the extra details evident sound natural rather than artificial. Big changes in volume – jump-scares, for instance – are dispatched clinically. And boy, is this thing loud.

It also projects into the room far better than the Beam Ultra.

So, as expected, the Arc Ultra is the more advanced in the sound department. But whether that serves your needs will really depend on your room size – those of us with smaller lounges might be better off saving some money with the Beam Ultra.

** Winner: Sonos Arc Ultra **

Sonos Beam Ultra vs Arc Ultra: verdict

The two Ultras might have a lot of features in common, but they are quite different propositions. The Beam Ultra is better suited to smaller rooms and tighter budgets, while the Arc Ultra is for those with deeper pockets and more space in which to let it work.

If you're trying to decide between the two on performance alone, go for the Arc Ultra – it's bassier, even more precise and projects more into the room. It could even drop to a similar price to the Beam Ultra, if previous discounts are anything to go by.

But the Beam Ultra is an excellent soundbar in its own right, and will serve those with medium-sized rooms (and budgets) very well indeed.

** Overall winner: Sonos Arc Ultra **

MORE:

Read our full Sonos Beam Ultra review

And our Sonos Arc Ultra review

Sonos Beam Ultra vs Beam (Gen 2): which is better?