The Arc Ultra has to succeed if Sonos wants to halt a dreadful year

OPINION: To say Sonos hasn’t enjoyed the best 2024 would be an understatement.

This time last year everyone was looking forward to a new soundbar, and the expectation that, finally, a headphone was on its way, plus new speakers, and those continuing rumours about a set-top box. From the outside, it looked like Sonos was about to enjoy a bumper year.

And then it fumbled the ball with its new app.

The idea behind the newly revised app was, I’d still say, sound in terms of logic. Streaming apps and interfaces are moving in a more personable, customisable direction, so it would make sense for Sonos, the undoubted king in providing an interface that just “works”, to pull towards that focus.

And then the app got even worse.

Months later Sonos is still fixing things, not because it over-promised and under-delivered, but much like the Black Knight in Monty Python’s The Holy Grail, the app’s arms and legs were hacked off – except it wasn’t someone else committing the savagery, it was Sonos itself responsible for the gruesome scene.

The Arc Ultra needs to work

So a lot is riding on the Arc Ultra, especially as the products Sonos has launched in 2024 haven’t unanimously caught the imagination.

The reception to those long-awaited Ace headphones was uneven. Some were enthusiastic, others liked them, some didn’t – and sales weren’t up to Sonos’ expectations. That £449 / $449 price looks unwise in hindsight, as does the lack of obvious features (audio hand-off to Sonos speakers anyone?)

The Roam 2 seemed an afterthought; the new features were a dedicated Bluetooth button and… not much else. I still gave the Roam a favourable review but the Roam 2 didn’t feel like a true sequel, more like Roam 1.5.

Sonos rarely discounts its products outside of sales events, but both the Ace and the Roam 2 were on the chopping block less than a few months after release. Something’s not gone right.

So back to the Arc Ultra (and the unexpected announcement of the Sub 4). It, for a lack of better phrase, can’t afford to suck. If Sonos has put its self-inflicted trials and tribulations behind it, the Arc Ultra has to deliver the kind of performance that takes home cinema forward like the Starship Enterprise at warp speed. You normally wouldn’t bet against Sonos but that was before its annus horribilis of 2024. Its confidence must have been shaken.

But there’s an argument for the opposition. For all the talk about the Sound Motion tech inside (smaller speakers, better sound), the Arc Ultra’s dimensions haven’t contracted by as much as you might think (it’s slightly less tall, slightly less deep, slightly wider). If I were to stare at it, I might think I’m looking at the same soundbar as the Arc.

It doesn’t support proper DTS (which is reaching head-banging on table territory now), and appears to miss out on many of the features reviewers bang on about. I’m keen to read the reaction to a flagship soundbar that doesn’t have extra HDMI ports with support for HDR pass-through, VRR, ALLM and high refresh rates. At least Bluetooth is supported.

The soundbar market is a tough one – every home cinema brand is focused on it, especially those that make their own TVs. For all Sonos’ success in the realm of home cinema, it’s not the king of soundbar sales (that would be Samsung). We’ll have to wait and see if the Arc Ultra delivers everything it promises, but for Sonos, it simply has to meet expectations. If it doesn’t, it could be in for a winter of discontent.