It's nice to be reporting some good news about Sonos: if the early user opinions of the new Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar are representative, it looks like the firm has a hit on its hands.
A number of customers have had their Ultras delivered early, and naturally they've turned to the Sonos subreddit and to YouTube to share their initial impressions.
As ever with early adopters, when people have spent a lot of their own money on a product they're going to be approaching it from a position of excitement rather than hard-bitten cynicism, and it's worth bearing that in mind when you read or watch their reviews. But that doesn't mean what they're saying isn't worth considering – and what they're saying so far is very positive.
What are Sonos customers saying about the Sonos Arc Ultra?
Let's start on Reddit, where r/sonos is often home to some of the most passionate Sonos customers as well as some of its most disappointed app users. According to redditor AJ989, who says they got their Ultra delivered from a European retailer on Tuesday, their experience with the setup process was that everything was straightforward and smooth. Responding to a post about Ultras apparently being software-locked until 28 October they say that they didn't encounter any such issues: "from the first day I could use it and set it up in the app." It's "100% working (and sounding awesome)."
The most detailed post so far to the Sonos subreddit is by AnotherGK, who compares the new Ultra with the previous Arc. "I couldn't believe how different they sounded. The first thing I noticed is the extreme wide soundstage for a soundbar... I hoped that the Ultra [would] be better than the Arc but it is significantly better in every regard."
The feature we think most people will be curious about is the Sound Motion, which promises to deliver a bigger built-in bass experience. According to AnotherGK, "The sound isn’t filling the room anymore it seems more like the sound is the room. You can’t tell from where the sound is coming from because it is so well balanced between the front and the back."
Over on YouTube, two European customers have shared multiple videos of the Ultra in action.
Lifestyle18 has uploaded three sound tests with the soundbar by itself: one testing out the Sound Motion and then two more for music and movies. "The sound motion does move the air!" they say, adding that it's "too bad that the Atmos effects don't come through on YouTube because they are great". For music the sound is "pretty similar" to the Arc but has "better bass"; dialog is "definitely better" on the Ultra.
Roel Willemsen has also uploaded multiple demonstrations, including one comparing the Arc and Ultra for music. Of course YouTube isn't the ideal listening comparison when you're listening to someone else's room but even with that limitation the Ultra does appear to sound more spacious. "More bass, the treble is nicer. I like it," Roel says. And for movies, "The voices were lacking but now they're pronounced. They're here... I do think it's an upgrade. I do think the Arc Ultra is better."
TechRadar is due to receive a Sonos Arc Ultra review unit this week, and we'll compare it against the older Arc and against a flagship Samsung soundbar to see how it should rank among the best soundbars available today.
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