Sonos has a new soundbar. The Beam Ultra follows the Award-winning Beam (Gen 2), and adds up-firing drivers, a redesigned centre channel and multiple levels of AI speech enhancement.
But with the Beam (Gen 2) remaining on sale, would you better off opting for the tried-and-tested older model? Or spending more on the Ultra?
We're here to help you decide. We haven't tested the Ultra yet, but we have given it a first listen during a hands-on session. We'll update this article once we've put it through its paces in our testing rooms. In the meantime, read on for our first impressions, and how it compares on paper with its older sibling.
- Read our Sonos Beam Ultra hands-on review
Sonos Beam Ultra vs Beam (Gen 2): price
Price is likely to be chief among buyers' considerations when eyeing up a new soundbar, so let's kick off with that.
The Sonos Beam Ultra launches at £699 / $699 / AU$1099 when it goes on sale at the end of September. That's £250 / $250 / AU$450 more than the Beam (Gen 2)'s launch price of £449 / $449 / AU$649.
However, the Beam (Gen 2) has been discounted plenty of times in the five years since it launched, and is likely to be again. In days gone past, it has fallen as low as £299, so if you're willing to wait, you could snap up a bargain.
** Winner: Sonos Beam (Gen 2) **
Sonos Beam Ultra vs Beam (Gen 2): design
There's not much to choose between the two 'bars in terms of looks. They both opt for a rectangle-with-curved-corners design, and a perforated grille on the front. The big difference? The Ultra has a perforated grille on the top as well, for the up-firing drivers.
The Beam (Gen 2) has no up-firing drivers, hence no top grille.
Both models come in the same black and white finishes as most Sonos devices, which should fit most decors (as well as slot neatly into a Sonos set-up, as long as you're consistent with your choice of colour).
The Ultra is slightly shorter than the Gen 2, which means it's less likely to obscure the bottom part of the TV screen when placed on a cabinet. But at 75cm wide, it is almost 10cm wider than the Gen 2's 65.1cm. It's also very slightly deeper (10.5cm compared to 10cm). Both 'bars weigh the same 2.88kg.
** Winner: Sonos Beam Ultra **
Sonos Beam Ultra vs Beam (Gen 2): features
The big addition over the Beam (Gen 2) is the up-firing drivers, which should provide a more immersive Dolby Atmos experience. The Gen 2 relies on clever processing (AKA "virtualised Dolby Atmos") to provide height effects, and with superb results, as its string of What Hi-Fi? Awards attests. So we're looking forward to seeing what the Ultra can do.
The extra up-firing drivers give the Ultra a 7.1.2-channel configuration, compared to the Gen 2's 5.1.2.
However, despite the extra drivers, the Ultra still lacks DTS:X support (which is also missing from the Gen 2). This likely won't be a deal-breaker for most people, but it's a shame nonetheless.
Also new are a redesigned centre channel and four levels of AI Speech Enhancement to help it deliver clearer dialogue (the Gen 2 only had one level).
The Ultra has a newer version of wi-fi (Wi-Fi 6 compared to the Gen 2's Wi-Fi 4), which makes sense, given that its predecessor came out in 2021.
Other than that, their feature sets are the same, with Trueplay, Night Sound and TV Audio Swap with the Sonos Ace (and newer Ace Ultra) headphones.
There is one other thing. On Sonos' comparison table, it says that the Beam Ultra is suitable for rooms up to 23–32.5 m² in size, while the Gen 2 is listed as "up to 250 sq ft" (around 23 m²). So thanks to the addition of the height channels, the Ultra is better suited to filling a slightly larger room with sound than the Gen 2.
** Winner: Sonos Beam Ultra **
Sonos Beam Ultra vs Beam (Gen 2): sound
As we said, we haven't fully tested the Beam Ultra yet. But we have given it a listen, albeit in the less-than-ideal surrounds of a trade show. And our first impressions were very positive.
A Dolby Atmos mix of Harry Styles' Ready, Steady, Go! sounded very detailed and musical, with the vocals hitting you right between the eyes. We found bass to be tight, with minimal distortion, and while it wasn't the most floor-shaking performer, it did stay controlled throughout. For a soundbar of this size, that's more important than sheer bass heft.
The panning shots in Sinners contained good precision within the audio, while the dialogue in Widow's Bay was clear and filled with subtle inflections.
Placement was also pretty spot-on: Widow's Bay's birds squawking across the sea and choir came across as room-filling, though of course we'll have to wait until we get the Ultra in our own acoustically treated test room before we offer our final verdict.
The Ultra has a lot to live up to. The Beam (Gen 2) excels in the sound department, which is part of the reason why keeping it on sale is a wise decision.
"Whether it’s a chirping bird, a car or a voice, there’s remarkable consistency across the complete soundfield, and seamless handover between drivers, which doesn’t always happen when a Dolby Atmos soundbar has upward drivers to contend with," we wrote in our Sonos Beam (Gen 2) review.
The soundstage is expansive, and offers "tangible motion, depth and space, which heightens the drama and sense of immersion", we added. It comprehensively outperforms every soundbar in its class, even five years after its launch. That doesn't happen too often.
** Winner: TBC **
Sonos Beam Ultra vs Beam (Gen 2): early verdict
With more features – including those all-important up-firing drivers – the Ultra looks like a decent improvement on the already excellent Beam (Gen 2). Of course it all comes down to how it sounds, and we won't know that until we've given it a thorough going over in our test rooms.
However, with the Beam (Gen 2) remaining on sale, and regularly having its price cut, it will still be a serious contender for a place under your telly. There's a reason it's won an Award every year since it launched, after all.
We'll update this article once we've published our full Sonos Beam Ultra review.
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I just listened to the new Sonos Beam Ultra, and the upgraded Dolby Atmos soundbar made a great first impression
Our Sonos Beam (Gen 2 ) review
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