Sonos Beam Ultra review: one of the best compact Dolby Atmos soundbars around

Editor's Choice (Image credit: &copy Future) TechRadar Verdict The Sonos Beam Ultra marries the compact nature of the standard Beam and the true Atmos credentials of the Arc to perfection to deliver expansive, immersive audio in a single slim package. Its elegant design and vast feature-suite only help to justify the asking price, although it would’ve been nice to see HDMI passthrough on board.

What happened

Its elegant design and vast feature-suite only help to justify the asking price, although it would’ve been nice to see HDMI passthrough on board.

Where the sources line up

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Practical impact for readers

Jump To: Review Price and release date Specs Should you buy it? Also consider How I tested Sonos Beam Ultra review The Sonos Beam Ultra doesn’t merely feel like an evolution of the pre-existing Beam products. Instead, it feels like something of a middle child between the Sonos Beam Gen 2 and the Sonos Arc Ultra. After all, it sits bang in between its sibling models when it comes to channel configuration, boasting a 7. 1. 2 setup with nine drivers, and while it has up-firing drivers for true Dolby Atmos, it still maintains a fairly compact design.

Who should pay attention now

But the Beam Ultra certainly isn’t an awkward middle-child it’s a highly capable mid-range option that provides striking cinematic sound, while still being able to fit into a smaller setup. But is the Sonos Beam Ultra worth its $699 / &pound 699 / AU$1,099 asking price?

What is still unclear

Like most of the best soundbars , the Sonos Beam Ultra supports Dolby Atmos (though notably Sonos omits DTS:X), and it handles the format very effectively. When watching a 4K UHD Blu-ray of The Mask , the soundbar seamlessly tracked the titular character as he tornadoes across the screen, with audio sounding as if it far exceeded the limited confines of the soundbar. When The Mask jumped upwards, diagonally, his upward trajectory was captured with precision.

Source notes

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