Sonos Arc Ultra review

TV’s have gotten smarter and the content, sharper. But for most people, the audio setup is still playing catch-up, either too tiny to thrill or too complex to use. That’s where the Sonos Arc Ultra steps in.

It doesn’t just aim to improve your TV’s sound. It reimagines your entire audio experience, movies, music, even casual podcast binges, through a lens of simplicity, style, and serious sonic depth.

At Rs 99,999, the Arc Ultra is a commitment, no doubt. But it’s also one of those rare devices that feels less like a gadget and more like an upgrade to your living space, in both form and function. Whether you’re watching an edge-of-your-seat thriller or just playing lo-fi beats while folding laundry, this soundbar has the range, literally and figuratively, to handle it all. Having used it for the past few days, here’s our Sonos Arc Ultra review.

Sonos Arc Ultra features

This is where the Arc Ultra distances itself from the pack. Most soundbars will throw you a remote, a subwoofer, and a handful of EQ presets. Sonos goes further.

ALSO READ: How to set up Sonos Arc Ultra

Setup is ridiculously easy. Plug it in, open the Sonos app, and within minutes, the bar is calibrated to your room using the Trueplay tuning feature. And unlike most room calibration tools that feel like science experiments, Trueplay just works, whether you’re in a square apartment or a sprawling living room with uneven ceilings.

There’s support for Dolby Atmos, and this time, it’s not just a checkbox. With upward-firing drivers and eleven speaker arrays, the Arc Ultra genuinely fills the room with layered, directional audio. Watching Dune or Top Gun: Maverick feels like sitting inside a carefully crafted soundstage, where planes zoom overhead and dialogue lands with clarity.

The new voice control options via Sonos Voice Control, Alexa, and Google Assistant make this a genuinely smart addition to your home. Want to turn down the volume mid-cook without greasy fingers touching your phone? Just ask. Want to group it with other Sonos speakers for a whole-home party mode? A couple of taps in the app and it’s done.

Sonos Arc Ultra audio quality

Now to the meat of it. The sound. Let’s just say, if you thought soundbars were incapable of hi-fi, the Arc Ultra will change your mind.

Clarity is the name of the game here. Whether you’re watching a quiet indie flick with whispered dialogue or blasting a Hans Zimmer score, the Arc Ultra keeps things crisp and balanced. The mids are warm, the highs are detailed without being harsh, and the bass, even without a subwoofer, is confident, not bloated.

That said, if you’re someone who lives for heart-thudding action sequences or electronic music that rattles the floorboards, you might want to pair it with the Sonos Sub or Sub Mini. It’s not that the Arc Ultra lacks bass. It’s just tastefully restrained, prioritising clarity over brute force.

What’s especially impressive is how the Arc adapts. A friend dropped by, and we ended up watching a cricket match on TV. Even with the crowd cheering and commentators talking over each other, the bar kept things clean and distinguishable. It’s the kind of clarity that doesn’t hit you immediately but becomes obvious when you switch back to something else.

Sonos Arc Ultra app and ecosystem

The redesigned Sonos app plays a quiet but crucial role in making the Arc Ultra a delight to live with. You can toggle between TV and music, fine-tune EQ, or even set your favourite services (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible) with ease.

It also brings a unified interface to all your Sonos gear. So, if you already own a Sonos One or Move, the Arc slots into your setup effortlessly. No fiddly pairing modes, no separate remotes.

And here’s a surprisingly underrated features like speech enhancement and night mode. Watching a film late at night? Turn on night mode, and the Arc compresses loud bangs while keeping dialogue audible. Great when the rest of the house is asleep and you don’t want to miss that last twist in the mystery thriller.

Sonos Arc Ultra in everyday use

After the past few days with the Arc Ultra, it no longer felt like a soundbar. It felt like a part of my routine. A morning news briefing while making coffee. An evening Spotify session with friends over. A solo movie night that didn’t need subtitles.

The beauty of the Arc Ultra is how little it demands of you. It doesn’t require you to switch modes or remember presets. It just sounds right, all the time.

Unboxed Take: Who should buy the Sonos Arc Ultra?

If you’re after a plug-and-play solution that sounds as good as it looks, the Arc Ultra is for you. It’s not for someone counting HDMI ports (there’s just one eARC), or looking for gimmicky features that rarely work. But if you want immersive home theatre audio without the clutter of multiple boxes and remotes, this is it.

Yes, it’s expensive. But when you consider what it offers, a gorgeous design, immersive Atmos, seamless app control, and future-proof software, the value proposition starts to make a lot of sense.

For those who care about sound but also about simplicity, the Sonos Arc Ultra is hard to beat. And, for that we rate the Sonos Arc Ultra, a solid, 4.5/5.

Sonos plays the long game here, one of consistency, elegance, and audio brilliance. And it’s a game they’re winning.