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Sonos Arc Ultra

Sonos Arc Ultra

By Sonos · Soundbars · Desk & Streaming Setup · More from Sonos

  • 14 Sonos-engineered drivers
  • Sound Motion technology
  • 9.1.4 Dolby Atmos spatial audio
  • HDMI eARC input
  • WiFi, Bluetooth and Apple AirPlay 2

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Problems, parts and running costs

Summary

A single-box Dolby Atmos soundbar for people who want big, cinematic sound without a separate subwoofer or surround speakers, built around the Sonos app ecosystem. Check your TV’s HDMI ports and your tolerance for app-only control before you buy: there is no HDMI input, no DTS decoding and no physical remote.

Strengths

  • Deep, tuneful bass from the Sound Motion woofer in a single box.
  • Dialogue is clearer and better separated from effects than on the original Arc.
  • Convincing height and side immersion from the 14-driver array.
  • Bluetooth 5.3 and AirPlay 2 make music from a phone easy without extra hardware.
  • Sonos multi-room expansion and Trueplay tuning on both iOS and Android.
  • Slimmer and lower than the original Arc, and it adds Bluetooth.

Weaknesses

  • No HDMI input or passthrough; everything routes through the TV’s eARC port and the bar takes one of the TV’s HDMI 2.1 sockets.
  • No DTS decoding, no optical input (adapter sold separately) and no physical remote; the Sonos app is the remote.
  • Multiple reviewers still describe the Sonos app as buggy, with freezes and failed Trueplay sessions.
  • Owners report eARC dropouts with some Samsung TVs and dropouts during whole-home group playback.
  • Dialogue is too quiet or thin against loud effects for some owners.
  • The upper register can run bright, and sibilance shows on Atmos content.

Verified specifications

ModelSonos Arc Ultra, in black or white matte finish.
Channel configuration9.1.4 Dolby Atmos.
Drivers14 total — 7 silk-dome tweeters, 6 midwoofers and 1 Sound Motion woofer (four-motor, dual-membrane, bi-amped).
Amplifiers15 Class-D digital amplifiers per Sonos; Digital Trends says 13.
HDMIa single HDMI eARC output; no HDMI inputs and no passthrough.
Opticalnone; an optical-to-HDMI adapter is sold separately and no longer comes in the box.
NetworkingEthernet and Wi-Fi 6 (802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax, on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz).
Bluetooth5.3, SBC and AAC only.
StreamingApple AirPlay 2 (iOS 11.4+).
VoiceSonos Voice Control and Amazon Alexa; Google Assistant is not supported on this model.
Audio formatsDolby Atmos (Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD over eARC), Stereo PCM, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Multichannel PCM, Dolby Multichannel PCM, plus a DTS Digital Surround entry Sonos says is not a licensed decoder.
Hi-res audioup to 24-bit/48 kHz.
TV Audio Swapsends TV audio to one or two Sonos Ace headphones.
TV remote controlvia HDMI CEC.
Controlscapacitive touch, Bluetooth pairing button, physical mic switch and status LEDs.
Subwoofernone included; only Sonos Sub models are supported.
TuningTrueplay on iOS (Advanced) and Android (Quick), Speech Enhancement, Night Sound, and app EQ for bass, treble and loudness.
Dimensions2.95 × 46.38 × 4.35 in (75 × 1,178 × 110.6 mm) HWD.
Weight13.01 lb (5.9 kg).
Materialsmatte plastic body; 43% recycled plastic and 100% recycled aluminum per Sonos.
Power100–240 V 50/60 Hz internal supply.
In the boxsoundbar, 6 ft (2 m) power cable, 4.9 ft (1.5 m) HDMI cable, setup guide and legal docs; no remote, and the wall mount is sold separately.
Not compatible with CCFL-backlit TVs manufactured between 2004 and 2012.
Full research notes and sources

Connections and what it leaves out

There is no HDMI input and no video passthrough. Everything connects to the TV, and the bar takes one of the TV’s HDMI eARC ports, which matters if you have several HDMI 2.1 devices. There is no DTS decoding, no optical input (the adapter is sold separately and no longer comes in the box), and no physical remote; the Sonos app is the only way to change most settings or even confirm which audio format is playing.

Bluetooth is limited to SBC and AAC, with no aptX or LDAC, so the best music quality comes through the Sonos app. The bar will not sound right in a nook or on a shelf with something above it, because that blocks the upward-firing drivers. Google Assistant is missing on this model, unlike the original Arc.

The app and TV compatibility

Multiple reviewers still describe the Sonos app as buggy. What Hi-Fi? hit Tidal Connect track-registration failures, failed Trueplay attempts and a full app freeze during testing; WIRED saw the bar vanish from the app after adding a Sub 4 and Era 300; Digital Trends calls the app a reason for non-Sonos owners to hesitate.

Owners add TV-specific signals. An r/sonos thread reports the eARC connection dropping to ARC seconds after setup on a Samsung TV, with a reply noting that Samsung eARC sets are known to have issues. Another owner reports the bar dropping out of whole-home group playback when the volume changes. A further report describes an update error, Error 1101, that survived factory resets until it was traced to the router’s DNS and security settings. Nobody has published a failure rate, so treat these as known annoyances rather than measured defects.

Is it worth it?

It launched at $999 in October 2024. Sonos lists it at $1,099, and review pages record the same figure at major retailers. Sale pricing has been lower: Consumer Reports shows it from $849 and The Verge recorded an 18%-off price of $899.

At those sale prices it undercuts the Bose Smart Ultra, which was $899 at the time of PCMag’s review, while offering a more immersive single-box experience. At the $1,099 list figure it is fair rather than obvious value: it costs more than the Bose Smart Ultra and approaches systems from Sony and Samsung that list at $1,400 and include subwoofers and surrounds in the box.

There is no included subwoofer, and only Sonos Sub models work — the Sub 4 is $799 and the Sub Mini is $429 at the time of PCMag’s review. The recurring cost is the Sonos ecosystem itself rather than a subscription; no plan is required, but the best music quality, format confirmation and surround pairing all sit behind the app. The Sonos.com listing includes free shipping, 30-day returns and a price-match promise, and a 1-year Extend protection plan is sold alongside it.

Which model this is

This page covers the Sonos Arc Ultra, launched October 29, 2024. It is sold in black and white matte finishes. Do not confuse it with the original Sonos Arc, a 5.0.2-class bar with no Bluetooth, the smaller Sonos Beam Ultra, or the Sonos Beam Gen 2. The Amazon listing identifier for this bar is ASIN B0DFK28LBB.

Sources

Manufacturer:

Independent reviews:

Owner reports:

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