It's been barely a year since the black-and-white Sonos Ace launched in 2024, and Sonos is already gearing up to release its successor. According to a Bloomberg report and an FCC filing obtained by Lowpass, model number S52a points to a premium pair of headphones called the Sonos Ace Ultra, expected to be unveiled at a product event this September.
The first detail to catch attention is the color lineup. The original Ace only came in a plain black and white, but this filing reveals the options have expanded significantly to five: Greige, Shadow Black, Agave, Blush, and Sand. Ranging from muted grays to a soft pink-toned Blush, the color range is noticeably broader than the first generation — and it's currently the only confirmed detail about the hardware's appearance.
Beyond the colorways, what Sonos really seems to be tackling this time is the question of "why buy these headphones at all." CEO Tom Conrad has admitted that the original Ace lacked sufficient whole-home integration, making it difficult to carve out a solid position in the market. The Ace Ultra is said to build on Sonos Voice Control's voice features, connecting with Philips Hue lighting and the Lutron Caseta smart home system, while also supporting more advanced AI voice interactions. In other words, the selling point of these headphones isn't just sound quality — it's positioning them as another node linking together a full smart home ecosystem.
Looking at the competition during the same period, Apple's AirPods Max 2, launched in March, already come equipped with the H2 chip, stronger noise cancellation, and real-time translation, with Siri set to get further upgrades alongside iOS 27. By launching the Ace Ultra at this moment, Sonos is essentially betting on "whole-home voice interaction" as its path forward, rather than simply competing on noise-cancellation specs. There's no official pricing or exact launch date yet — for now, all that's confirmed is more news to come this September.
