logo
Sonos Arc Ultra Delivers Bigger Bass And Clearer Dialogue In A Slimmer Design

Sonos Arc Ultra Delivers Bigger Bass And Clearer Dialogue In A Slimmer Design

Forbes3 days ago

Sonos Arc Ultra
Sonos recently launched the Arc Ultra in India. It is slimmer, bassier, and just $100 more expensive than the original Arc soundbar. Those first two qualities don't usually go together, but Sonos has managed to pack deeper bass into a sleeker body. The result? A more elegant design that doesn't compromise on sound quality.
The Arc Ultra also adds new features like speech enhancement and a new Sound Motion technology. If you're in the market for a high-end soundbar, here's what you need to know about Sonos' flagship Arc Ultra.
The Sonos Arc Ultra is smaller than its predecessor and looks classier under the TV. It measures 2.95 inches high, 46.38 inches wide, and 4.35 inches deep. You can place it on a console or mount it, though the wall mount is sold separately for $79. The slimmer design looks better in modern living rooms. It comes in classic Sonos Black and White color options.
Sonos claims a 9.1.4-channel experience from the Arc Ultra's 14 drivers: nine horizontal audio channels, one subwoofer, and four up-firing channels for a truly immersive experience. The reconfigured channel layout focuses on delivering a wider soundstage and clearer dialogue.
The Sonos Arc Ultra supports Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD, and Dolby Multichannel PCM with eARC-enabled TVs. It sounds excellent but adding a Sub 4 for deeper bass and two Era 100s or Era 300s for a better surround sound takes the movie watching experience to the next level. As for the soundbar itself, the sound is clearer, more detailed, with a wider soundstage and more finesse. It accentuates the thumps in action scenes and retains the depth and details in broader moments.
Setup through the Sonos app is quick and glitch-free. It was easy and efficient to add (and group) the Sub 4 within Sonos' app. The Arc Ultra also supports TV Swap feature with Sonos Ace headphones, which worked flawlessly. Fortunately, I didn't come across any bugs in the new Sonos app while using the Arc Ultra.
Sonos Arc Ultra and Sub 4 connected to a TV
Sonos developed a new 'Sound Motion woofer' for the Arc Ultra to deliver a cinematic experience in a sleeker form factor. Whether it's the explosions in Mission: Impossible – Fallout or the wand duels in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the Arc Ultra keeps you immersed. Even subtle sounds like tunnel chases or brutal hits in The Batman feel vivid. The original Arc is more room-filling, but the Ultra feels more precise and immersive.
Unlike many TV speakers and budget soundbars, the Arc Ultra doesn't bury dialogue in noisy scenes. Sonos' Speech Enhancement feature lets you fine-tune dialogue clarity with four levels: Low, Medium, High, and Max. I set it at High most of the time and it made the dialogues more prominent than expected. In comparison, Max boosts dialogue even further by compressing background elements.
The Sonos Arc Ultra is priced at $999 in the US and ₹99,999 in India. It's available through major online and offline retailers in both countries. The premium Sonos soundbar would please most users with its clear but detailed sound, sleeker design and new features.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

World Of Forbes: Stories Of Entrepreneurial Capitalism Across Our 49 International Editions
World Of Forbes: Stories Of Entrepreneurial Capitalism Across Our 49 International Editions

Forbes

timean hour ago

  • Forbes

World Of Forbes: Stories Of Entrepreneurial Capitalism Across Our 49 International Editions

Across the planet, our 49 licensed editions span six continents, 81 countries and 31 languages. They all share the same mission: celebrating entrepreneurial capitalism in all its forms. 'As a parent, one tries to convey gratitude for being alive, for effort, for virtues, honoring it with work, building something beyond oneself, not being arrogant and assuming social responsibility with community service.' Eduardo Costantini China billionaires The collective fortunes of Chinese billionaires is up 26% over 2024, despite escalating trade tensions with the U.S. ByteDance cofounder Zhang Yiming (front left) saw a more than 50% jump in his net worth to $65.5 billion, with investors optimistic about the AI potential of the tech giant's TikTok app. DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng (front, second from right) joined the ranks after the red-hot AI firm based in Hangzhou released its ChatGPT competitor in January. Anish Shah When Anish Shah became CEO of Mahindra Group in 2021, it was the first time someone outside the billionaire Mahindra family took the wheel since 1945, when two brothers and a third cofounder started the company in steel trading. Today, the $19 billion (revenue) Mumbai empire employs 260,000 people in 100 countries with businesses ranging from automobile manufacturing to resorts to farm equipment. Shah's next big hurdle is to maintain dominance in India's SUV and tractor market while racing into the EV future. Dean Leitersdorf Forbes Israel calls Dean Leitersdorf, 27, one of the most promising figures on its 30 Under 30 list. The computer science Ph.D., who hails from the town of Mevaseret Zion, cofounded AI startup Decart in late 2023 with Moshe Shalev and has secured $53 million in funding at a reported valuation of at least $500 million. Based in San Francisco, Decart enables organizations to develop and train big data models efficiently. It released an AI-generated video game, Oasis, which Leitersdorf says reached 1 million registered users in just three days—faster than the growth pace of OpenAI's ChatGPT. Elon Musk took notice, writing on his X platform last October, 'Wow, this is happening fast.' Leonardo Del Vecchio 'It doesn't matter how traditional or innovative a sector is; the important thing is to develop it in the Italian way,' says Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, the 30-year-old son of late eyeglasses billionaire Leonardo Del Vecchio (d. 2022). 'I love Italy and its variety, and it is this wealth that guides my every investment choice.' Through his three-year-old family office, LMDV Capital, he has holdings in bottled water, restaurants, film production and entertainment. He's also an executive at EssilorLuxottica, which owns brands such as LensCrafters, Oakley and Ray-Ban, all of which his father acquired as founder and longtime head of Luxottica. Rolf Sorg Rolf Sorg started PM-International in 1993 and has grown it every year since. Today his $3.3 billion (revenue) Schengen-based company sells supplement pills, nutrient-rich drink blends and skin care products in nearly 100 countries. 'I've learned that success lies outside the comfort zone,' says Sorg, who is still CEO, reflecting on managing through crises and challenges like Donald Trump's recent tariffs on goods imported to the U.S. 'A building is not just infrastructure, but also the value it brings to the people who use it every day.' Ema Iftimie Demetrio Carceller Arce Demetrio Carceller Arce runs Damm, a Barcelona-based brewery that dates to 1876 and that his oilman grandfather purchased in the 1950s and passed down to his father, former billionaire Demetrio Carceller Coll (d. 2023). During three decades at the helm, Carceller Arce has prioritized expanding internationally—Damm is now in over 130 countries—while adding product categories such as soft drinks and incorporating sustainable measures like solar power generation. 'When I arrived, Damm was like a sleeping racehorse, with extraordinary potential—a local, profitable company with a century-long history,' he says. It now brings in north of $2 billion in annual revenue. Tanit Chearavanont 'Being the next tycoon makes me see myself as a big fish,' says Tanit Chearavanont, the grandson of the country's richest person, Dhanin Chearavanont, in an interview with Forbes Thailand in which he discusses the importance of next-gen leaders gaining outside experience. 'But in this generation, I see the next tycoon as a 'fast fish' that eats both big and small fish.' In his case, he's working at Bangkok-based conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group, run by his uncle Suphachai Chearavanont. He currently leads international expansion for the group's retail arm, CP Axtra, which generated about $15 billion in 2024 revenue selling groceries and other products in nine countries. Yiğit Güocak (right) and Ali Yılmaz Former university classmates Yiğit Gürocak (right) and Ali Yılmaz created Obilet in 2012 to digitize buying bus tickets. The pair have since expanded into an online booking site for flights, hotels, car rentals and ferries. The company is headquartered in Istanbul and now operates in 50 countries, 21 languages and 33 currencies. It had attracted nearly $20 million in investments before French carpooling marketplace BlaBlaCar acquired an 80% stake in late 2024.

Prime Video reportedly shows almost twice as many ads as it used to
Prime Video reportedly shows almost twice as many ads as it used to

Engadget

time2 hours ago

  • Engadget

Prime Video reportedly shows almost twice as many ads as it used to

If it feels like you spend a lot more time watching ads in Prime Video than you used to, that may not be a mistake. Amazon has increased the number of ads or "ad load" in Prime Video to four-to-six minutes of ads per hour, Adweek reports. Amazon's plan to increase the amount of advertising in its streaming service was previously reported in October 2024. Shifting to a max of six minutes of ads per hour is nearly double the up to three-and-a-half minutes of ads that could play when Amazon first converted its basic Prime Video subscription to an ad-supported tier. The company used to offer all of Prime Video's features and an ad-free experience for the cost of Amazon Prime ($159 per year / $15 per month) or $9 per month, but announced at the end of 2023 that avoiding ads would cost an extra $3 every month. Besides inserting ads, Amazon's basic plan also doesn't support for features like Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision. Engadget has reached out to Amazon to confirm the ad load changes and will update this article if we hear back. Regardless of your tolerance for ads, cheaper ad-supported subscriptions have quickly become expected from most streaming services. Netflix, Max, Peacock and Paramount+ all offer subscriptions with ads. Even Apple, who could theoretically afford to lose money on subscriptions, reportedly started building a team to sell ads for a possible ad-supported tier of Apple TV+ in 2023. While adding more interruptions to the Prime Video experience isn't what anyone wants, Adweek does note that streaming services still insert far fewer ad breaks than broadcast TV. The ad load on traditional television "typically ranges from 13 to 16 minutes per hour."

Apple is salvaging Image Playground with a boost from ChatGPT
Apple is salvaging Image Playground with a boost from ChatGPT

TechCrunch

time2 hours ago

  • TechCrunch

Apple is salvaging Image Playground with a boost from ChatGPT

When Apple first unveiled Image Playground last year, the company touted it as a quick and easy way to generate personalized, original images with the help of Apple Intelligence. Upon launch, the app was met with skepticism, as some users were disappointed by its limitations and low-quality results. For example, one Reddit user was surprised to find that Image Playground kept generating an image of a hand with six fingers when prompted to create an 'up close image of a hand.' In another instance, a user was unable to receive images of simple descriptions, such as 'old man' or 'flower.' Some people even questioned what the point of the app was, noting that it seemed juvenile when compared to popular AI image generators. (Of course, not everybody dislikes the app; some have described it as being a fun experience). Fast-forward to this year's WWDC, where the tech giant announced that it's going to boost Image Playground with a ChatGPT integration, which should allow for a better, more advanced AI image generation service. With the new ChatGPT integration, users will be able to access more styles that move beyond the emoji-like creations that Image Playground has become known for. Images can be created in the following new styles: Oil Painting, Watercolor, Vector, Anime, and Print. In addition, people will be able to select a new 'Any Style' option that allows them to describe exactly what they want. These new styles will be visible under a banner that reads 'ChatGPT style.' Image Credits:Apple In the past, users were limited to Animation, Illustration, Sketch, and Genmoji styles. Techcrunch event Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Boston, MA | REGISTER NOW Apple says that Image Playground will send a user's description to ChatGPT to generate an image. The tech giant notes that it won't share anything with ChatGPT without users' permission. By integrating ChatGPT into Image Playground, Apple is giving the app another shot at attracting users while positioning its AI image creation tool as a more well-rounded competitor to other similar free apps. Plus, it makes sense for Apple to leverage ChatGPT to boost Image Playground, especially since the company has already tapped OpenAI's tools in other ways. Last year, Apple announced that it was bringing ChatGPT to Siri and other first-party apps and capabilities across its operating systems. With Siri, the assistant leverages ChatGPT when it's unable to answer a question or its own or when a user specifically asks Siri to send an inquiry to ChatGPT. Apple has also integrated ChatGPT into system-wide tools like Writing Tools, allowing users to generate, rewrite, and summarize text in apps like Notes and Mail. The updated Image Playground app is expected to launch alongside the release of iOS 26 this fall.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store